Bible Strands
Proverbs 15:8
The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Solomon (or the Proverbs tradition) addresses a general audience of wisdom-seekers; no specific occasion or interlocutor is named.
The words — תּוֹעֲבַת (to'evat, "abomination") and רְצוֹנוֹ (retzono, "his delight/will") form the verse's axis: the same God who finds one offering repulsive finds the other pleasing, and the distinction is the person, not the act.
The thread — Proverbs 15:29 repeats the contrast in terms of hearing; Proverbs 21:27 intensifies the detestation when ill intent is added; 1 Chronicles 29:17 grounds God's delight in uprightness of heart.
Why it lands — It removes any assumption that the act itself carries weight independent of the one performing it, forcing the reader to ask whether their own standing before God is upright or wicked.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 15:29 The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.
- 1 Chronicles 29:17 I know, my God, that You test the heart and delight in uprightness. All these things I have given willingly and with an upright heart, and now I have seen Your people who are present here giving joyfully and willingly to You.
- Proverbs 21:27 The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable—how much more so when brought with ill intent!
- Proverbs 28:9 Whoever turns his ear away from hearing the law, even his prayer is detestable.
- Isaiah 1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
- Jeremiah 6:20 What use to Me is frankincense from Sheba or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable; your sacrifices do not please Me.”
- Isaiah 61:8 For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity; in My faithfulness I will give them their recompense and make an everlasting covenant with them.
- John 4:24 God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”
- Ecclesiastes 5:1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.
- Psalms 17:1 A prayer of David. Hear, O LORD, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. Give ear to my prayer—it comes from lips free of deceit.