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Read the Bible

King James Version

Proverbs 28:14

Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Fear of God;   Happiness;   Heart;   Impenitence;   Wicked (People);   Thompson Chain Reference - Happiness;   Hardness (of Heart);   Heart;   Joy-Sorrow;   Penitence-Impenitence;   The Topic Concordance - Fear;   Happiness/joy;   Heart;   Mischief;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Backsliding;   Happiness of Saints in This Life;  

Dictionaries:

- Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Pardon;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Heart;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Hardness of the Heart;   Mercy, Merciful;   Proverbs, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Greek Versions of Ot;   Proverbs, Book of;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Hardeneth;  

Devotionals:

- Faith's Checkbook - Devotion for September 9;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Happy is the one who is always reverent,but one who hardens his heart falls into trouble.
Hebrew Names Version
Blessed is the man who always fears; But one who hardens his heart falls into trouble.
English Standard Version
Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.
New American Standard Bible
How blessed is the person who fears always, But one who hardens his heart will fall into disaster.
New Century Version
Those who are always respectful will be happy, but those who are stubborn will get into trouble.
Amplified Bible
Blessed and favored by God is the man who fears [sin and its consequence] at all times, But he who hardens his heart [and is determined to sin] will fall into disaster.
World English Bible
Blessed is the man who always fears; But one who hardens his heart falls into trouble.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Blessed is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart, shal fall into euill.
Legacy Standard Bible
How blessed is the man who is always in dread,But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.
Berean Standard Bible
Blessed is the man who is always reverent, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.
Contemporary English Version
The Lord blesses everyone who is afraid to do evil, but if you are cruel, you will end up in trouble.
Complete Jewish Bible
Happy the person who is never without fear, but he who hardens his heart will fall into misfortune.
Darby Translation
Happy is the man that feareth always; but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into evil.
Easy-to-Read Version
People who respect others will be blessed, but stubborn people will have plenty of troubles.
George Lamsa Translation
Blessed is the man who is reverent always; but he who hardens his heart shall fall into mischief.
Good News Translation
Always obey the Lord and you will be happy. If you are stubborn, you will be ruined.
Lexham English Bible
Happy is the person who fears continuously, but he who is stubborn of heart, will fall into calamity.
Literal Translation
Blessed is a man who is in awe constantly! But he who hardens his heart falls into evil.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Well is him that stodeth allwaye in awe: as for him that hardeneth his herte, he shal fall in to mischefe.
American Standard Version
Happy is the man that feareth alway; But he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.
Bible in Basic English
Happy is the man in whom is the fear of the Lord at all times; but he whose heart is hard will come into trouble.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Happy is the man that feareth alway; but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into evil.
King James Version (1611)
Happy is the man that feareth always: but he that hardeneth his heart, shall fall into mischiefe.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Well is hym that standeth alway in awe: as for hym that hardeneth his heart, he shall fall into mischiefe.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
As a door turns on the hinge, so does a sluggard on his bed.
English Revised Version
Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Blessid is the man, which is euere dredeful; but he that is `harde of soule, schal falle in to yuel.
Update Bible Version
Happy is [the] man that fears always; But he that hardens his heart shall fall into mischief.
Webster's Bible Translation
Happy [is] the man that feareth always: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.
New English Translation
Blessed is the one who is always cautious, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into evil.
New King James Version
Happy is the man who is always reverent, But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.
New Living Translation
Blessed are those who fear to do wrong, but the stubborn are headed for serious trouble.
New Life Bible
Happy is the man who always fears the Lord, but he who makes his heart hard will fall into trouble.
New Revised Standard
Happy is the one who is never without fear, but one who is hard-hearted will fall into calamity.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
How happy the man who is ever circumspect, whereas, he that hardeneth his heart, shall fall into calamity.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Blessed is the man that is always fearful: but he that is hardened in mind shall fall into evil.
Revised Standard Version
Blessed is the man who fears the LORD always; but he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.
Young's Literal Translation
O the happiness of a man fearing continually, And whoso is hardening his heart falleth into evil.
THE MESSAGE
A tenderhearted person lives a blessed life; a hardhearted person lives a hard life.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
How blessed is the man who fears always, But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

Contextual Overview

14 Happy is the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Happy: Proverbs 23:17, Psalms 2:11, Psalms 16:8, Psalms 112:1, Isaiah 66:2, Jeremiah 32:40, Romans 11:20, Hebrews 4:1, 1 Peter 1:17

but: Proverbs 29:1, Exodus 7:22, Exodus 14:23, Job 9:4, Romans 2:4

Reciprocal: Proverbs 14:16 - the fool Proverbs 19:26 - wasteth Proverbs 21:29 - hardeneth Proverbs 24:16 - but Jeremiah 44:10 - neither Matthew 26:35 - Though 1 Corinthians 10:12 - General 2 Corinthians 7:11 - fear Hebrews 3:8 - Harden

Cross-References

Genesis 12:3
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Genesis 13:14
And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
Genesis 13:16
And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
Genesis 18:18
Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
Genesis 22:18
And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Genesis 26:4
And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
Genesis 28:11
And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
Genesis 28:12
And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
Genesis 32:12
And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
Numbers 23:10
Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Happy [is] the man that feareth alway,.... Not men, but the Lord; there is a fear and reverence due to men, according to the stations in which they are; but a slavish fear of man, and which deters from the worship of God and obedience to him, is criminal, and brings a snare; and a man, under the influence of it, cannot be happy: nor is a servile fear of God intended, a fear of wrath and damnation, or a distrust of his grace, a continual calling in question his love, and an awful apprehension of his displeasure and vengeance; for in such fear is torment, and with it a man can never be happy; but it is a reverence and godly fear, a filial one, a fear of God and his goodness, which he puts into the hearts of his people; a fear, indeed, of offending him, of sinning against him, by which a man departs from evil, and forsakes it, as well as confesses it; but is what arises from a sense of his goodness: and it is well when such a fear of God is always before the eyes and on the hearts of men; in their closets and families, in their trade and commerce, in all companies into which they come, as, well as in the house of God and the assembly of his saints, where he is to be feared; as also in prosperity and adversity, even throughout the whole course of life, passing the time of their sojourning here in fear: and such a man is happy; the eye of God is on him, his heart is towards him, and he delights it, him; his secret is with him, he sets a guard of angels about him, has laid up goodness for him, and communicates largely to him;

but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief; that hardens his heart from the fear of the Lord; neither confesses his sin, nor forsakes it; bids, as it were, defiance to heaven, strengthens and hardens himself in his wickedness, and by his hard and impenitent heart treasures up to himself wrath against the day of wrath; he falls "into evil" k, as it may be rendered, into the evil of sin yet more and more, which the hardness of his heart brings him into, and so into the evil of punishment here and hereafter.

k ברעה "in malum", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Schultens.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The “fear” here is not so much reverential awe, as anxious, or “nervous” sensitiveness of conscience. To most men this temperament seems that of the self-tormentor. To him who looks deeper it is a condition of blessedness, and the callousness which is opposed to it ends in misery.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Proverbs 28:14. Happy is the man that feareth alway — That ever carries about with him that reverential and filial fear of God, which will lead him to avoid sin, and labour to do that which is lawful and right in the sight of God his Saviour.


 
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