An evil person is ensnared by the offense of his lips, But the righteous will escape 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.
- BSB An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.
- NKJV The wicked is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, But the righteous will come through 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 21:23Whoever guards his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles.
- Ps 64:8Their own tongues shall ruin them. All who see them will shake their heads.
- Prov 11:8A righteous person is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked takes his place.
- Prov 6:2You are trapped by the words of your mouth. You are ensnared with the words of your mouth.
- Dan 6:24The king commanded, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions mauled them, and broke all their bones in pieces, before they came to the bottom of the den.
- 2 Pet 2:9the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment;
- Prov 18:6–7A fool’s lips come into strife, and his mouth invites beatings.
- Eccl 7:18It is good that you should take hold of this. Yes, also from that don’t withdraw your hand; for he who fears God will come out of them all.
- Matt 27:25All the people answered, “May his blood be on us, and on our children!”
- 2 Sam 4:9David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As Yahweh lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity,
- Gen 48:16the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. Let them grow into a multitude upon the earth.”
- Ps 34:19Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but Yahweh delivers him out of them all.
- Prov 15:2The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of fools gush out folly.
- 1 Kgs 2:23Then king Solomon swore by Yahweh, saying, “God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life.
- Ps 5:6You will destroy those who speak lies. Yahweh abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
- Rom 8:35–37Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, 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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