Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Everyone beware of his neighbor, and don’t trust in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will go about with slanders.
- BSB “Let everyone guard against his neighbor; do not trust any brother, for every brother deals craftily, and every friend spreads slander.
- NKJV “Everyonetake heed to his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; For every brother will utterly supplant, And every neighbor will walk with slanderers.
- NASB “Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; Because every brother utterly betrays, And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.
- NLT “Beware of your neighbor! Don’t even trust your brother! For brother takes advantage of brother, and friend slanders friend.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Society has so decayed that no one can trust even a neighbor or brother, for all deceive and slander. Sin has dissolved the bonds of basic loyalty.
Overview
God warns that even the closest relationships have become treacherous, as brothers supplant and neighbors slander. The breakdown of trust pictures the social cost of widespread sin against God. The verse shows that vertical rebellion against God produces horizontal ruin among people, underscoring humanity's need for the reconciling grace that restores both love for God and love for neighbor.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 21
- Mic 7:5–6Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
- Prov 26:24–25He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him;
- Ps 12:2–3They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
- Lev 19:16Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.
- Jer 6:28They are all grievous revolters, walking with slanders: they are brass and iron; they are all corrupters.
- Prov 25:18A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.
- Prov 10:18He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.
- Ps 15:3He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.
- Matt 10:21And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
- Prov 6:16These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
- 1 Pet 2:1–2Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
- Ezek 22:9In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness.
- Prov 6:19A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
- Jer 12:6For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee.
- Gen 27:35–36And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.
- Gen 32:28And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
- Luke 21:16And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.
- 1 Th 4:6That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.
- Ps 55:11–12Wickedness is in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streets.
- Matt 10:17But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
- Matt 10:34–35Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Against the failure of false shepherds Jeremiah promises the Righteous Branch, 'The LORD our righteousness,' and the new covenant written on the heart and sealed in the blood of Christ.
How Jeremiah 9:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.