He who keeps a commandment preserves his soul, but he who is careless in his ways will die.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, but he who is contemptuous in his ways shall die.
- KJV He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul; but he that despiseth his ways shall die.
- NKJV He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, But he who is careless of his ways will die.
- NASB One who keeps the commandment keeps his soul, But one who is careless of conduct will die.
- NLT Keep the commandments and keep your life; despising them leads to 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
Keeping God's commandment guards one's life, but carelessness leads to death. Obedience is the path of life.
Overview
This proverb teaches that the one who keeps the commandment keeps his own soul, while the one who despises God's ways will die. It binds obedience to life and contempt for God's instruction to destruction. The principle finds its fulfillment in the gospel, where eternal life comes through Christ, who perfectly kept God's law and gives life to all who trust and follow Him (John 14:21).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 23
- Luke 10:28“You have answered correctly,” Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.”
- Prov 13:13He who despises instruction will pay the penalty, but the one who respects a command will be rewarded.
- 1 Jn 5:3For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome,
- Luke 11:28But He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
- Prov 16:17The highway of the upright leads away from evil; he who guards his way protects his life.
- Prov 21:23He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress.
- Matt 16:26What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
- Rev 22:14Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates.
- Prov 29:18Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the Law.
- Eccl 8:5Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
- 1 Jn 3:22and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight.
- Prov 3:1My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;
- 1 Cor 7:19Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commandments is what counts.
- Prov 22:5Thorns and snares lie on the path of the perverse; he who guards his soul stays far from them.
- John 15:10–14If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.
- Eccl 12:13When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.
- Ezek 33:5Since he heard the sound of the horn but failed to heed the warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had heeded the warning, he would have saved his life.
- Jer 7:23but this is what I commanded them: Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that it may go well with you.
- Prov 15:32He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.
- John 14:21–23Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”
- 1 Jn 2:3–4By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments.
- John 14:15If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
- Ps 103:18to those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.
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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 19:16 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
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