14 A gift in secret averts anger, and a bribe in the bosom strong wrath. 15 When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.

16-17 One who wanders from the way of good sense will rest in the assembly of the dead. Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.

18 The wicked is a ransom for the righteous, and the traitor for the upright. 19 It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman.

20  Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling, but a foolish man devours it. 21 Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honour.

22-24 A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust. Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble. “Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride. Proverbs 21: 14-24 English Standard Version

Parts of Proverbs are a collection of sayings which, if taken in isolation, could be misleading. For example, does vs 14 encourage giving bribes? My answer would be that, in the light of vs 15 which speaks of the joy justice brings to righteous people, vs 14 can't be speaking of bribes to pervert justice. It's possible that the meaning is that there may be times when a gift given in private may end what could have turned into a bitter dispute. Sometimes it may just be our giving a humbling but heartfelt apology to someone we had an argument with. It's like settling a matter out of court to everyone's satisfaction. What would the lessons be from vs 16-17?

The action of vs 14 is part of a 'good sense' option that someone could take. But those who dig their heels in and keep a feud going are ultimately buried alongside others with reputations of hard headed and foolish choices in life. The same can be said of those who love luxuries so much that they go into deep debt to live a lifestyle they can't afford. In giving instructions for people who would serve in the Church, the apostle Paul said they must be “worthy of respect, not hypocritical, not drinking a lot of wine, and not greedy for money.” (1 Timothy 3:8) They mustn't be people like vs 16-17 of today's reading described.

Verse 18 is a difficult one. Matthew Poole, a famous Bible teacher of many years ago, suggested it meant that sometimes God brings wicked people into the trap that they were setting for righteous people. An example of that is in the Old Testament book called Esther where an evil man named Haman ended up being hung on the very gallows that he had set up to hang a righteous man named Mordecai.

Verse 19 is similar to an earlier one in this chapter where the father was warning his son not to rush into marriage with the wrong sort of woman. Again, in both these cases there are better options in life. Don't set out to harm God's people, and don't marry based on outward appearances.

What are the better options in life described in vs 22-24?

Wisdom will always ultimately overcome brute force; knowing when to be silent will keep us from battles we could not win; and arrogance will only lead to ending up as someone who scoffs at wisdom and scoffs at God. In a way, the writer has enlarged on Proverbs 16:32 where he said: “Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.” Just as there were kings then who sought to conquer all others, so there are people today who are arrogant and seek to bully others into submission. They think that's the way to success. But the better option is to put God's wisdom into our life. It will help us topple many of the false arguments of the arrogant, and to know how to keep out of harms way. And Colossians 2:3 tells us that it’s in Christ Jesus that we will find all of God's treasures of wisdom and knowledge. There’s no better option for living wisely.