There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
Parallel translations
- KJV There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
- BSB There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
- NKJV There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
- NASB There is a way which seems right to a person, But its end is the way of death.
- NLT There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.
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
A path may seem right to a person yet end in death. It matters because human intuition apart from God's wisdom can be fatally deceptive.
Overview
Repeating Proverbs 14:12 verbatim, this proverb warns that self-assured judgment can lead to ruin despite seeming correct. It exposes the danger of trusting our own sense of right over God's revealed wisdom. This points to the need for Christ, who alone is the true way that leads to life (John 14:6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Prov 14:12There is a way which seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
- Prov 12:15The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who is wise listens to counsel.
- 2 Cor 13:5Examine your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Test your own selves. Or don’t you know as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you are disqualified.
- Prov 12:26A righteous person is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
- John 7:47–49The Pharisees therefore answered them, “You aren’t also led astray, are you?
- Isa 28:15–19“Because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol are we in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it won’t come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves under falsehood.’”
- Acts 26:9“I myself most certainly thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
- John 9:40Those of the Pharisees who were with him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 16:25 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.