To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
Parallel translations
- WEB to deliver you from the way of evil, from the men who speak perverse things;
- BSB to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perversity,
- NKJV To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things,
- NASB To rescue you from the way of evil, From a person who speaks perverse things;
- NLT Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose words are twisted.
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
Wisdom delivers you from the way of evil and from deceitful men. It matters because wisdom rescues us from corrupting influences.
Overview
The first deliverance wisdom provides is from evil men whose speech is perverse. Discernment exposes and protects against the lies of corrupt company. This rescue from the path of wickedness reflects God's saving purpose to deliver His people from sin's influence.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 1 Cor 15:33Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.
- Prov 13:20He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
- Prov 8:13The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
- 2 Cor 6:17Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
- Isa 59:3–5For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.
- Acts 20:30Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
- Prov 16:28–30A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends.
- Ps 26:4–5I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.
- Ps 17:4–5Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.
- Prov 4:14–17Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
- Prov 1:10–19My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
- Prov 3:32For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous.
- Prov 9:6Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.
- Ps 141:4Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.
- Ps 101:4A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.
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 2:12 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.