For the devious are an abomination to the Lord; But He is intimate with the upright.
Parallel translations
- WEB For the perverse is an abomination to Yahweh, but his friendship is with the upright.
- KJV For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with the righteous.
- BSB for the LORD detests the perverse, but He is a friend to the upright.
- NKJV For the perverse person is an abomination to the Lord, But His secret counsel is with the upright.
- NLT Such wicked people are detestable to the Lord, but he offers his friendship to the godly.
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
The crooked person is detestable to the LORD, but he takes the upright into his confidence. God's intimate friendship belongs to the righteous.
Overview
This verse gives the reason not to envy the violent: their crooked ways are an abomination to God, while the upright enjoy his friendship and counsel. The contrast is between divine rejection and divine intimacy. Such fellowship with God is the believer's privilege, opened fully through Christ, who calls his own friends (John 15:14-15).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ps 25:14The friendship of Yahweh is with those who fear him. He will show them his covenant.
- Prov 11:20Those who are perverse in heart are an abomination to Yahweh, but those whose ways are blameless are his delight.
- John 15:15No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what his lord does. But I have called you friends, for everything that I heard from my Father, I have made known to you.
- Prov 17:15He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh.
- Prov 8:13The fear of Yahweh is to hate evil. I hate pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth.
- Matt 13:11He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.
- John 14:21–24One who has my commandments, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him.”
- Ps 18:26With the pure, you will show yourself pure. With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd.
- Matt 11:25At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants.
- Job 29:4as I was in the ripeness of my days, when the friendship of God was in my tent,
- Luke 16:15He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
- Rev 2:17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies. To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written, which no one knows but he who receives it.
- Prov 6:6–19Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise;
- Prov 14:10The heart knows its own bitterness and joy; he will not share these with a stranger.
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 3:32 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
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