Closes the three verses on the deceiver.
Quick answer
The cover does not hold. The verse says the exposure happens in public, before the gathered community.
Read both lines
The concession comes first and it is real: the hatred is covered, the deceit works, and for a time nobody sees it. Proverbs does not pretend the disguise fails immediately, which is why the verse is bearable to someone currently being deceived.
Then בְקָהָל, before the assembly, the gathered community where reputation lived and cases were heard. That location matters. The verse does not promise the deceived person will figure it out privately, and it does not tell them how long, which this book characteristically refuses to do. It says the thing does not stay hidden, and that when it surfaces it will surface where it was practiced.
Related: Proverbs 26:24 · Proverbs 10:18 · Proverbs 12:19 · Proverbs 28:13
New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. Full copyright information. Scripture provided by API.Bible.
Go Deeper
If this verse has been used to put weight on you that it was never carrying, ask about it directly.