Proverbs 22:11 (LSB)

Passage

He who loves purity of heart And grace on his lips, the king is his friend.

Nearby Context

Proverbs 22:9 He who is generous will be blessed, For he gives from his food to the poor.

Proverbs 22:10 Drive out the scoffer, and strife will go out, Even contention and disgrace will cease.

Proverbs 22:11 He who loves purity of heart And grace on his lips, the king is his friend.

Proverbs 22:12 The eyes of Yahweh guard knowledge, But He subverts the words of the treacherous one.

Proverbs 22:13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside; I will be killed in the streets!”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "grace", "loves", "purity", "heart", "lips", "king", and "friend". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "grace" and "loves", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "Drive out the scoffer and strife will..." into verse 12's "The eyes of Yahweh guard knowledge But...", so "grace" and "loves" belong inside that flow. In Proverbs context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "grace" and "loves" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.