Bible Strands
Proverbs 19:9
A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who pours out lies will perish.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The instruction addresses a community seeking practical discernment, positioned between a call to pursue wisdom and a warning against the unseemliness of luxury for a fool.
The words — The Hebrew יִנָּקֶ֑ה (yi.na.Keh) literally means he will go unpunished, while יֹאבֵֽד (yo.Ved) means he will perish. These terms establish a direct cause-and-effect structure for the speaker's declaration.
The thread — The warning against false testimony appears again in Proverbs 19:5, while Revelation 19:20 and Revelation 22:15 extend the theme to divine judgment against deception and idolatry.
Why it lands — The text demands immediate rejection of dishonest testimony by stating the inevitable consequences of lying. It requires the reader to prioritize truthfulness over social or personal gain.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.
Cross-references
- Revelation 22:15 But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
- Proverbs 19:5 A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will not escape.
- Revelation 19:20 But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
- Jeremiah 28:15 Then the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The LORD did not send you, but you have persuaded this people to trust in a lie.
- 2 Peter 2:1 Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.
- Revelation 21:8 But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
- Isaiah 9:15 The head is the elder and honorable man, and the tail is the prophet who teaches lies.
- Jeremiah 23:25 “I have heard the sayings of the prophets who prophesy lies in My name: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’
- Jeremiah 29:31 “Send a message telling all the exiles what the LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you—though I did not send him—and has made you trust in a lie,
- Ezekiel 13:22 Because you have disheartened the righteous with your lies, even though I have caused them no grief, and because you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways to save their lives,