A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who pours out lies will perish.
Parallel translations
- WEB A false witness shall not be unpunished. He who utters lies shall perish.
- KJV A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.
- NKJV A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who speaks lies shall perish.
- NASB A false witness will not go unpunished, And one who declares lies will perish.
- NLT A false witness will not go unpunished, and a liar will be destroyed.
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 false witness will not go unpunished and the liar will perish. Deceit ends in destruction.
Overview
Closely echoing verse 5, this proverb intensifies the warning: the false witness will not escape, and the one who breathes out lies 'shall perish.' The repetition stresses how seriously God regards truthfulness and how certain is the judgment on deceit. It calls God's people to integrity of speech and points to the final judgment, from which only the truth of the gospel can deliver.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Rev 22:15But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
- Prov 19:5A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will not escape.
- Rev 19:20But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
- 2 Pet 2:1–3Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.
- Rev 21:8But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
- Jer 28:15–17Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The LORD did not send you, but you have persuaded this people to trust in a lie.
- Ezek 13:22Because you have disheartened the righteous with your lies, even though I have caused them no grief, and because you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways to save their lives,
- Isa 9:15–17The head is the elder and honorable man, and the tail is the prophet who teaches lies.
- 2 Th 2:8–10And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.
- Jer 29:31–32“Send a message telling all the exiles what the LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you—though I did not send him—and has made you trust in a lie,
- 1 Tim 4:1–2Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,
- Jer 23:25–32“I have heard the sayings of the prophets who prophesy lies in My name: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 19:9 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.