Amsal 11:5-6

11:5 The righteousness of the blameless will make straight their way, ¹ 

but the wicked person will fall by his own wickedness. ² 

11:6 The righteousness of the upright will deliver them, ³ 

but the faithless will be captured ⁴  by their own desires. ⁵ 

Amsal 11:27

11:27 The one who diligently seeks ⁶  good seeks favor,

but the one who searches ⁷  for evil – it will come to him. ⁸ 

[11:5]  ¹ tn Heb “his way.”

[11:5]  ² sn The righteous will enjoy security and serenity throughout life. Righteousness makes the path straight; wickedness destroys the wicked.

[11:6]  ³ sn The contrast is between being rescued or delivered (נָצַל, natsal) and being captured (לָכַד, lakhad). Righteousness is freeing; [evil] desires are enslaving.

[11:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “taken captive” (so NRSV); NIV, TEV “are trapped.”

[11:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “but by the desire of the faithless are they taken captive.”

[11:27]  ⁶ tn Two separate words are used here for “seek.” The first is שָׁחַר (shakhar, “to seek diligently”) and the second is בָּקַשׁ (baqash, “to seek after; to look for”). Whoever is seeking good is in effect seeking favor – from either God or man (e.g., Ps 5:12; Isa 49:8).

[11:27]  ⁷ tn The participle דֹּרֵשׁ (doresh) means “to seek; to inquire; to investigate.” A person generally receives the consequences of the kind of life he seeks.

[11:27]  ⁸ tn The verb is the imperfect tense, third feminine singular, referring to “evil,” the object of the participle.