that you may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
Parallel translations
- KJV That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
- BSB So you will follow in the ways of the good, and keep to the paths of the righteous.
- NKJV So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness.
- NASB So you will walk in the way of good people And keep to the paths of the righteous.
- NLT So follow the steps of the good, and stay on the paths of the righteous.
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 keeps you walking in the way of good and righteous people. It matters because deliverance from evil leads to a positive life of righteousness.
Overview
The purpose of wisdom's deliverance (vv. 12-19) is positive: to set you on the path of the good. Wisdom not only rescues from evil but directs toward godly company and conduct. This righteous walk reflects the new life God gives in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Heb 6:12that you won’t be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherited the promises.
- 3 Jn 1:11Beloved, don’t imitate that which is evil, but that which is good. He who does good is of God. He who does evil hasn’t seen God.
- Ps 119:63I am a friend of all those who fear you, of those who observe your precepts.
- Jer 6:16Yahweh says, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, ‘Where is the good way?’ and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’
- Ps 119:115Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may keep the commandments of my God.
- Prov 13:20One who walks with wise men grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.
- Song 1:7–8Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you graze your flock, where you rest them at noon; For why should I be as one who is veiled beside the flocks of your companions?
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 2:20 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.