12:2

Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:

2a
The good man obtains favor from the LORD,

2b but the LORD condemns a man who devises evil.

In the Berean Standard Bible, the parallel parts are arranged in the form of a chiasm to follow natural English sentence order. Other versions more closely follow the Hebrew word order for 12:2b. They probably do this to emphasize the contrast between “a good man” and one who “devises evil.” For example:

2b but those who devise evil he condemns (New Revised Standard Version)

You should use whatever word order expresses the contrast most effectively in your language.

12:2a

The good man obtains favor from the LORD: The phrase obtains favor from the LORD is the same in Hebrew as in 8:35b, where the Berean Standard Bible translates it as “obtains the favor of the LORD.” The word translated as favor also means “goodwill.” This favor is not only an attitude in God’s mind. It implies that God treats good people favorably and shows kindness to them. Some other ways to translate this line are:

The Lord is pleased with good people (Good News Translation)
-or-
The Lord approves of those who are good (New Living Translation (2004))

12:2b

but the LORD condemns: The word condemns is a legal term that means to declare that someone is guilty. Since a guilty verdict results in punishment, the idea of punishment is also implied. Some versions focus entirely on this aspect. For example:

but he punishes everyone who makes evil plans (Contemporary English Version)

However, it is recommended that you do not omit the main idea of condemning. One way to include both ideas is:

but he condemns to be punished everyone who makes evil plans

In some languages, it may be more natural to express the idea of “condemn” as a direct quote. For example:

but he says to the wicked schemer, “You are guilty and must be punished.”

a man who devises evil: The Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a man who devises evil has a bad connotation. It refers to someone who schemes or makes plans to do what is wicked or harmful to others. For example:

everyone who makes evil plans (Contemporary English Version)

© 2012, 2016, 2020 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.