Passage

Proverbs 16.1-9

Book: Proverbs · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. The plans of the heart belong to man; But the answer of the tongue is from Jehovah. 2. All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; But Jehovah weigheth the spirits. 3. Commit thy works unto Jehovah, And thy purposes shall be established. 4. Jehovah hath made everything for its own end; Yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. 5. Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to Jehovah: Though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished. 6. By mercy and truth iniquity is atoned for; And by the fear of Jehovah men depart from evil. 7. When a man's ways please Jehovah, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. 8. Better is a little, with righteousness, Than great revenues with injustice. 9. A man's heart deviseth his way; But Jehovah directeth his steps."

"10. A divine sentence is in the lips of the king; His mouth shall not transgress in judgment. 11. A just balance and scales are Jehovah's; All the weights of the bag are his work." (Proverbs 16:1-11, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh. 2. All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but Yahweh weighs the motives. 3. Commit your deeds to Yahweh, and your plans shall succeed. 4. Yahweh has made everything for its own end, yes, even the wicked for the day of evil. 5. Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to Yahweh: they shall certainly not be unpunished. 6. By mercy and truth iniquity is atoned for. By the fear of Yahweh men depart from evil. 7. When a man’s ways please Yahweh, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. 8. Better is a little with righteousness, than great revenues with injustice. 9. A man’s heart plans his course, but Yahweh directs his steps."

"10. Inspired judgments are on the lips of the king. He shall not betray his mouth. 11. Honest balances and scales are Yahweh’s; all the weights in the bag are his work." (Proverbs 16:1-11, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD. ^{preparations: or, disposings} 2. All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits. 3. Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established. ^{Commit: Heb. Roll} 4. The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. 5. Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished. ^{unpunished: Heb. held innocent} 6. By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil. 7. When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. 8. Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right. 9. A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps."

"10. A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment. ^{A divine: Heb. Divination} 11. A just weight and balance are the LORD'S: all the weights of the bag are his work. ^{the weights: Heb. the stones}" (Proverbs 16:1-11, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. Of man [are] arrangements of the heart, And from Jehovah an answer of the tongue. 2. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, And Jehovah is pondering the spirits. 3. Roll unto Jehovah thy works, And established are thy purposes, 4. All things hath Jehovah wrought for Himself, And also the wicked [worketh] for a day of evil. 5. An abomination to Jehovah [is] every proud one of heart, Hand to hand he is not acquitted. 6. In kindness and truth pardoned is iniquity, And in the fear of Jehovah Turn thou aside from evil. 7. When a man's ways please Jehovah, even his enemies, He causeth to be at peace with him. 8. Better [is] a little with righteousness, Than abundance of increase without justice. 9. The heart of man deviseth his way, And Jehovah establisheth his step."

"10. An oath [is] on the lips of a king, In judgment his mouth trespasseth not. 11. A just beam and balances [are] Jehovah's, His work [are] all the stones of the bag." (Proverbs 16:1-11, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD

Quoted in

_log-archive-2026-05

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.