Verse (Click for Chapter) New International Version For they cannot rest until they do evil; they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble. New Living Translation For evil people can’t sleep until they’ve done their evil deed for the day. They can’t rest until they’ve caused someone to stumble. English Standard Version For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble. Berean Standard Bible For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall. King James Bible For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. New King James Version For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; And their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall. New American Standard Bible For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble. NASB 1995 For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble. NASB 1977 For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble. Legacy Standard Bible For they do not sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble. Amplified Bible For the wicked cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are deprived of sleep unless they make someone stumble and fall. Christian Standard Bible For they can’t sleep unless they have done what is evil; they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble. Holman Christian Standard Bible For they can’t sleep unless they have done what is evil; they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble. American Standard Version For they sleep not, except they do evil; And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. Contemporary English Version They can't sleep or rest until they do wrong or harm some innocent victim. English Revised Version For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. GOD'S WORD® Translation Wicked people cannot sleep unless they do wrong, and they are robbed of their sleep unless they make someone stumble. Good News Translation Wicked people cannot sleep unless they have done something wrong. They lie awake unless they have hurt someone. International Standard Version For they cannot sleep unless they are doing evil, and they are robbed of their sleep unless they cause someone to stumble. Majority Standard Bible For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall. NET Bible For they cannot sleep unless they cause harm; they are robbed of sleep until they make someone stumble. New Heart English Bible For they do not sleep, unless they do evil. Their sleep is taken away, unless they make someone fall. Webster's Bible Translation For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. World English Bible For they don’t sleep unless they do evil. Their sleep is taken away, unless they make someone fall. Literal Translations Literal Standard VersionFor they do not sleep if they do no evil, "" And their sleep has been taken away violently, "" If they do not cause [some] to stumble. Young's Literal Translation For they sleep not if they do not evil, And their sleep hath been taken violently away, If they cause not some to stumble. Smith's Literal Translation For they slept not, if they shall not do evil; and their sleep was taken away, if they shall not cause to falter. Catholic Translations Douay-Rheims BibleFor they sleep not except they have done evil: and their sleep is taken away unless they have made some to fall. Catholic Public Domain Version For they do not sleep, unless they have done evil. And their sleep is quickly taken away from them, unless they have overthrown. New American Bible For they cannot rest unless they have done evil; if they do not trip anyone they lose sleep. New Revised Standard Version For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble. Translations from Aramaic Lamsa BibleFor they do not sleep until they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away until their evil devices are carried out. Peshitta Holy Bible Translated They do not sleep until they do evil and their sleep flees away until they do their desires. OT Translations JPS Tanakh 1917For they sleep not, except they have done evil; And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. Brenton Septuagint Translation For they cannot sleep, unless they have done evil: their sleep is taken away, and they rest not. Additional Translations ... Audio Bible Context A Father's Instruction…15Avoid it; do not travel on it. Turn from it and pass on by. 16For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall. 17For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.… Cross References Psalm 36:4 Even on his bed he plots wickedness; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he fails to reject evil. Micah 2:1 Woe 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. Isaiah 57:20-21 But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck. / “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” Romans 3:15-17 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; / ruin and misery lie in their wake, / and the way of peace they have not known.” Isaiah 59:7-8 Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake. / The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their tracks. They have turned them into crooked paths; no one who treads on them will know peace. Job 15:35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.” Matthew 23:13 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter. Jeremiah 14:10 This is what the LORD says about this people: “Truly they love to wander; they have not restrained their feet. So the LORD does not accept them; He will now remember their iniquity and punish them for their sins.” Ephesians 4:18-19 They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. / Having lost all sense of shame, they have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity, with a craving for more. Psalm 10:7-8 His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and violence; trouble and malice are under his tongue. / He lies in wait near the villages; in ambush he slays the innocent; his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless. 1 Thessalonians 5:7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. John 3:19-20 And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. / Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. Psalm 7:14 Behold, the wicked man travails with evil; he conceives trouble and births falsehood. 2 Peter 2:14 Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed. Proverbs 1:16 For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood. Treasury of Scripture For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. Proverbs 1:16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. Psalm 36:4 He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil. Isaiah 57:20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. Jump to Previous Cause Caused Evil Except Fall Mischief Robbed Sleep Slumber Someone Someone's Stumble Unless Violently WrongJump to Next Cause Caused Evil Except Fall Mischief Robbed Sleep Slumber Someone Someone's Stumble Unless Violently WrongProverbs 4 1. persuades to wisdom14. and to show wickedness 20. He exhorts to sanctification For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; This phrase highlights the compulsive nature of the wicked, suggesting that their actions are not merely choices but necessities driven by their corrupt nature. In biblical context, this reflects the pervasive influence of sin, as seen in Genesis 6:5, where every inclination of the human heart was only evil all the time. The inability to rest without committing evil acts underscores the depth of their moral depravity. This can be contrasted with the peace and rest promised to the righteous, as seen in Psalm 4:8, where the faithful can lie down and sleep in safety. The phrase also echoes the idea of spiritual bondage, where sin becomes a master, as Paul describes in Romans 6:16. they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall. Persons / Places / Events 1. The WickedThis verse refers to those who are characterized by evil actions and intentions. In the context of Proverbs, the wicked are often contrasted with the righteous, highlighting the moral and ethical divide between those who follow God's wisdom and those who do not. 2. Solomon Traditionally attributed as the author of Proverbs, Solomon is known for his wisdom. He provides these teachings as guidance for living a life that honors God. 3. The Path of Wisdom While not directly mentioned in this verse, the broader context of Proverbs 4 contrasts the path of wisdom with the path of wickedness, urging the reader to choose the former. Teaching Points The Nature of WickednessWickedness is not just an occasional act but a consuming lifestyle that disrupts peace and rest. The Importance of Guarding One's Heart As believers, we must be vigilant in guarding our hearts against the influence of evil, recognizing that sin can become a consuming force. The Contrast with Righteous Living The righteous find peace and rest in God, contrasting with the restless pursuit of evil by the wicked. The Consequences of Sin Sin leads to a lack of true rest and fulfillment, highlighting the need for repentance and turning towards God. The Call to Choose Wisdom Proverbs urges us to choose the path of wisdom, which leads to life and peace, over the path of wickedness.(16) For they sleep not . . .--The practice of evil has become as it were a second nature to them, they cannot live without it.Verse 16. - This verse exhibits the extreme depravity and debasement into which "the wicked" (r'shaim) and "the evil" (raim) of ver. 14 have fallen. Their sins are not sins of frailty, but arise from premeditation and from their insatiable desire to commit wickedness. Sin has become to them a kind of second nature, and, unless they indulge in it, sleep is banished from their eyes. They sleep not; lo-yish'nu, future of yashan, "to fall asleep;" the future here being used for the present, as is frequently the case in the Proverbs, and denoting a permanent condition or habit. Unless they cause some to fall; i.e. "unless they have betrayed others into sin," taking the verb in an ethical sense (Zockler), or, which is preferable, owing to ver. 16a, unless they have done them some injury (Mercerus); Vulgate, nisi supplantaverint. For the Khetib yik'shulu, kal, which would mean "unless they have stumbled or fallen," the Keri substitutes the hiph. yak'shihi "unless they have caused some to fall." The hiph. is found without any object, as here, in 2 Chronicles 25:8). (On the verb khasal, from which it is derived, see ch. 4:12.) With the statement of the verse we may compare David's complaint of the persistent persecution of his enemies (Psalm 59:15), "If they be not satisfied, then will they stay all night" (margin). A similar construction to the one before us occurs in Virgil: "Et si non aliqua nocuisses, mortuus esses" - "And had you not, by some means or other done him an injury, you would have died" ('Eclog.,' 3:15); cf. also Juvenal: "Ergo non aliter poterit dormire; quibusdam somnum rixa facit" - "Therefore, not otherwise, would he have slept; contention to some produces sleep." Hitzig rejects vers. 16 and 17 against all manuscript authority. Parallel Commentaries ... Hebrew Forכִּ֤י (kî) Conjunction Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction they cannot לֹ֣א (lō) Adverb - Negative particle Strong's 3808: Not, no sleep יִֽ֭שְׁנוּ (yiš·nū) Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural Strong's 3462: To be slack, languid, sleep, to grow old, stale, inveterate unless אִם־ (’im-) Conjunction Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not they do evil, יָרֵ֑עוּ (yā·rê·‘ū) Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine plural Strong's 7489: To spoil, to make, good for, nothing, bad they are deprived וְֽנִגְזְלָ֥ה (wə·niḡ·zə·lāh) Conjunctive waw | Verb - Nifal - Conjunctive perfect - third person feminine singular Strong's 1497: To pluck off, to flay, strip, rob of slumber שְׁ֝נָתָ֗ם (nā·ṯām) Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine plural Strong's 8142: Sleep until אִם־ (’im-) Conjunction Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not they make someone fall, יַכְשִֽׁילוּ׃ (yaḵ·šî·lū) Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine plural Strong's 3782: To totter, waver, to falter, stumble, faint, fall Links Proverbs 4:16 NIVProverbs 4:16 NLT Proverbs 4:16 ESV Proverbs 4:16 NASB Proverbs 4:16 KJV Proverbs 4:16 BibleApps.com Proverbs 4:16 Biblia Paralela Proverbs 4:16 Chinese Bible Proverbs 4:16 French Bible Proverbs 4:16 Catholic Bible OT Poetry: Proverbs 4:16 For they don't sleep unless they do (Prov. Pro Pr) |
    |