Proverbs 3:27
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.
American King James Version (AKJV)
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.
American Standard Version (ASV)
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, When it is in the power of thy hand to do it.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
Do not keep back good from those who have a right to it, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.
Webster's Revision
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thy hand to do it.
World English Bible
Don't withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.
English Revised Version (ERV)
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
Clarke's Proverbs 3:27 Bible Commentary
Withhold not good from them to whom it is due - מבעליו mibbealaiv, from the lords of it. But who are they? The poor. And what art thou, O rich man? Why, thou art a steward, to whom God has given substance that thou mayest divide with the poor. They are the right owners of every farthing thou hast to spare from thy own support, and that of thy family; and God has given the surplus for their sakes. Dost thou, by hoarding up this treasure, deprive the right owners of their property? If this were a civil case, the law would take thee by the throat, and lay thee up in prison; but it is a case in which God alone judges. And what will he do to thee? Hear! "He shall have judgment without mercy, who hath showed no mercy;" James 2:13. Read, feel, tremble, and act justly.
Barnes's Proverbs 3:27 Bible Commentary
A marked change in style. The continuous exhortation is replaced by a series of maxims.
From them to whom it is due - literally, as in the margin. The precept expresses the great Scriptural thought that the so-called possession of wealth is but a stewardship; that the true owners of what we call our own are those to whom, with it, we may do good. Not to relieve them is a breach of trust.
Wesley's Proverbs 3:27 Bible Commentary
3:27 With - hold not - Do not deny it, but readily and chearfuly impart it. Good - Any thing which is good, either counsel, comfort, reproof, or the good things of the present life. Due - That is, to all men, by that great and sovereign law of love.