For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
Parallel translations
- WEB For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them.
- BSB For the waywardness of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.
- NKJV For the turning away of the simple will slay them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them;
- NASB “For the faithlessness of the naive will kill them, And the complacency of fools will destroy them.
- NLT For simpletons turn away from me—to death. Fools are destroyed by their own complacency.
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 turning away of the simple and the complacency of fools destroy them. It matters because it shows both rebellion and careless indifference lead to ruin.
Overview
Two roads to destruction are named: the simple's backsliding and the fool's complacent ease. Spiritual carelessness is as deadly as outright rebellion. This sober verse exposes the danger of a comfortable indifference to wisdom and the fear of God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Prov 8:36But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death.
- Jer 2:19Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
- John 3:36He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
- Luke 16:19–25There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
- Heb 12:25See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
- Ps 69:22Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
- Luke 12:16–21And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
- Jer 48:11–12Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.
- Deut 32:15–44But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
- Jas 5:5Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.
- Heb 12:8But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
- Heb 10:38–39Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
- Ps 92:6–7A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 1:32 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.