Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the Law.
Parallel translations
- WEB Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but one who keeps the law is blessed.
- KJV Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
- NKJV Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.
- NASB Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is one who keeps the Law.
- NLT When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.
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
Without God's revealed word a people lose moral restraint and run wild, while those who keep His law are blessed.
Overview
"Revelation" here is God's authoritative word, especially as it came through prophets; where it is absent or ignored, society casts off self-control and disintegrates. The verse pairs prophetic revelation with keeping the law, showing that hearing God's word must lead to obedience. Blessing comes not from mere access to truth but from submission to it, a truth fulfilled in Christ, the living Word, whom the obedient receive in faith.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Jas 1:25But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.
- Luke 11:28But He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
- Hos 4:6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.
- John 13:17If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
- Ps 1:1–2Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.
- Prov 19:16He who keeps a commandment preserves his soul, but he who is careless in his ways will die.
- Ps 119:2Blessed are those who keep His testimonies and seek Him with all their heart.
- 1 Sam 3:1And the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. Now in those days the word of the LORD was rare and visions were scarce.
- Amos 8:11–12Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord GOD, when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.
- Matt 9:36When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
- Exod 32:25Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them run wild and become a laughingstock to their enemies.
- Ps 74:9There are no signs for us to see. There is no longer any prophet. And none of us knows how long this will last.
- Ps 19:11By them indeed Your servant is warned; in keeping them is great reward.
- Rom 10:13–15for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
- Rev 22:14Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates.
- 2 Chr 28:19For the LORD humbled Judah because Ahaz king of Israel had thrown off restraint in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the LORD.
- John 14:21–23Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”
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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 29:18 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.