Proverbs 4:16

16 For they take no rest till they have done evil; their sleep is taken away if they have not been the cause of someone's fall.

Proverbs 4:16 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 4:16

For they sleep not, except they have done mischief
Or they cannot sleep, as Jarchi and Gersom interpret it. Oftentimes they cannot sleep on their beds for devising mischief, their thoughts are so intensely set on contriving wicked schemes; and when they have so done, they cannot sleep until they have executed them; they are continually restless and uneasy day and night, like the troubled sea, constantly casting up mire and dirt. Who would keep such company as these? and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause [some] to fall;
into the snares and traps they lay for them, or into sin and calamity by it; the former of which they endeavour by all means to draw men into, and the latter is the unavoidable consequence of it. They imitate their father the devil, both delight in sin, and in the ruin of their fellow creatures; it is a sport to thereto do mischief, and they have no pleasure without it; see ( Proverbs 11:23 ) . What company are such!

Proverbs 4:16 In-Context

14 Do not go in the road of sinners, or be walking in the way of evil men.
15 Keep far from it, do not go near; be turned from it, and go on your way.
16 For they take no rest till they have done evil; their sleep is taken away if they have not been the cause of someone's fall.
17 The bread of evil-doing is their food, the wine of violent acts their drink.
18 But the way of the upright is like the light of early morning, getting brighter and brighter till the full day.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.