Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t be wise in your own eyes. Fear Yahweh, and depart from evil.
- KJV Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
- NKJV Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.
- NASB Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
- NLT Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
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 be wise in your own eyes; fear Yahweh and turn from evil. It matters because humble reverence for God, not self-confidence, is true wisdom.
Overview
This verse warns against the pride of self-sufficient wisdom, the opposite of the fear of the Lord. Genuine wisdom is humble and turns from evil. Such humility before God is foundational to the whole book (1:7) and is modeled perfectly by Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Job 28:28And He said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”
- Rom 12:16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but enjoy the company of the lowly. Do not be conceited.
- Prov 26:12Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.
- Prov 16:6By loving devotion and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one turns aside from evil.
- Job 1:1There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And this man was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil.
- Isa 5:21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
- Ps 34:11–14Come, children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
- Eccl 12:13When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.
- Prov 14:27The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.
- Rom 11:25I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
- Neh 5:15The governors before me had heavily burdened the people, taking from them bread and wine plus forty shekels of silver. Their servants also oppressed the people, but I did not do this because of my fear of God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 3:7 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.