Proverbs 5:22 · World English Bible
Proverbs 5:22 Meaning The Evil Deeds of the Wicked Ensnare
The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
What does Proverbs 5:22 mean?
The mind that clings to fear is bound by nothing but its own choosing, for guilt is not a chain forged by another but a rope the mind ties around itself and forgets it is holding. What seems like punishment from outside is only the weight of thoughts it refuses to release, and every attack it sends out returns to hold it fast.
From the Christian Psychology reading below.
Proverbs 5:22 through 1 lens
The same verse, read by one tradition.
Christian Psychology
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOLOGY
Christian Psychology
The mind that clings to fear is bound by nothing but its own choosing, for guilt is not a chain forged by another but a rope the mind ties around itself and forgets it is holding. What seems like punishment from outside is only the weight of thoughts it refuses to release, and every attack it sends out returns to hold it fast. The bondage has no jailer but the belief in one's own guilt.
Because the cords are self-made, they can be dropped. A mind that wove its own captivity can, in one instant of choice, let it go.
Cords: the self-made bonds of guilt and fear that hold the mind captive, the ropes woven from its own thoughts that only its own choice can loosen
Christian Psychology lensGo deeper in the app
Christian Psychology lens
Live Proverbs 5:22 today
- If a mistake from last week is still playing on repeat in your head tonight, say out loud that you already know it and you are done rehearsing it. Then put the phone face down and let the room be quiet.
- With someone you have been keeping a quiet tally against, drop the tally. You do not have to announce it. Just answer their next text the way you would have before the grudge started.
- When a message lands that makes your stomach drop and you feel instantly in the wrong, pause before replying. Ask whether the trap is in the message or in the story you just told yourself about it.
What am I still holding onto that nobody is asking me to carry?
The same truth in other traditions
Zen
A monk asked to be set free from bondage. The teacher asked who had bound him, and the monk had no answer, because the only hands on the rope were his own.
Dhammapada
The harm a person does with a hateful thought comes back and finds them. No enemy can do to you what your own mind, turned against itself, does freely.
Stoicism · Epictetus
No one can truly imprison your will. What holds you is your own agreement with the fear, and that agreement can be withdrawn.
Free · No account needed
Read all of Proverbs 5 through 17 lenses
Lensightful opens every verse of the Bible through the traditions you choose. Save readings, ask a follow-up question, and get one verse a day.
Get Lensightful on the App Store