When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
Parallel translations
- WEB When you walk, it will lead you. When you sleep, it will watch over you. When you awake, it will talk with you.
- BSB When you walk, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.
- NKJV When you roam, they will lead you; When you sleep, they will keep you; And when you awake, they will speak with you.
- NASB When you walk, they will guide you; When you sleep, they will watch over you; And when you awake, they will talk to you.
- NLT When you walk, their counsel will lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up, they will advise you.
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 wisdom guides you while walking, guards you while sleeping, and counsels you when you wake. Godly teaching accompanies you everywhere.
Overview
The personified instruction leads, watches over, and speaks to the son at every moment of life. The threefold picture echoes the Law's promise to be a constant guide and companion. Internalized truth is portrayed as an active, protective presence, foreshadowing the indwelling word that shapes the believer's daily walk.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 119:11Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
- Prov 3:23–24Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.
- Ps 119:24Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.
- Prov 2:11Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
- Ps 43:3O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.
- Ps 119:97O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
- Ps 119:9Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
- Ps 119:54Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
- Ps 17:4Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.
- Ps 119:148Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word.
- Dan 11:18–21After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many: but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 6:22 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
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.