Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.
Parallel translations
- WEB Plans are established by advice; by wise guidance you wage war!
- BSB Set plans by consultation, and wage war under sound guidance.
- NKJV Plans are established by counsel; By wise counsel wage war.
- NASB Prepare plans by consultation, And make war by wise guidance.
- NLT Plans succeed through good counsel; don’t go to war without wise advice.
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
Plans succeed through counsel, and war is waged wisely with guidance. It matters because wise decisions require seeking good advice.
Overview
Whether in daily plans or weighty matters like warfare, success depends on sound counsel rather than going it alone (Proverbs 11:14; 15:22). The verse commends humility to seek wisdom from others. Ultimately, all true counsel flows from God, the 'Wonderful Counselor' (Isaiah 9:6; Proverbs 19:21).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Prov 15:22Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.
- Luke 14:31Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
- Prov 24:6For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.
- Prov 11:14Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
- Judg 1:1–2Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the LORD, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them?
- Judg 20:18And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the LORD said, Judah shall go up first.
- 2 Sam 2:26–27Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?
- Judg 20:7Behold, ye are all children of Israel; give here your advice and counsel.
- Prov 25:8Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.
- 2 Chr 25:17–23Then Amaziah king of Judah took advice, and sent to Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, Come, let us see one another in the face.
- Judg 20:26–28Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the LORD, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
- Judg 9:29And would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out.
- Judg 20:23(And the children of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until even, and asked counsel of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother? And the LORD said, Go up against him.)
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 20:18 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.