“A haughty look, a proud heart, and the plowing (or lamp) of the wicked are sin” (NKJV).
“The lamp that guides the wicked—haughty eyes and an arrogant heart—is sin” (CSB).
“Evil people are proud and arrogant, but sin is the only crop they produce” (CEV).
(NOTE: The second half Proverbs 21:4 is a challenge. These three translations—New King James Version, Christian Standard Bible, and Contemporary English Version have addressed this translational challenge differently.)
The enormity of the evil which saturates pride challenges the human mind, especially in a feel-good world which worships at the idol of self-esteem. How easily humans can minimize the devil’s “original sin” (1 Tim. 3:6).
- Pride is a two-sided coin which is wrong on both sides. It devalues and diminishes the Most High God, then it inflates and overestimates a being created by God. It is not a currency accepted in heaven.
- Pride is a lamp which leads only to darkness. The haughty eyes and arrogant heart which direct the wicked are headed solely in the direction of eternal damnation.
- Pride is the seed which produces only a crop of sin and death.
- Pride is an abomination to Jehovah (Prov. 6:16-17).
