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Proverbs of Solomon
Proverbs › Chapter 11 › Proverbs 11:19

What Does Proverbs 11:19 Mean?

As righteousness leads to life,So he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death.Proverbs 11:19 · NKJV

Quick answer

Two roads with two destinations, and the verse notes that one man is chasing his. The pursuing is his own.

Read both lines

The parallel is about direction and momentum. Righteousness leads, as a road leads somewhere; evil is pursued, which puts the effort on the person. That asymmetry recurs throughout this chapter and it is not accidental. The wise life is repeatedly described as being carried or guided, while the destructive life is described as work someone is doing, and the last phrase makes the destination personal: he pursues it to his own death. Nobody in this verse is being chased.

Related: Proverbs 11:5 · Proverbs 21:21 · Proverbs 8:36

New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. Full copyright information. Scripture provided by API.Bible.

Go Deeper

If this verse has been used to put weight on you that it was never carrying, ask about it directly.