Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 16:18 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: World English Bible — Catholic Edition
" Pride goes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall. "
Proverbs 16:18
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
16 How much better it is to get wisdom than gold! Yes, to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.
17 The highway of the upright is to depart from evil. He who keeps his way preserves his soul.
18 Pride goes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.
19 It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor, than to divide the plunder with the proud.
20 He who heeds the Word finds prosperity. Whoever trusts in the LORD is blessed.
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Pride will end in a fall. Those who have a proud spirit, who think too highly of themselves and look down on others, insult God with their pride and trouble the people around them. They will be brought low, either by repentance, which means turning back to God, or by ruin. It honors God to humble the proud (Job 40:11, Job 40:12). It is a matter of justice that those who lift themselves up should be brought down. Pharaoh, Sennacherib, and Nebuchadnezzar were examples of this.
People cannot rightly punish pride. They usually either admire it or fear it, so God takes the punishment into his own hands. He deals with proud people himself. Proud people are often most arrogant and insolent just before their destruction, so this is a sure sign they are near it. When proud people mock God’s judgments and feel safest, that is often the very moment those judgments are near. This was true in the cases of Benhadad and Herod. While the word was still in the king’s mouth, judgment came on him (Daniel 4:31). So we should not be afraid of other people’s pride, but we should deeply fear pride in ourselves.
From This Chapter
Proverbs 16:1
"The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD."
Proverbs 16:2
"All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the motives."
Proverbs 16:3
"Commit your deeds to the LORD, and your plans shall succeed."
Proverbs 16:4
"The LORD has made everything for its own end— yes, even the wicked for the day of evil."
Proverbs 16:5
"Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; they shall certainly not be unpunished."
Proverbs 16:6
"By mercy and truth iniquity is atoned for. By the fear of the LORD men depart from evil."
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