Proverbs 4:23
New International Version
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

New Living Translation
Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

English Standard Version
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Berean Standard Bible
Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.

King James Bible
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

New King James Version
Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.

New American Standard Bible
Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

NASB 1995
Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

NASB 1977
Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

Legacy Standard Bible
Guard your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

Amplified Bible
Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

Christian Standard Bible
Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.

American Standard Version
Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Keep your heart with all caution because from it is the outgoing of life.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Keep thine heart with the utmost care; for out of these are the issues of life.

Contemporary English Version
Carefully guard your thoughts because they are the source of true life.

Douay-Rheims Bible
With all watchfulness keep thy heart, because life issueth out from it.

English Revised Version
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Guard your heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it.

Good News Translation
Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.

International Standard Version
Above everything else guard your heart, because from it flow the springs of life.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Above all that thou guardest keep thy heart; For out of it are the issues of life.

Literal Standard Version
Above every charge keep your heart, | For out of it [are] the outgoings of life.

Majority Standard Bible
Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.

New American Bible
With all vigilance guard your heart, for in it are the sources of life.

NET Bible
Guard your heart with all vigilance, for from it are the sources of life.

New Revised Standard Version
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

New Heart English Bible
Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life.

Webster's Bible Translation
Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

World English Bible
Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life.

Young's Literal Translation
Above every charge keep thy heart, For out of it are the outgoings of life.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
A Father's Instruction
22For they are life to those who find them, and health to the whole body. 23Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life. 24Put away deception from your mouth; keep your lips from perverse speech.…

Cross References
Matthew 12:34
You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

Matthew 15:18
But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a man.

Matthew 15:19
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.

Mark 7:21
For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,

Luke 6:45
The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

Deuteronomy 4:9
Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen, and so that they do not slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and grandchildren.

2 Kings 10:31
Yet Jehu was not careful to follow the instruction of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.


Treasury of Scripture

Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

keep

Proverbs 22:5
Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.

Proverbs 23:19
Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.

Proverbs 28:26
He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.

with all diligence

Proverbs 4:7
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

Proverbs 3:21
My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:

Proverbs 11:16
A gracious woman retaineth honour: and strong men retain riches.

for

Matthew 12:35
A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

Matthew 15:19
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

Mark 7:21-23
For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, …

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Proverbs 4
1. persuades to wisdom
14. and to show wickedness
20. He exhorts to sanctification














(23) Keep thy heart with all diligence.--Rather, above all things that are to be guarded.

For out of it are the issues of life.--That is, from it comes life (and also death). From it proceed "all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works," signs of the life with God within the soul; or, "evil thoughts, murders," &c. (Matthew 15:19), "the end of which things is death" (Romans 6:21).

Verse 23 - Keep thy heart with all diligence; properly, above all things that have to be guarded, keep or guard thy heart. So Mercerus, Gescnius, Delitzsch, Zockler. This seems to be the right meaning of the phrase, mikkol-mish'mar, rendered in the Authorized Version "with all diligence," mish'mar, from shamar, "to guard," being the object of guarding; that which is to be guarded. It is as if the teacher said, "Guard riches, property, health, body, everything, in short, in which you have a legitimate interest, or which is advantageous; but before and above everything else, keep a guard on your heart." The rabbins Jarehi, Ben Ezra, Rashi, however, give a different rendering, "From everything which is to be avoided (ab omni re cavenda) guard thy heart;" but the objection to this is that it ignores the radical meaning of the verb shamar, from which mish'mar is derived, as stated above, which is not that of avoiding, but of guarding. A third rendering is," Keep thy heart with all keeping;" so the Vulgate, omni custodia serva cor tuum; and the LXX., πασὴ φυλακῇ τήρει σὴν καρδίαν; on which the Authorized Version seems to be based. Another rendering, similar to the first, except that it gives mish'mar the active signification of guarding instead of the passive one of being kept or guarded, is, "Keep thy heart more than any other keeping (prae omni custodia)." Origen, 'Hex.;' Field. Again, Aquila and Theodotion render, "Keep thy heart by reason of every commandment (ἀπὸ παντὸς φυλάγματος)," thus bringing into prominence the occasion and the obligation of keeping the heart, which is that we are so commanded. Heart (lev); here the affections and the moral consciousness. For out of it are the issues of life. The conjunction "for" introduces the reason. The fact here stated is that the moral conduct of life, its actions and proceedings, are determined by the condition of the heart. If the heart is pure, the life will be pure; if the heart is corrupt, the life will be corrupt. The heart is here compared with a fountain. The same idea which is affixed to it in its physical sense is also assigned to it in its ethical or moral sense. Physically, it is the central organ of the body; morally, it is the seat of the affections and the centre of the moral consciousness. From this moral centre flow forth "the issues of life;" i.e. the currents of the moral life take their rise in and flow forth from it, just as from the heart, physically considered, the blood is propelled and flows forth into the arterial system, by which it is conveyed to the remotest extremities of the body. And as the bodily health depends on the healthy action of the heart, so the moral health depends on and is influenced by the state in which this spring of all action is preserved. Issues; tots'aoth, from yatsar, "to go forth," are the place from which anything goes forth, and hence a fountain. For "the issues of life," the LXX. reads, ἔξοδοι ζωῆς, the Vulgate., exitus vitae. With this passage compare our Lord's teaching (Matthew 15:19; Mark 7:21-23; Luke 6:43-45).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Guard
נְצֹ֣ר (nə·ṣōr)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 5341: To watch, guard, keep

your heart
לִבֶּ֑ךָ (lib·be·ḵā)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 3820: The heart, the feelings, the will, the intellect, centre

with all
מִֽכָּל־ (mik·kāl)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

diligence,
מִ֭שְׁמָר (miš·mār)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4929: Place of confinement, jail, prison, guard, watch, observance

for
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

from it
מִ֝מֶּ֗נּוּ (mim·men·nū)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's 4480: A part of, from, out of

flow
תּוֹצְא֥וֹת (tō·wṣ·’ō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 8444: An outgoing, extremity, perhaps source, escape

springs of life.
חַיִּֽים׃ (ḥay·yîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 2416: Alive, raw, fresh, strong, life


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