💡WEB · Proverbs 16:4
What does Proverbs 16:4 mean?
"Yahweh has made everything for its own end— yes, even the wicked for the day of evil."
— Proverbs 16:4 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh.
All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but Yahweh weighs the motives.
Commit your deeds to Yahweh, and your plans shall succeed.
Yahweh has made everything for its own end— yes, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to Yahweh: they shall certainly not be unpunished.
By mercy and truth iniquity is atoned for. By the fear of Yahweh men depart from evil.
When a man’s ways please Yahweh, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Explanation
Proverbs 16:4 makes a sweeping statement about God's purposeful ordering of the world: everything that exists has a purpose within his plan, and this includes the wicked, who are moving toward "the day of evil"—a day of reckoning or calamity. In plain terms, the verse is saying that nothing in creation, not even human wickedness, falls outside the scope of God's sovereign purposes. The wicked are not exceptions to God's rule; even their rebellion will ultimately serve his purposes, particularly in that it leads to a day of judgment.
This verse comes from the book of Proverbs, traditionally attributed largely to Solomon, though the book as a whole is a collection of w
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