A righteous man hateth lying: but a wicked man is loathsome, and cometh to shame.
Parallel translations
- WEB A righteous man hates lies, but a wicked man brings shame and disgrace.
- BSB The righteous hate falsehood, but the wicked bring shame and disgrace.
- NKJV A righteous man hates lying, But a wicked man is loathsome and comes to shame.
- NASB A righteous person hates a false statement, But a wicked person acts disgustingly and shamefully.
- NLT The godly hate lies; the wicked cause shame and disgrace.
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
The righteous hate falsehood, while the wicked bring shame on themselves. Our attitude toward truth reveals the state of our hearts.
Overview
Proverbs repeatedly ties character to one's relationship with truth, since God Himself is truth and cannot lie. The righteous share God's hatred of falsehood, while the wicked, by contrast, earn shame and disgrace through their conduct. This anticipates Christ, who is 'the truth' (John 14:6) and exposes the works of darkness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Col 3:9Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
- Ps 119:163I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.
- Eph 4:25Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
- Ezek 36:31Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
- Ezek 20:43And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.
- Prov 3:35The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.
- Rev 21:8But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
- Zech 11:8Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
- Dan 12:2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
- Prov 30:8Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:
- Prov 6:17A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
- Ezek 6:9And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.
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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 13:5 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
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