Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, near the dwelling of the righteous; do not destroy his resting place.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t lay in wait, wicked man, against the habitation of the righteous. Don’t destroy his resting place:
- KJV Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil not his resting place:
- NKJV Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; Do not plunder his resting place;
- NASB ¶Do not lie in ambush, you wicked person, against the home of the righteous; Do not destroy his resting place;
- NLT Don’t wait in ambush at the home of the godly, and don’t raid the house where the godly live.
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
Do not plot against or attack the home of the righteous.
Overview
Wisdom directly addresses the wicked, forbidding ambush against the righteous person's dwelling and rest. The righteous are under God's protection, and assaulting them invites His judgment. The verse assures that God watches over His people's peace, a security ultimately guaranteed in Christ, who keeps His own (John 10:28-29).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 140:5The proud hide a snare for me; the cords of their net are spread along the path, and lures are set out for me. Selah
- Isa 32:18Then my people will dwell in a peaceful place, in safe and secure places of rest.
- 1 Sam 23:20–23Now, O king, come down whenever your soul desires, and we will be responsible for delivering him into your hand.”
- Acts 9:24but Saul learned of their plot. Day and night they watched the city gates in order to kill him.
- Jer 11:19For I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter; I did not know that they had plotted against me: “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit; let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.”
- Ps 56:6They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps while they wait to take my life.
- Prov 1:11If they say, “Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause,
- 1 Sam 9:11And as they were climbing the hill to the city, they met some young women coming out to draw water and asked, “Is the seer here?”
- Ps 59:3See how they lie in wait for me. Fierce men conspire against me for no transgression or sin of my own, O LORD.
- 1 Sam 22:18–19So the king ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests!” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests himself. On that day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.
- Acts 25:3to grant them a concession against Paul by summoning him to Jerusalem, because they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.
- Ps 37:32Though the wicked lie in wait for the righteous, and seek to slay them,
- Acts 23:16But when the son of Paul’s sister heard about the plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul.
- Matt 26:4and they conspired to arrest Jesus covertly and kill Him.
- Prov 22:28Do not move an ancient boundary stone which your fathers have placed.
- Ps 10:8–10He lies in wait near the villages; in ambush he slays the innocent; his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless.
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 24:15 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.