Proverbs 4:16

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

For they sleep not, except they do evil; And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.

Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

כִּ֤י לֹ֣א יִֽ֭שְׁנוּ אִם־לֹ֣א יָרֵ֑עוּ וְֽנִגְזְלָ֥ה שְׁ֝נָתָ֗ם אִם־לֹ֥א *יכשולו **יַכְשִֽׁילוּ׃

Transliteration

kî lōʾ yîšənû ʾim-lōʾ yārēʿû wənigzəlâ šənātām ʾim-lōʾ yakšîlû

Grammar Details

*kî*: conjunction - for/because
*lōʾ*: negative particle - not
*yîšənû*: imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural, qal - they sleep
*ʾim-lōʾ*: conjunction + negative particle - if not/unless
*yārēʿû*: imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural, hiphil - they do evil
*wənigzəlâ*: conjunction + perfect, 3rd person feminine singular, niphal - and is robbed/taken away
*šənātām*: feminine singular noun + 3rd person masculine plural suffix - their sleep
*yakšîlû*: imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural, hiphil - they cause to stumble

Word Meanings

*yîšənû*: sleep/slumber
*yārēʿû*: do evil/harm/wrong
*nigzəlâ*: is robbed/taken away/snatched
*yakšîlû*: cause to stumble/make fall/bring down

ℹ️

About this Translation

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Formal EquivalenceSource: American Standard VersionBest for: Word studies and original-language research

🎯 Translation Approach

A highly literal, word-for-word translation (ASV, 1901) augmented with Strong's numbering to connect English words to underlying Hebrew and Greek terms for study.

Word-for-word

5/5

Readability

2/5

💎 Distinctive Features

Integrated Strong's numbering: Links English terms to underlying Hebrew and Greek words for deeper lexical study.
Formal equivalence: Prioritizes close alignment with source-language forms and structures.
Divine name rendering: Frequently renders the Tetragrammaton as Jehovah in the Old Testament, following ASV tradition.
Study-focused formatting: Optimized for reference and research rather than casual reading.

✅ Strengths

High fidelity to original languages
Includes Strong's numbers for precise word study
Consistent lexical choices aid exegesis
Stable, longstanding scholarly text

⚠️ Considerations

Archaic language reduces readability
Older textual basis compared to some modern translations
Strong's numbers are a concordance index, not full lexical definitions

👥 Who is this for?

Ideal for

Pastors and teachers
Seminary students
Serious Bible students
Readers conducting word studies
Those referencing Hebrew/Greek tools

Consider alternatives for

Casual readers
Children and early teens
ESL learners seeking simple English
Readers preferring contemporary language

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Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

Ps 36:4 : 4 He deviseth iniquity upon his bed; He setteth himself in a way that is not good; He abhorreth not evil.
Mic 2:1 : 1 Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
Prov 1:16 : 16 For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood.
Isa 57:20 : 20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it cannot rest, and its waters cast up mire and dirt.
2 Pet 2:14 : 14 having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; enticing unstedfast souls; having a heart exercised in covetousness; children of cursing;
Luke 22:66 : 66 And as soon as it was day, the assembly of the elders of the people was gathered together, both chief priests and scribes; and they led him away into their council, saying,
John 18:28 : 28 They lead Jesus therefore from Caiaphas into the Praetorium: and it was early; and they themselves entered not into the Praetorium, that they might not be defiled, but might eat the passover.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

