# General Information:

These verses continue the "thirty sayings" ([Proverbs 22:20](../22/20.md)).

# those who are being taken away

These words can be translated in active form by using the term "they" which could be anyone, but are probably government officials. AT: "those whom they are taking away" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-activepassive]])

# taken away

Another possible meaning is "dragged away."

# staggering

walking unsteadily and almost falling. This word would also describe the way a person walks when he is being dragged away.

# the slaughter

The abstract noun "slaughter" can be translated as a verb. The writer speaks as if those who take them away think of them as no better than animals. If your language has a word for killing animals that would fit here, you might want to use it. AT: "where people will kill them as they would kill animals" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-abstractnouns]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])

# If you say, "Behold, ... this," does

The writer is answering something that the reader may wrongly be thinking. AT: "You may say, 'Behold, ... this,' but does"

# Behold, we

"Listen to us! We" or "But we" or "We have done nothing wrong, because we"

# does not the one who weighs the heart understand what you are saying?

The writer assumes the readers know the answer and asks this for emphasis. AT: "the one who weighs the heart understands what you are saying." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion]])

# the one who

The writer expects the reader to know that "the one" is Yahweh. AT: "Yahweh, who" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-euphemism]])

# weighs the heart

The word "heart" is a metonym for what a person thinks and desires. The writer speaks as if what a person thinks and desires were a physical object that a person could weigh, and weighing an object is a metaphor for looking closely at something to see how good it is. AT: "knows how good what people really think and desire is" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])

# The one who guards your life, does he not know it?

The writer assumes the readers know the answer and asks this for emphasis. AT: "The one who guards your life knows it." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion]])

# Will God not give to each one what he deserves?

The writer assumes the readers know the answer and asks this for emphasis. AT: "God will give to each one what he deserves." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion]])