Proverbs 14:19

Those who are evil will bow ¹  before those who are good, and the wicked will bow ²  at the gates ³  of the righteous.

Evil men will bow down in the presence of the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

The evil will bow down before the good, And the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

Evil people will bow before good people; the wicked will bow at the gates of the godly.

Eventually, evil will pay tribute to good; the wicked will respect God-loyal people.

The knees of the evil are bent before the good; and sinners go down in the dust at the doors of the upright.

The evil bow down before the good, the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

The evil will bow before the good, And the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

Those who are evil will bow ¹  before those who are good, and the wicked will bow ²  at the gates ³  of the righteous.

¹ tn Many versions nuance the perfect tense verb שָׁחַח (shakhakh) as a characteristic perfect. But the proverb suggests that the reality lies in the future. So the verb is best classified as a prophetic perfect (cf. NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT): Ultimately the wicked will acknowledge and serve the righteous – a point the prophets make.

² tn The phrase “will bow” does not appear in this line but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

³ sn J. H. Greenstone suggests that this means that they are begging for favors (Proverbs, 154).