God’s Word Translation
Proverbs 6:12
12A good-for-nothing scoundrel is a person who has a dishonest mouth.
Proverbs 6:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth.
- New International Version (NIV)A troublemaker and a villain, who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
- English Standard Version (ESV)A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech,
- New King James Version (NKJV)A worthless person, a wicked man, Walks with a perverse mouth;
Context of Proverbs 6:12
10“Just a little sleep, just a little slumber, just a little nap.” 11Then your poverty will come ⌞to you⌟ like a drifter, and your need will come ⌞to you⌟ like a bandit. A good-for-nothing scoundrel is a person who has a dishonest mouth. 13He winks his eye, makes a signal with his foot, ⌞and⌟ points with his fingers. 14He devises evil all the time with a twisted mind. He spreads conflict.
Read all of Proverbs 6Proverbs 6:12 word by word
אָדָ֣ם בְּ֭לִיַּעַל אִ֣ישׁ אָ֑וֶן ה֝וֹלֵ֗ךְ עִקְּשׁ֥וּת פֶּֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 6:12
- Proverbs 11:6Decent people are saved by their righteousness, but treacherous people are trapped by their own greed.
- Proverbs 17:4An evildoer pays attention to wicked lips. A liar opens his ears to a slanderous tongue.
- 1 Samuel 17:28Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard David talking to the men. Then Eliab became angry with David. “Why did you come here,” he asked him, “and with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how overconfident and headstrong you are. You came here just to see the battle.”
- Jeremiah 24:2One basket had very good figs, like figs that ripen first. The other basket had very bad figs. These figs were so bad that they couldn’t be eaten.
- James 1:21So get rid of all immoral behavior and all the wicked things you do. Humbly accept the word that God has placed in you. This word can save you.
- Proverbs 6:14He devises evil all the time with a twisted mind. He spreads conflict.
- Proverbs 2:12⌞Wisdom will⌟ save you from the way of evil, from the person who speaks devious things,
- Proverbs 4:24Remove dishonesty from your mouth. Put deceptive speech far away from your lips.
- Proverbs 8:13To fear the Lord is to hate evil. I hate pride, arrogance, evil behavior, and twisted speech.
- Psalms 10:3The wicked person boasts about his selfish desires. He blesses robbers, but he curses the Lord.
- Psalms 36:3The words from his mouth are ⌞nothing but⌟ trouble and deception. He has stopped doing what is wise and good.
- Psalms 52:2Your tongue makes up threats. It’s like a sharp razor, you master of deceit.
- Psalms 59:7See what pours out of their mouths— swords from their lips! ⌞They think,⌟ “Who will hear us?”
- Psalms 73:8They ridicule. They speak maliciously. They speak arrogantly about oppression.
- Matthew 12:34You poisonous snakes! How can you evil people say anything good? Your mouth says what comes from inside you.
- Acts 20:30Some of your own men will come forward and say things that distort the truth. They will do this to lure disciples into following them.
Commentaries on Proverbs 6:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12A naughty person - בליעל אדם adam beliyal, "Adam good for nothing." When he lost his innocence. A man apostata; Old MS. Bible. A wicked man - און איש ish aven . He soon became a general transgressor after having departed from his God. All his posterity, unless restored by Divine grace, are men of Belial, and sinners by trade; and most of them, in one form or other, answer the character here given. They yield their members instruments of unrighteousness…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12A naughty person - literally, “a man of Belial,” i. e., a worthless man (see the Deuteronomy 13:13 note). This is the portrait of the man who is not to be trusted, whose look and gestures warn against him all who can observe. His speech is tortuous and crafty; his wink tells the accomplice that the victim is already snared; his gestures with foot and hand are half in deceit, and half in mockery.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-19Verses 12-19 If the slothful are to be condemned, who do nothing, much more those that do all the ill they can. Observe how such a man is described. He says and does every thing artfully, and with design. His ruin shall come without warning, and without relief. Here is a list of things hateful to God. Those sins are in a special manner provoking to God, which are hurtful to the comfort of human life. These things which God hates, we must hate in…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12-15Eyes...feet...fingers...heart: These body parts describe a person's overall character, not just a single foolish act.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1212. A naughty person--literally, "A man of Belial," or of worthlessness, that is, for good, and so depraved, or wicked (compare 1Sa 25:25; 30:22, &c.). Idleness and vice are allied. Though indolent in acts, he actively and habitually (walketh) is ill-natured in speech (Pr 4:24).Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 6:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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