Limitless Word
lest you learn his ways, and ensnare your soul.
Proverbs 22:25 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.
  • BSB or you may learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.
  • ESV lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.
  • NKJV Lest you learn his ways And set a snare for your soul.
  • NASB Or you will learn his ways And find a snare for yourself.
  • NLT or you will learn to be like them and endanger your soul.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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

Close ties with an angry person will lead you to copy his ways and trap yourself.

Overview

This completes the previous verse: bad company corrupts, and an angry friend's temper becomes a snare to the soul. The danger is internal, learned habits of wrath that ensnare and bring ruin. By contrast, Christ calls His followers to learn from Him, who is "gentle and lowly in heart" (Matt. 11:29).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 3

  • 1 Cor 15:33Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships corrupt good morals.”
  • Ps 106:35but mixed themselves with the nations, and learned their works.
  • Prov 13:20One who walks with wise men grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Proverbs videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Proverbs 22:25YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ProverbsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 22:25 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.