But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives.
Parallel translations
- WEB but these lay wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives.
- KJV And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
- NKJV But they lie in wait for their own blood, They lurk secretly for their own lives.
- NASB But they lie in wait for their own blood; They ambush their own lives.
- NLT But these people set an ambush for themselves; they are trying to get themselves killed.
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
The ambushers actually lie in wait for their own blood and lives. It matters because sin's violence ultimately recoils upon those who commit it.
Overview
In a striking reversal, the trap set for the innocent ensnares the trappers. The principle that wickedness destroys the wicked runs throughout Scripture and reflects God's just moral order. Sin is self-destructive, and only in Christ is the deserved penalty borne and broken.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 9:16The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah
- Esth 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.
- Prov 28:17A man burdened by bloodguilt will flee into the Pit; let no one support him.
- Prov 5:22–23The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
- Ps 7:14–16Behold, the wicked man travails with evil; he conceives trouble and births falsehood.
- Ps 55:23But You, O God, will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.
- Matt 27:4–5“I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said. “What is that to us?” they replied. “You bear the responsibility.”
- Prov 9:17–18“Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is tasty!”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 1:18 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.