And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
Parallel translations
- WEB but these lay wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives.
- BSB But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush 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 judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.
- Esth 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.
- Prov 28:17A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him.
- Prov 5:22–23His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
- Ps 7:14–16Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.
- Ps 55:23But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.
- Matt 27:4–5Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.
- Prov 9:17–18Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
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.