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Godly and Foolish Money

21 

The words of the godly encourage many,
     but fools are destroyed by their lack of common sense.

22 

The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich,
     and he adds no sorrow with it.

Verse 21

The words of a good person are valuable to other people.

This may be like a mother, whose own food feeds her baby. In some countries, a mother will take food from her own mouth. Then, she will give this food to her child. In the same way, a good man’s words are like food. His words feed other people’s minds and spirits. Other people become stronger, because of the wise man’s words.

Verse 22

If God gives wealth to a good person, then this is good news for everyone. By his kindness, God is good to the rich man, and his friends and neighbours. Everyone benefits, because the man will use his wealth wisely. He is generous. This rich man does not worry, because he trusts God to protect him.

An evil man’s wealth brings troubles. Everyone suffers because he uses the money for his evil purposes.

A paraproskodian is a figure of speech that surprises with an unexpected twist in the latter part of the sentence. Many proverbs use this technique.

The lips of the righteous feed many, but the foolish

(we expect) can feed no one.

(but we get) die from lack of understanding.

Yahweh’s blessing brings wealth,

(we expect) Yahweh’s curse brings poverty,

(but we get) and he adds no trouble to it.

We typically don't expect wealth to bring trouble, but this implies that if we gain wealth without God's blessing, it may lead to trouble.

Consider this: Winning a large sum in a lottery often brings troubles along. Relationships may break as greed tempts people to claim a share of the winnings.

Struggle to Standing. Available on Amazon.  https://a.co/d/ev3YUqw

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