New King James Version
Proverbs 4:23
23Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.
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.
- New International Version (NIV)Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs 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 depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; 22For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. 24Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you. 25Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right 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 22:5Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; He who guards his soul will be far from them.
- Proverbs 23:19Hear, my son, and be wise; And guide your heart in the way.
- Proverbs 28:26He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But whoever walks wisely will be delivered.
- Deuteronomy 4:9Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren,
- Psalms 139:23Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;
- Jeremiah 17:9“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
- Mark 14:38Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
- Hebrews 12:15looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;
- Proverbs 4:7Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.
- Proverbs 3:21My son, let them not depart from your eyes— Keep sound wisdom and discretion;
- Proverbs 11:16A gracious woman retains honor, But ruthless men retain riches.
- Proverbs 13:3He who guards his mouth preserves his life, But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.
- Ecclesiastes 5:13There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun: Riches kept for their owner to his hurt.
- Matthew 12:35A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.
- Matthew 15:19For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
- Mark 7:21For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries