The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.
Parallel translations
- WEB Longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but fools detest turning from evil.
- BSB Desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but turning from evil is detestable to fools.
- NKJV A desire accomplished is sweet to the soul, But it is an abomination to fools to depart from evil.
- NASB Desire realized is sweet to the soul, But it is an abomination to fools to turn away from evil.
- NLT It is pleasant to see dreams come true, but fools refuse to turn from evil to attain them.
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
Fulfilled desire is sweet, yet fools refuse to turn from evil even to gain it. Folly clings to sin against its own good.
Overview
The verse joins two thoughts: the genuine sweetness of longing satisfied, and the perversity of fools who will not forsake evil even though doing so would bring true satisfaction. It exposes the irrationality of sin, which prefers harm to the good it could have. Only a changed heart, given by grace, learns to delight in turning from evil (Ezekiel 36:26).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Prov 13:12Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
- Rev 7:14–17And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
- Prov 29:27An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.
- 2 Tim 2:19Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
- Ps 34:14Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
- Prov 16:17The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.
- Prov 16:6By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
- Song 3:4It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.
- Ps 21:1–2The king shall joy in thy strength, O LORD; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!
- Prov 3:7Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
- Job 28:28And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
- 2 Tim 4:7–8I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
- 1 Kgs 1:48And also thus said the king, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it.
- Ps 37:27Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore.
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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 13:19 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.