do not bring hastily to court. Otherwise, what will you do in the end when your neighbor puts you to shame?
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t be hasty in bringing charges to court. What will you do in the end when your neighbor shames you?
- KJV Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to shame.
- NKJV Do not go hastily to court; For what will you do in the end, When your neighbor has put you to shame?
- NASB ¶Do not go out hastily to argue your case; Otherwise, what will you do in the end, When your neighbor humiliates you?
- NLT don’t be in a hurry to go to court. For what will you do in the end if your neighbor deals you a shameful defeat?
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 rush into a lawsuit, lest you be shamed when your neighbor proves you wrong. Hasty accusation invites disgrace.
Overview
The proverb urges caution before bringing legal charges, since acting in haste can backfire publicly. It commends patience and careful verification over impulsive litigation. The spirit of the verse anticipates Jesus' teaching to seek reconciliation rather than quickly escalating disputes (Matt 5:25).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Matt 5:25Reconcile quickly with your adversary, while you are still on the way to court. Otherwise, he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.
- Prov 17:14To start a quarrel is to release a flood; so abandon the dispute before it breaks out.
- Prov 18:6A fool’s lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating.
- Prov 30:33For as the churning of milk yields butter, and the twisting of the nose draws blood, so the stirring of anger brings forth strife.”
- Prov 14:12There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
- Luke 14:31–32Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
- Jer 5:31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
- 2 Sam 2:26Then Abner called out to Joab: “Must the sword devour forever? Do you not realize that this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers?”
- 2 Sam 2:14–16Then Abner said to Joab, “Let us have the young men get up and compete before us.” “Let them get up,” Joab replied.
- 2 Kgs 14:8–12Then Amaziah sent messengers to the king of Israel Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu. “Come, let us meet face to face,” he said.
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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 25:8 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.