“Take away the wicked from the presence of the king”: “Take away” began the previous verse also, indicating that there is a comparison being made between these two verses. “The wicked” may be expressed as a singular noun, but the thought here is probably collective, “wicked people.” Most likely these are people who give the king bad advice and are comparable to the dross in the silver in verse 4. In some languages it is desirable to use an expression at the beginning of this verse to make it clear that this is a comparison with verse 4; for example, “And in the same way if we drive out the people who give the king bad advice. . ..”

“And his throne will be established in righteousness” is similar to the expression used in 16.12b. Here the removal of wicked counselors will enable the king to reestablish his authority, that is, “his throne”. “In righteousness” means by doing the right thing or acting justly. See Good News Translation for a model translation.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .