To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.
Parallel translations
- WEB The fear of Yahweh is to hate evil. I hate pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth.
- KJV The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
- NKJV The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate.
- NASB “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride, arrogance, the evil way, And the perverted mouth, I hate.
- NLT All who fear the Lord will hate evil. Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech.
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
To fear Yahweh is to hate evil. Wisdom itself despises pride, arrogance, evil conduct, and deceitful speech.
Overview
The fear of the Lord, the foundation of wisdom, is here defined morally: it produces a hatred of evil that mirrors God's own. Pride, arrogance, the corrupt way, and the perverse mouth are named as the very things wisdom rejects. Reverence for God is never merely emotional; it reshapes our affections so we love what he loves and hate what he hates, a transformation worked by the Spirit in those united to Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Ps 97:10Hate evil, O you who love the LORD! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
- Prov 16:6By loving devotion and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one turns aside from evil.
- 1 Sam 2:3Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed.
- Prov 4:24Put away deception from your mouth; keep your lips from perverse speech.
- 1 Th 5:22Abstain from every form of evil.
- 1 Pet 5:5Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- Ps 119:128Therefore I admire all Your precepts and hate every false way.
- Amos 5:15Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”
- Ps 5:4–5For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; no evil can dwell with You.
- Prov 6:12A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth,
- Prov 16:18Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
- Prov 6:16–19There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him:
- 2 Tim 2:19Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from iniquity.”
- Ps 101:3I will set no worthless thing before my eyes. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.
- Ps 138:6Though the LORD is on high, He attends to the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar.
- Zech 8:17do not plot evil in your hearts against your neighbor, and do not love to swear falsely, for I hate all these things,” declares the LORD.
- Rom 12:9Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.
- Ps 119:104I gain understanding from Your precepts; therefore I hate every false way.
- Prov 10:31The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but a perverse tongue will be cut out.
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 8:13 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.