Proverbs 3:27 (WEB)

Passage

Don’t withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.

Nearby Context

Proverbs 3:25 Don’t be afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it comes:

Proverbs 3:26 for Yahweh will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being taken.

Proverbs 3:27 Don’t withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do it.

Proverbs 3:28 Don’t say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again; tomorrow I will give it to you,” when you have it by you.

Proverbs 3:29 Don’t devise evil against your neighbor, since he dwells securely by you.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "withhold", "good", "power", and "hand". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "withhold" and "good", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 26's "for Yahweh will be your confidence and..." into verse 28's "Don t say to your neighbor Go...", so "withhold" and "good" 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 "withhold" and "good" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.