Do not devise evil against your neighbor, for he trustfully dwells beside you.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t devise evil against your neighbor, since he dwells securely by you.
- KJV Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.
- NKJV Do not devise evil against your neighbor, For he dwells by you for safety’s sake.
- NASB Do not devise harm against your neighbor, While he lives securely beside you.
- NLT Don’t plot harm against your neighbor, for those who live nearby trust you.
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 evil against a neighbor who trusts you and lives at peace beside you. Wisdom honors the trust of those around us.
Overview
To scheme harm against a neighbor who dwells securely is a betrayal of trust and a violation of love. The settled peace of community depends on such good faith. This command is summed up in loving one's neighbor as oneself (Lev 19:18; Rom 13:9-10), the heart of the law honored by Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Prov 6:14With deceit in his heart he devises evil; he continually sows discord.
- 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.
- Mic 2:1–2Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.
- Prov 16:29–30A violent man entices his neighbor and leads him down a path that is not good.
- Ps 55:20My companion attacks his friends; he violates his covenant.
- Ps 35:20For they do not speak peace, but they devise deceitful schemes against those who live quietly in the land.
- Prov 6:18a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,
- Jer 18:18–20Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”
- Prov 14:22Do not those who contrive evil go astray? But those who plan goodness find loving devotion and faithfulness.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 3:29 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.