New International Version
Proverbs 4:23
23Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
Proverbs 4:23 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Context of Proverbs 4:23
21Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; 22for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. 24Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. 25Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.
Read all of Proverbs 4Proverbs 4:23 word by word
מִֽכָּל־מִ֭שְׁמָר נְצֹ֣ר לִבֶּ֑ךָ כִּֽי־מִ֝מֶּ֗נּוּ תּוֹצְא֥וֹת חַיִּֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 4:23
- Proverbs 22:5In the paths of the wicked are snares and pitfalls, but those who would preserve their life stay far from them.
- Proverbs 23:19Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path:
- Proverbs 28:26Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.
- Deuteronomy 4:9Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.
- Psalms 139:23Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
- Jeremiah 17:9The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
- Mark 14:38Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
- Hebrews 12:15See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
- Proverbs 4:7The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.
- Proverbs 3:21My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion;
- Proverbs 11:16A kindhearted woman gains honor, but ruthless men gain only wealth.
- Proverbs 13:3Those who guard their lips preserve their lives, but those who speak rashly will come to ruin.
- Ecclesiastes 5:13I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,
- Matthew 12:35A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.
- Matthew 15:19For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
- Mark 7:21For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder,
Commentaries on Proverbs 4:23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23Keep thy heart with all diligence - "Above all keeping," guard thy heart. He who knows any thing of himself, knows how apt his affections are to go astray. For out of it are the issues of life - חיים תוצאות totseoth chaiyim, "the goings out of lives." Is not this a plain allusion to the arteries which carry the blood from the heart through the whole body, and to the utmost extremities? As long as the heart is capable of receiving and propelling the blood…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23Better, as in the margin, i. e., with more vigilance than men use over anything else. The words that follow carry on the same similitude. The fountains and wells of the East were watched over with special care. The heart is such a fountain, out of it flow the “issues” of life. Shall men let those streams be tainted at the fountain-head?Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-27Verses 14-27 The way of evil men may seem pleasant, and the nearest way to compass some end; but it is an evil way, and will end ill; if thou love thy God and thy soul, avoid it. It is not said, Keep at a due distance, but at a great distance; never think you can get far enough from it. The way of the righteous is light; Christ is their Way, and he is the Light. The saints will not be perfect till they reach heaven, but there they shall shine as the sun…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 23In the Old Testament, the heart symbolizes the center of emotions, thoughts, and reasoning (for example, Genesis 6:5; Deuteronomy 4:29; Psalm 131:1). The heart plays a key role in the struggle between wisdom and foolishness, and between righteousness and evil (see Matthew 5:8; 13:15; John 12:40; Romans 6:17).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2323. with all diligence--or, "above," or "more than all," custody (compare Margin), all that is kept (compare Eze 38:7), because the heart is the depository of all wisdom and the source of whatever affects life and character (Mt 12:35; 15:19).Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 4:23
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 4
- 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
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