The integrity of the upright guides them, but the perversity of the faithless destroys them.
Parallel translations
- WEB The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the perverseness of the treacherous shall destroy them.
- KJV The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.
- NKJV The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.
- NASB The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the perversity of the treacherous will destroy them.
- NLT Honesty guides good people; dishonesty destroys treacherous people.
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
Integrity guides the upright, but duplicity destroys the treacherous. A sound and honest character keeps us on a safe path.
Overview
The verse contrasts wholeness of character, which steers a person rightly, with deceitful crookedness, which leads to self-ruin. Integrity is not just morally good but practically protective, while betrayal undermines those who practice it. This wholeness is restored in Christ, who makes His people sincere and blameless before God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Prov 28:18He who walks with integrity will be kept safe, but whoever is perverse in his ways will suddenly fall.
- Prov 13:6Righteousness guards the man of integrity, but wickedness undermines the sinner.
- Ps 25:21May integrity and uprightness preserve me, because I wait for You.
- Ps 26:1Of David. Vindicate me, O LORD! For I have walked with integrity; I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
- John 7:17If anyone desires to do His will, he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own.
- Prov 19:3A man’s own folly subverts his way, yet his heart rages against the LORD.
- Eccl 7:17Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be a fool. Why should you die before your time?
- Prov 11:5The righteousness of the blameless directs their path, but the wicked fall by their own wickedness.
- Isa 1:28But rebels and sinners will together be shattered, and those who forsake the LORD will perish.
- Prov 21:7The violence of the wicked will sweep them away because they refuse to do what is just.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 11:3 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.