The righteousness of the blameless directs their path, but the wicked fall by their own wickedness.
Parallel translations
- WEB The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way, but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.
- KJV The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.
- NKJV The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright, But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.
- NASB The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way, But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.
- NLT The godly are directed by honesty; the wicked fall beneath their load of sin.
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
Righteousness clears the path of the blameless, while the wicked fall by their own sin. Godly living smooths the way, but evil trips up the evildoer.
Overview
This proverb teaches that a person's moral course shapes his destiny: integrity makes the way straight, while wickedness becomes a snare to the one who practices it. Sin is self-destructive by nature. The contrast anticipates the gospel truth that only in Christ's righteousness is our way truly made straight before God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Prov 5:22The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
- Ps 9:15–16The nations have fallen into a pit of their making; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
- Prov 1:31–32So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
- Prov 3:6in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
- Esth 7:3–10Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, grant me my life as my petition, and the lives of my people as my request.
- 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 11:3The integrity of the upright guides them, but the perversity of the faithless destroys them.
- 2 Sam 17:23When Ahithophel saw that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and set out for his house in his hometown. He put his affairs in order and hanged himself. So he died and was buried in his father’s tomb.
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 11:5 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.