An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.
Parallel translations
- WEB An evil man is trapped by sinfulness of lips, but the righteous shall come out of trouble.
- KJV The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall come out of trouble.
- NKJV The wicked is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, But the righteous will come through trouble.
- NASB An evil person is ensnared by the offense of his lips, But the righteous will escape from trouble.
- NLT The wicked are trapped by their own words, but the godly escape such trouble.
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
An evil person is trapped by his own sinful words, but the righteous escape trouble. Wicked speech ensnares the speaker, while integrity delivers.
Overview
This proverb shows the sinful tongue as a snare that catches the wicked, while the righteous are delivered out of trouble. Our words can become traps of our own making. The contrast underscores the call to truthful, righteous speech, which guards rather than endangers the soul.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Prov 21:23He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress.
- Ps 64:8They will be made to stumble, their own tongues turned against them. All who see will shake their heads.
- Prov 11:8The righteous man is delivered from trouble; in his place the wicked man goes in.
- Prov 6:2if you have been trapped by the words of your lips, ensnared by the words of your mouth,
- Dan 6:24At the command of the king, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they and their children and wives. And before they had reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.
- 2 Pet 2:9if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.
- Prov 18:6–7A fool’s lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating.
- Eccl 7:18It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.
- Matt 27:25All the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”
- 2 Sam 4:9But David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress,
- Gen 48:16the angel who has redeemed me from all harm—may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”
- Ps 34:19Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all.
- Prov 15:2The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool spouts folly.
- 1 Kgs 2:23Then King Solomon swore by the LORD: “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if Adonijah has not made this request at the expense of his life.
- Ps 5:6You destroy those who tell lies; the LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.
- Rom 8:35–37Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
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 12:13 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
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