New Living Translation
Proverbs 20:24
24The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?
Proverbs 20:24 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Man’s goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way?
- New International Version (NIV)A person’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand their own way?
- English Standard Version (ESV)A man's steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way?
- New King James Version (NKJV)A man’s steps are of the Lord; How then can a man understand his own way?
Context of Proverbs 20:24
22Don’t say, “I will get even for this wrong.” Wait for the Lord to handle the matter. 23The Lord detests double standards; he is not pleased by dishonest scales. The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way? 25Don’t trap yourself by making a rash promise to God and only later counting the cost. 26A wise king scatters the wicked like wheat, then runs his threshing wheel over them.
Read all of Proverbs 20Proverbs 20:24 word by word
מֵיהוָ֥ה מִצְעֲדֵי־גָ֑בֶר וְ֝אָדָ֗ם מַה־יָּבִ֥ין דַּרְכּֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 20:24
- Psalms 37:23The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
- Jeremiah 10:23I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to plan our own course.
- Daniel 5:23For you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his Temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!
- Acts 17:28For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’
- Proverbs 14:8The prudent understand where they are going, but fools deceive themselves.
- Proverbs 16:9We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.
- Psalms 25:4Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow.
- Isaiah 10:6I am sending Assyria against a godless nation, against a people with whom I am angry. Assyria will plunder them, trampling them like dirt beneath its feet.
Commentaries on Proverbs 20:24
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 24Man's goings are of the Lord - He, by his providence, governs all the great concerns of the world. Man often traverses these operations; but he does it to his own damage. An old writer quaintly says: "They who will carve for themselves shall cut their fingers."Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 24The order of a man‘s life is a mystery even to himself. He knows not where he is going, or for what God is educating him.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 24Verse 24 How can we form plans, and conduct business, independently of the Lord?Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 24God clearly guides our steps (see Proverbs 16:1, 9, 33). We do not need to understand why things happen. We should not lose hope because God is in control.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2424. Man's goings--literally, "Stately steppings of a strong man." a man--any common man. understand--or, "perceive."Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 20:24
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 20
- 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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