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Commit your deeds to Yahweh, and your plans shall succeed.
Proverbs 16:3 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.
  • BSB Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be achieved.
  • NKJV Commit your works to the Lord, And your thoughts will be established.
  • NASB Commit your works to the Lord, And your plans will be established.
  • NLT Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed.

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

Entrust your works to the Lord and your plans will be established. It matters because committing our efforts to God in dependence is the path to lasting success.

Overview

This proverb invites believers to roll their works onto Yahweh in trust, with the promise that their plans will be made firm. It is not a guarantee of every wish but an assurance that surrendered plans align with God's good purposes. It reflects the call to trust the Lord with all the heart (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Ps 37:4–5Also delight yourself in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
  • Prov 3:6In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
  • Ps 55:22Cast your burden on Yahweh, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved.
  • Phil 4:6In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
  • 1 Pet 5:7casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.
  • Job 22:28You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established to you. Light shall shine on your ways.
  • Job 5:8“But as for me, I would seek God. I would commit my cause to God,
  • Luke 12:22He said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life, what you will eat, nor yet for your body, what you will wear.
  • Matt 6:25–34Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
  • Isa 7:5–7Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have plotted evil against you, saying,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Proverbs videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Proverbs 16:3YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ProverbsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 16:3 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.