The way of the slacker is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a highway.
Parallel translations
- WEB The way of the sluggard is like a thorn patch, but the path of the upright is a highway.
- KJV The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain.
- NKJV The way of the lazy man is like a hedge of thorns, But the way of the upright is a highway.
- NASB The way of the lazy one is like a hedge of thorns, But the path of the upright is a highway.
- NLT A lazy person’s way is blocked with briers, but the path of the upright is an open highway.
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 lazy person's path is choked with self-made obstacles, while the upright travel a clear, open road. It matters because diligence and integrity smooth life's way that sloth complicates.
Overview
Using vivid imagery, the proverb pictures the sluggard's way as a hedge of thorns and the upright's as a level highway. Laziness manufactures difficulties and excuses, whereas uprightness yields a path of relative ease and progress. The contrast reflects the broader biblical theme that wisdom orders life rightly under God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Isa 35:8And there will be a highway called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it—only those who walk in the Way—and fools will not stray onto it.
- Prov 22:5Thorns and snares lie on the path of the perverse; he who guards his soul stays far from them.
- Prov 22:13The slacker says, “There is a lion outside! I will be slain in the streets!”
- Prov 26:13The slacker says, “A lion is in the road! A fierce lion roams the public square!”
- Isa 30:21And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”
- Ps 27:11Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path, because of my oppressors.
- Num 14:1–3Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept.
- Prov 8:9They are all plain to the discerning, and upright to those who find knowledge.
- Ps 5:8Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make straight Your way before me.
- Ps 25:8–9Good and upright is the LORD; therefore He shows sinners the way.
- Num 14:7–9and said to the whole congregation of Israel, “The land we passed through and explored is an exceedingly good land.
- Prov 3:6in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
- Ps 25:12Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the path chosen for him.
- Isa 57:14And it will be said, “Build it up, build it up, prepare the way, take every obstacle out of the way of My people.”
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 15:19 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.