His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
Parallel translations
- WEB The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
- BSB The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
- 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 1:31–32Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
- Prov 11:5The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.
- Ps 9:15The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
- Hos 4:11–14Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
- Eph 5:5–6For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
- Prov 1:18And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
- Num 32:23But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.
- Ps 7:15–16He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.
- Prov 11:3The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.
- Gal 6:7–8Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
- Eccl 7:26And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her.
- Gal 5:19–21Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
- Jer 2:19Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
- 1 Cor 5:9–10I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators:
- Heb 13:4Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
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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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