This verse opens the closing movement of the father's lecture on wisdom and the neighbor, Proverbs 3:21–35.
Quick answer
The reason not to envy the oppressor: the LORD finds the crooked man abhorrent, while the upright are brought inside His confidence. One man has winnings; the other has the friendship of God.
Read the whole unit
The father's lecture on wisdom and the neighbor moves in three sweeps. First, security (vv. 21–26): keep sound wisdom in view and the results are bodily and immediate, safe steps, unafraid nights, sweet sleep, because "the LORD will be your confidence." Second, the neighbor (vv. 27–31): five consecutive "do nots" that bring wisdom down from the cosmos of the preceding poem to the person next door. Do not withhold good that is owed, do not delay it until tomorrow, do not plot against the neighbor who trusts you, do not pick fights, and do not envy the violent man who seems to be winning. Third, the reasons (vv. 32–35): four verses that ground neighbor-ethics in the LORD's own stances, His abomination and His intimacy, His curse and His blessing, His scorn and His grace, and the divergent inheritances of the wise and the foolish. Some scholars divide the passage at v. 27, treating the neighbor commands as their own unit; the flow of thought holds together as one lecture, since the "do nots" rest directly on the security just described (a person confident in the LORD can afford to be generous and unenvious) and the closing verses supply the reasons for both halves. This entry set treats 3:21–35 as one lecture and notes the boundary question honestly here, once.
What this verse contributes
"Secret counsel" is the Hebrew sod, the close circle, the conversation among trusted friends, the word Amos uses when the LORD reveals His sod to His servants the prophets (Amos 3:7). The contrast is deliberately shocking in both directions: the envied oppressor is an abomination; the plain upright man, whom nobody envies, sits inside God's own confidence. Envy had been measuring the wrong thing.
From this side of the cross
Jesus said it plainly: "No longer do I call you servants... but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you" (John 15:15). The sod of the LORD opens wide at the table of the One who makes the unrighteous upright.
Related: Psalm 25:14 · Amos 3:7 · John 15:15
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.