A false witness will not go unpunished, and a liar will be destroyed.
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.
- BSB A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who pours out lies will 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.
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 22:15Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
- Prov 19:5A false witness shall not be unpunished. He who pours out lies shall not go free.
- Rev 19:20The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who worked the signs in his sight, with which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
- 2 Pet 2:1–3But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction.
- Rev 21:8But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
- Jer 28:15–17Then the prophet Jeremiah said to Hananiah the prophet, “Listen, Hananiah! Yahweh has not sent you, but you make this people trust in a lie.
- Ezek 13:22Because with lies you have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, and be saved alive.
- Isa 9:15–17The elder and the honorable man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail.
- 2 Th 2:8–10Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will kill with the breath of his mouth, and destroy by the manifestation of his coming;
- Jer 29:31–32“Send to all them of the captivity, saying, ‘Yahweh says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, and I didn’t send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie;”
- 1 Tim 4:1–2But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons,
- Jer 23:25–32“I have heard what the prophets have said, who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 19:9 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.