The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
Parallel translations
- WEB The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
- KJV His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
- NKJV His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin.
- NASB His own wrongdoings will trap the wicked, And he will be held by the ropes of his sin.
- NLT An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him.
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 wicked are trapped by their own sins, held fast by the cords of their iniquity. Sin becomes a self-made snare.
Overview
The wicked person's own evil deeds entangle him, and the ropes of his sin bind him fast. Sin is not freedom but bondage, ensnaring the one who practices it. This pictures the enslaving power of sin (John 8:34; Rom 6:16) from which only Christ can set free.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Prov 1:31–32So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
- Prov 11:5The righteousness of the blameless directs their path, but the wicked fall by their own wickedness.
- Ps 9:15The nations have fallen into a pit of their making; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
- Hos 4:11–14Promiscuity, wine, and new wine take away understanding.
- Eph 5:5–6For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
- Prov 1:18But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives.
- Num 32:23But if you do not do this, you will certainly sin against the LORD—and be assured that your sin will find you out.
- Ps 7:15–16He has dug a hole and hollowed it out; he has fallen into a pit of his own making.
- Prov 11:3The integrity of the upright guides them, but the perversity of the faithless destroys them.
- Gal 6:7–8Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
- Eccl 7:26And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.
- Gal 5:19–21The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
- Jer 2:19Your own evil will discipline you; your own apostasies will reprimand you. Consider and realize how evil and bitter it is for you to forsake the LORD your God and to have no fear of Me,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts.
- 1 Cor 5:9–10I wrote you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people.
- Heb 13:4Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
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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 5:22 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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