to guard the paths of justice and protect the way of His saints.
Parallel translations
- WEB that he may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of his saints.
- KJV He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
- NKJV He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints.
- NASB Guarding the paths of justice, And He watches over the way of His godly ones.
- NLT He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him.
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
God guards the paths of justice and preserves the way of His saints. It matters because it assures the faithful that God watches over their journey.
Overview
The Lord protects the course of those who live justly and keeps watch over His faithful ones. Wisdom thus leads to a life under God's safekeeping. This preserving care belongs to all who are God's people, secured ultimately by the Good Shepherd.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Ps 23:3He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name.
- 1 Sam 2:9He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail.
- John 10:28–29I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand.
- Ps 145:20The LORD preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.
- Ps 66:9He preserves our lives and keeps our feet from slipping.
- Ps 37:23–24The steps of a man are ordered by the LORD who takes delight in his journey.
- Jude 1:24Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—
- Ps 37:28For the LORD loves justice and will not forsake His saints. They are preserved forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off.
- 1 Pet 1:5who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
- Prov 8:20I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice,
- Deut 33:3Surely You love the people; all the holy ones are in Your hand, and they sit down at Your feet; each receives Your words—
- Ps 1:6For the LORD guards the path of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
- Deut 33:26–29“There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your aid, and the clouds in His majesty.
- Isa 49:9–10to say to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ They will feed along the pathways, and find pasture on every barren hill.
- Ps 121:5–8The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is the shade on your right hand.
- Isa 35:9No lion will be there, and no vicious beast will go up on it. Such will not be found there, but the redeemed will walk upon it.
- Jer 32:40–41I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never turn away from doing good to them, and I will put My fear in their hearts, so that they will never turn away from Me.
- Ps 37:31The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not falter.
- Prov 3:21–24My son, do not lose sight of this: Preserve sound judgment and discernment.
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 2:8 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.