Friday, March 23, 2018

Meditating on Proverbs 6:16-17

   I really like The Passion Translation by Brian Simmons.  I seem to gain new understanding as I compare Passion Translation passages to the same passages in translations I have always loved.
    A couple of days ago I was reading Proverb 6 in the P.T. when I came to this passage beginning in verse 16: 

There are six evils God truly hates 
and a seventh that is an abomination to him: 
Putting others down while considering your self superior, 
spreading lies and rumors, 
spilling the blood of the innocent, 
plotting evil in your heart toward another, 
spouting lies in false testimony, 
and stirring up strife between friends.

     I could not seem to get past the first one--"putting others down while considering your self superior".  Isn't that what we do every time we criticize another person?  Aren't we actually saying in our criticism that we wouldn't do it like that, or be like that, or think like that, etc. thereby considering our ways superior?  How many times have I done that?!!
    Needless to say, I have spent much time in confession and repentance since reading this translation of that verse.  Other translations say "haughty eyes", or "a proud look".  For some reason those words didn't have the same quality of conviction for me as the ones I read this week.
     I am so glad Holy Spirit called that to my attention.  One thing I absolutely do not want is to be doing something that God truly hates, or that is an abomination to Him!  Seeing it that way makes it easier to let it go (I hope.😀)

Here is the same passage in the New American Standard translation if you want to compare them:

16 There are six things which the Lord hates,
Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:
17 Haughty eyes, 

lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19 false witness who utters lies,
And one who spreads strife among brothers

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