With deceit in his heart he devises evil; he continually sows discord.
Parallel translations
- WEB in whose heart is perverseness, who devises evil continually, who always sows discord.
- KJV Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord.
- NKJV Perversity is in his heart, He devises evil continually, He sows discord.
- NASB Who, with perversion in his heart, continually devises evil, Who spreads strife.
- NLT Their perverted hearts plot evil, and they constantly stir up trouble.
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
This man's heart constantly plots evil and stirs up conflict. Inner corruption overflows into sowing discord.
Overview
Behind the deceitful gestures lies a perverse heart continually devising evil and spreading strife. The root of his wickedness is internal, surfacing in division among people. Sowing discord is named here and again in 6:19 as especially hateful to God, who loves peace and unity.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Rom 16:17Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them.
- Mic 2:1Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.
- Prov 6:18–19a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil,
- Hos 8:7For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.
- Prov 26:17–22Like one who grabs a dog by the ears is a passerby who meddles in a quarrel not his own.
- Ps 36:4Even on his bed he plots wickedness; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he fails to reject evil.
- Prov 2:14from those who enjoy doing evil and rejoice in the twistedness of evil,
- Prov 22:8He who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
- Isa 32:7The weapons of the scoundrel are destructive; he hatches plots to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.
- Prov 16:28–30A perverse man spreads dissension, and a gossip divides close friends.
- Prov 3:29Do not devise evil against your neighbor, for he trustfully dwells beside you.
- Isa 57:20But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck.
- Ezek 11:2And the LORD said to me, “Son of man, these are the men who plot evil and give wicked counsel in this city.
- Prov 21:8The way of a guilty man is crooked, but the conduct of the innocent is upright.
- Gal 6:7–8Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
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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 6:14 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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