Proverbs 13:23

There is abundant food in the field ¹  of the poor, but it is swept away by injustice. ² 

A poor man’s field may produce abundant food, but injustice sweeps it away.

Abundant food is in the fallow ground of the poor, But it is swept away by injustice.

A poor person’s farm may produce much food, but injustice sweeps it all away.

Banks foreclose on the farms of the poor, or else the poor lose their shirts to crooked lawyers.

There is much food in the ploughed land of the poor; but it is taken away by wrongdoing.

The field of the poor may yield much food, but it is swept away through injustice.

Much food is in the fallow ground of the poor, And for lack of justice there is waste.

There is abundant food in the field ¹  of the poor, but it is swept away by injustice. ² 

¹ tn Heb “fallow ground” (so NASB). The word נִיר (nir) means “the tillable [or untilled; or fallow] ground.” BDB 644 s.v. says this line could be rendered: “abundant food [yields] the fallow ground of poor men” (i.e., with the Lord’s blessing).

² tc The MT reads “there is what is swept away because [there is] no justice” (וְיֵשׁ נִסְפֶּה בְּלֹא מִשְׁפָּט, vÿyesh nispeh bÿlo’ mishpat). The LXX reads “the great enjoy wealth many years, but some men perish little by little.” The Syriac reads “those who have no habitation waste wealth many years, and some waste it completely.” Tg. Prov 13:23 reads “the great man devours the land of the poor, and some men are taken away unjustly.” The Vulgate has “there is much food in the fresh land of the fathers, and for others it is collected without judgment.” C. H. Toy says that the text is corrupt (Proverbs [ICC], 277). Nevertheless, the MT makes sense: The ground could produce enough food for people if there were no injustice in the land. Poverty is unnecessary as long as there is justice and not injustice.