An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.
Parallel translations
- WEB A high look, and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, is sin.
- BSB Haughty eyes and a proud heart—the guides of the wicked—are sin.
- NKJV A haughty look, a proud heart, And the plowing of the wicked are sin.
- NASB Haughty eyes and a proud heart, The lamp of the wicked, is sin.
- NLT Haughty eyes, a proud heart, and evil actions are all sin.
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
Pride — haughty eyes and an arrogant heart — is itself sin and the wicked's guide. It matters because it identifies pride as the root of wickedness.
Overview
A 'high look' and proud heart, here called 'the lamp of the wicked,' light the path of the ungodly and are condemned as sin (Proverbs 6:16-17; 16:18). Pride exalts self against God and underlies much evil. Scripture consistently opposes the proud and exalts humility, the disposition God gives grace (James 4:6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Prov 6:17A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
- 1 Pet 5:5Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
- Luke 18:14I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
- 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.
- Isa 2:17And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
- Prov 15:8The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
- Prov 21:27The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?
- Ps 10:4The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.
- Isa 3:16Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
- Rom 14:23And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
- Prov 30:13There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.
- Isa 2:11The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day.
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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 21:4 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.