When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
Parallel translations
- WEB When you go, your steps will not be hampered. When you run, you will not stumble.
- BSB When you walk, your steps will not be impeded; when you run, you will not stumble.
- NKJV When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, And when you run, you will not stumble.
- NASB When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; And if you run, you will not stumble.
- NLT When you walk, you won’t be held back; when you run, you won’t stumble.
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
On wisdom's path your steps are unhindered and you will not stumble. The way of wisdom is free and steady.
Overview
Walking in wisdom, one finds the way unobstructed and secure, whether moving slowly or running. The wise are not tripped up by the snares that catch the foolish. This pictures the freedom and stability of a life ordered by God's truth, which Christ gives to those who walk in him (John 8:31-32).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Prov 3:23Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.
- Ps 18:36Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.
- 1 Pet 2:8And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.
- John 11:9–10Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
- 2 Sam 22:37Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip.
- 1 Jn 2:10–11He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
- Ps 91:11–12For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
- Prov 4:19The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
- Ps 119:165Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
- Job 18:7–8The steps of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down.
- Prov 6:22When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
- Rom 9:32–33Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
- Jer 31:9They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
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 4:12 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.