The highway of the upright leads away from evil; he who guards his way protects his life.
Parallel translations
- WEB The highway of the upright is to depart from evil. He who keeps his way preserves his soul.
- KJV The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.
- NKJV The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who keeps his way preserves his soul.
- NASB The highway of the upright is to turn away from evil; One who watches his way protects his life.
- NLT The path of the virtuous leads away from evil; whoever follows that path is safe.
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 upright travel a clear road that turns away from evil, and guarding that path guards one's life. It matters because watchful, intentional avoidance of evil preserves the soul.
Overview
This proverb describes the way of the upright as a highway whose purpose is departure from evil. Carefully keeping to this path protects one's very life. It calls for vigilance in holiness and points to the life of discipleship, in which believers are kept by God as they walk in His ways.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 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 10:9He who walks in integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out.
- Prov 19:16He who keeps a commandment preserves his soul, but he who is careless in his ways will die.
- Prov 4:24–27Put away deception from your mouth; keep your lips from perverse speech.
- Titus 2:10–14not stealing from them, but showing all good faith, so that in every respect they will adorn the teaching about God our Savior.
- Jude 1:21keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life.
- Rev 3:10Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
- Heb 10:39But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
- Acts 10:35but welcomes those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.
- Matt 24:13But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.
- Acts 24:16In this hope, I strive always to maintain a clear conscience before God and man.
- Jude 1:24Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—
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 16:17 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.