Proverbs 1 · Verse 18

Proverbs 1:18

And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.
Proverbs 1:18, King James Version

Proverbs 1:18 in other translations

BSBBut they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives.
WEBbut these lay in wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives.
ASVAnd these lay wait for their own blood; They lurk privily for their own lives.
YLTAnd they for their own blood lay wait, They watch secretly for their own lives.
DARBYAnd these lay wait for their own blood; they lurk secretly for their own lives.
BBEAnd they are secretly waiting for their blood and making ready destruction for themselves.
WebsterAnd they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.

What does Proverbs 1:18 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 1:10-19

10-19. A solemn warning against temptation. entice--literally, "open the way." consent ... not--Sin is in consenting or yielding to temptation, not in being tempted.

Read the full comment on Proverbs 1:10-19 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 18 They lay wait for their own blood - I believe it is the innocent who are spoken of here, for whose blood and lives these lay wait and lurk privily; certainly not their own, by any mode of construction.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Proverbs 1:10-19

Wicked people are zealous in seducing others into the paths of the destroyer: sinners love company in sin. But they have so much the more to answer for. How cautious young people should be! "Consent thou not." Do not say as they say, nor do as they do, or would have thee to do; have no fellowship with them. Who could think that it should be a pleasure to one man to destroy another! See their idea of worldly wealth…

Read the full comment on Proverbs 1:10-19 →

Proverbs 1:18 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְ֭הֵםVe.hemand theyH1992
לְדָמָ֣םle.da.Mamfor own blood theirH1818
יֶאֱרֹ֑בוּye.'e.Routhey lie in waitH693
יִ֝צְפְּנ֗וּyitz.pe.Nuthey lie hiddenH6845
לְנַפְשֹׁתָֽם\׃le.naf.sho.Tamfor own life theirH5315

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Proverbs 1:18

  • Psalms 9:16

    The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.

  • Esther 7:10

    So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.

  • Proverbs 28:17

    A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him.

  • Proverbs 5:22-23

    His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

  • Psalms 7:14-16

    Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.

  • Psalms 55:23

    But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.

  • Matthew 27:4-5

    Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

  • Proverbs 9:17-18

    Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
5:22,23; 9:17,18; 28:17; Es 7:10; Ps 7:14-16; 9:16; 55:23; Mt 27:4,5

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Proverbs 1:17

    Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

  • Proverbs 1:18

    And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives.

  • Proverbs 1:19

    So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

Read all of Proverbs 1

Proverbs 1:18 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Mas ellos á su propia sangre ponen asechanzas, y á sus almas tienden lazo.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		et eux, ils sont aux embûches contre leur propre sang, ils se cachent pour guetter leurs propres âmes.
German
Elberfelder 1871		sie aber lauern auf ihr eigenes Blut, stellen ihren eigenen Seelen nach.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Ipsi quoque contra sanguinem suum insidiantur, et moliuntur fraudes contra animas suas.