Limitless Word
In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:6 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
  • KJV In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
  • BSB in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
  • NKJV In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
  • NLT Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

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

Acknowledge God in all your ways and He will make your paths straight. It matters because submitting every part of life to God brings His guidance.

Overview

To acknowledge God in all our ways means to know and honor Him in every decision and area of life. The promise is that He will direct and smooth our path. This is not a guarantee of ease but of God's faithful, wise leading for those who trust Him.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 22

  • Prov 16:3Commit your deeds to Yahweh, and your plans shall succeed.
  • Ps 32:8I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go. I will counsel you with my eye on you.
  • Phil 4:6In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
  • Prov 16:9A man’s heart plans his course, but Yahweh directs his steps.
  • Jer 10:23Yahweh, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
  • Jas 1:5But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given to him.
  • Isa 30:21and when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way. Walk in it.”
  • Isa 48:17Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you should go.
  • Ps 25:8–9Good and upright is Yahweh, therefore he will instruct sinners in the way.
  • Col 3:23And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men,
  • Col 3:17Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him.
  • Prov 23:17Don’t let your heart envy sinners; but rather fear Yahweh all day long.
  • 1 Cor 10:31Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
  • 1 Chr 28:9You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Yahweh searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.
  • 1 Sam 30:8David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “If I pursue after this troop, will I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue; for you will surely overtake them, and will without fail recover all.”
  • Isa 45:13I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways. He shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free, not for price nor reward,” says Yahweh of Armies.
  • Neh 1:11Lord, I beg you, let your ear be attentive now to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants, who delight to fear your name; and please prosper your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Now I was cup bearer to the king.
  • Ezra 8:22–23For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the way, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is on all those who seek him, for good; but his power and his wrath is against all those who forsake him.”
  • Neh 2:4Then the king said to me, “What is your request?” So I prayed to the God of heaven.
  • Ezra 7:27Blessed be Yahweh, the God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify Yahweh’s house which is in Jerusalem;
  • 2 Cor 8:16But thanks be to God, who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus.
  • 1 Sam 4:11–12God’s ark was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Proverbs videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Proverbs 3:6YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ProverbsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 3:6 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.