12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse,
12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
12 delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech,
12 They'll keep you from making wrong turns, or following the bad directions
12 To deliver you from the way of evil, From the man who speaks perverse things,
12 Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose words are twisted.
14 who plots evil with deceit in his heart- he always stirs up conflict.
14 Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth
14 with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord;
14 Their perverse minds are always cooking up something nasty, always stirring up trouble.
14 Perversity is in his heart, He devises evil continually, He sows discord.
14 Their perverted hearts plot evil, and they constantly stir up trouble.
(Read Proverbs 6:12-19)
If the slothful are to be condemned, who do nothing, much more those that do all the ill they can. Observe how such a man is described. He says and does every thing artfully, and with design. His ruin shall come without warning, and without relief. Here is a list of things hateful to God. Those sins are in a special manner provoking to God, which are hurtful to the comfort of human life. These things which God hates, we must hate in ourselves; it is nothing to hate them in others. Let us shun all such practices, and watch and pray against them; and avoid, with marked disapproval, all who are guilty of them, whatever may be their rank.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Proverbs 2:12
Commentary on Proverbs 2:10-22
(Read Proverbs 2:10-22)
If we are truly wise, we shall be careful to avoid all evil company and evil practices. When wisdom has dominion over us, then it not only fills the head, but enters into the heart, and will preserve, both against corruptions within and temptations without. The ways of sin are ways of darkness, uncomfortable and unsafe: what fools are those who leave the plain, pleasant, lightsome paths of uprightness, to walk in such ways! They take pleasure in sin; both in committing it, and in seeing others commit it. Every wise man will shun such company. True wisdom will also preserve from those who lead to fleshly lusts, which defile the body, that living temple, and war against the soul. These are evils which excite the sorrow of every serious mind, and cause every reflecting parent to look upon his children with anxiety, lest they should be entangled in such fatal snares. Let the sufferings of others be our warnings. Our Lord Jesus deters from sinful pleasures, by the everlasting torments which follow them. It is very rare that any who are caught in this snare of the devil, recover themselves; so much is the heart hardened, and the mind blinded, by the deceitfulness of this sin. Many think that this caution, besides the literal sense, is to be understood as a caution against idolatry, and subjecting the soul to the body, by seeking any forbidden object. The righteous must leave the earth as well as the wicked; but the earth is a very different thing to them. To the wicked it is all the heaven they ever shall have; to the righteous it is the place of preparation for heaven. And is it all one to us, whether we share with the wicked in the miseries of their latter end, or share those everlasting joys that shall crown believers?