Prov 4:17
85%
17For they eat the bread of wickedness, And drink the wine of violence.
Mic 2:1
79%
1Woe to them that devise iniquity and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand.
Prov 1:16
76%
16For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood.
Job 24:13-14
2 verses
75%
13These are of them that rebel against the light; They know not the ways thereof, Nor abide in the paths thereof.
14The murderer riseth with the light; He killeth the poor and needy; And in the night he is as a thief.
Hos 7:6
75%
6For they have made ready their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire.
Job 24:16-17
2 verses
75%
16In the dark they dig through houses: They shut themselves up in the day-time; They know not the light.
17For the morning is to all of them as thick darkness; For they know the terrors of the thick darkness.
Prov 4:15
75%
15Avoid it, pass not by it; Turn from it, and pass on.
1 Thess 5:7
75%
7For they that sleep sleep in the night: and they that are drunken are drunken in the night.
Prov 24:15
75%
15Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the habitation of the righteous; Destroy not his resting-place:
Prov 24:2
75%
2For their heart studieth oppression, And their lips talk of mischief.
Prov 6:4
75%
4Give not sleep to thine eyes, Nor slumber to thine eyelids;
Ps 36:4
74%
4He deviseth iniquity upon his bed; He setteth himself in a way that is not good; He abhorreth not evil.
Prov 1:18
74%
18And these lay wait for their own blood; They lurk privily for their own lives.
Isa 59:7-8
2 verses
74%
7Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their paths.
8The way of peace they know not; and there is no justice in their goings: they have made them crooked paths; whosoever goeth therein doth not know peace.
Rom 3:15-16
2 verses
74%
15Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16Destruction and misery are in their ways;
Prov 1:11
74%
11If they say, Come with us, Let us lay wait for blood; Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause;
Job 4:13
74%
13In thoughts from the visions of the night, When deep sleep falleth on men,
Ps 64:4-5
2 verses
73%
4That they may shoot in secret places at the perfect: Suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.
5They encourage themselves in an evil purpose; They commune of laying snares privily; They say, Who will see them?
Isa 17:14
73%
14At eventide, behold, terror; [and] before the morning they are not. This is the portion of them that despoil us, and the lot of them that rob us.
Prov 21:7
73%
7The violence of the wicked shall sweep them away, Because they refuse to do justice.
Ps 35:20
73%
20For they speak not peace; But they devise deceitful words against them that are quiet in the land.
Prov 24:33
73%
33[ Yet] a little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep;
Ps 76:5
73%
5The stouthearted are made a spoil, They have slept their sleep; And none of the men of might have found their hands.
Ps 140:2
73%
2Who devise mischiefs in their heart; Continually do they gather themselves together for war.
Ps 37:32
73%
32The wicked watcheth the righteous, And seeketh to slay him.
Prov 4:19
73%
19The way of the wicked is as darkness: They know not at what they stumble.
Prov 6:10
73%
10[ Yet] a little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep:
Ps 55:10
72%
10Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: Iniquity also and mischief are in the midst of it.
Job 24:6
72%
6They cut their provender in the field; And they glean the vintage of the wicked.
Nah 1:10
72%
10For entangled like thorns, and drunken as with their drink, they are consumed utterly as dry stubble.
Ps 21:11
72%
11For they intended evil against thee; They conceived a device which they are not able to perform.
Ps 14:4
72%
4Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, Who eat up my people [as] they eat bread, And call not upon Jehovah?
Prov 2:14
72%
14Who rejoice to do evil, And delight in the perverseness of evil;
Mic 7:3
71%
3Their hands are upon that which is evil to do it diligently; the prince asketh, and the judge [is ready] for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth the evil desire of his soul: thus they weave it together.
Prov 16:30
71%
30He that shutteth his eyes, [it is] to devise perverse things: He that compresseth his lips bringeth evil to pass.
Ps 127:2
71%
2It is vain for you to rise up early, To take rest late, To eat the bread of toil; [For] so he giveth unto his beloved sleep.
Job 34:25
71%
25Therefore he taketh knowledge of their works; And he overturneth them in the night, so that they are destroyed.
Job 33:15
71%
15In a dream, in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falleth upon men, In slumberings upon the bed;
Ps 37:14
71%
14The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, To cast down the poor and needy, To slay such as are upright in the way.
Job 5:14
71%
14They meet with darkness in the day-time, And grope at noonday as in the night.
Job 4:8
71%
8According as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, And sow trouble, reap the same.
Eccl 5:12
71%
12The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much; but the fulness of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
Job 3:17
71%
17There the wicked cease from troubling; And there the weary are at rest.
Ps 28:3
71%
3Draw me not away with the wicked, And with the workers of iniquity; That speak peace with their neighbors, But mischief is in their hearts.
Jer 5:26
71%
26For among my people are found wicked men: they watch, as fowlers lie in wait; they set a trap, they catch men.