Limitless Word
Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge.
Proverbs 19:27 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB If you stop listening to instruction, my son, you will stray from the words of knowledge.
  • BSB If you cease to hear instruction, my son, you will stray from the words of knowledge.
  • NKJV Cease listening to instruction, my son, And you will stray from the words of knowledge.
  • NASB Stop listening, my son, to discipline, And you will stray from the words of knowledge.
  • NLT If you stop listening to instruction, my child, you will turn your back on knowledge.

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

Stop listening to instruction and you will wander from knowledge. Abandoning teaching leads to going astray.

Overview

This proverb warns the 'son' that to cease hearing instruction is to stray from the words of knowledge. It may be read as a pointed irony: ceasing to learn inevitably ends in error. The verse stresses the danger of turning away from godly teaching and the necessity of continual attentiveness to truth, a perseverance in God's Word that keeps the believer on the path of life.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 17

  • 1 Tim 6:3–5If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
  • Mark 4:24And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.
  • 1 Jn 4:1Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
  • Matt 7:15Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
  • Prov 14:7Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.
  • 2 Jn 1:10If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
  • 2 Cor 11:13–15For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
  • 1 Kgs 22:22–28And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
  • 1 Tim 4:7But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.
  • 2 Pet 2:1–2But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
  • Matt 16:12Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
  • John 10:5And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
  • Matt 16:6Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
  • Deut 13:1–4If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
  • Mark 7:6–14He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
  • Eph 4:14That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
  • Rev 2:2I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

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 19:27YouTube · 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 19:27 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.