He dies for lack of discipline, led astray by his own great folly.
Parallel translations
- WEB He will die for lack of instruction. In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.
- KJV He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
- NKJV He shall die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
- NASB He will die for lack of instruction, And in the greatness of his foolishness he will go astray.
- NLT He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness.
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
He dies for lack of discipline, led astray by his great folly. Refusing instruction is ultimately fatal.
Overview
The chapter closes with the end of the one who spurns correction: he dies for want of discipline, lost in his own folly. The warning against immorality culminates in death as the wages of unheeded sin. Set against this, wisdom, and ultimately Christ, offers the way of life rather than ruin (Prov 8:35-36).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Job 36:12But if they do not obey, then they perish by the sword and die without knowledge.
- Job 4:21Are not their tent cords pulled up, so that they die without wisdom?’
- 2 Pet 2:15–22They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.
- Prov 10:21The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of judgment.
- Prov 14:32The wicked man is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous man has a refuge even in death.
- Prov 14:14The backslider in heart receives the fill of his own ways, but a good man is rewarded for his ways.
- Ps 81:12So I gave them up to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices.
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 5:23 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.