The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh’s eyes are everywhere, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
- BSB The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.
- NKJV The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good.
- NASB The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Watching the evil and the good.
- NLT The Lord is watching everywhere, keeping his eye on both the evil and the good.
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 LORD's eyes are everywhere, watching the evil and the good. Nothing escapes God's all-seeing knowledge.
Overview
This proverb affirms God's omniscience and omnipresence: He observes all people and all deeds, both wicked and righteous. This truth is both a warning to the evildoer and a comfort to the faithful that their lives are seen and remembered. It points to the God before whom all is open and laid bare (Hebrews 4:13).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Heb 4:13Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
- Jer 16:17For mine eyes are upon all their ways: they are not hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine eyes.
- Jer 23:24Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
- 2 Chr 16:9For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore from henceforth thou shalt have wars.
- Prov 5:21For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.
- Job 31:4Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?
- Job 34:21–22For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he seeth all his goings.
- Jer 32:19Great in counsel, and mighty in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings:
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 15:3 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.