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The Wicked are Perverted, Spreading, and Stirring
Up Trouble Constantly

Proverbs 6:14 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
¹⁴with perverted heart devises evil,
continually sowing^[1] discord;

With perverted heart devises evil: The perverted (תַּהְפֻּכוֹת tahpukah) man has rejected what is right in life, his ability to distinguish between right and wrong has become distorted so that he now twists the truth by cooked speech and distortion of the truth; persuading others to join him on his course of life. He deliberately deviates from what is good. Crooked speech (false speech, lies, and deception) is characteristic of those who reject wisdom (cf. Prov. 8:13; 10:31-32). The reference to the perverted heart is discussing images of the mind, thoughts that are evil.

Continually sowing discord: Without letup, this wicked, worthless man is causing discord (מְדָן medan) in the life of others. Discord is a bitter conflict that can get heated to the point of violent dissension.

Verses 12-14 layout a description of a worthless man, which literally means a “man of Belial,” a description that would later be attributed to the Devil. The description is of one who is a “useless” or “good for nothing” person, possessing deceptive words. Just as Jesus rebuked the Jewish religious leaders of his day, saying, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father!” What are those desires? Jesus said of the Devil, “He … does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) The desires of this worthless man are deceitful speech.

So much so that his body language works in concert with his deceptive words, the winking of the eye, shuffling his feet, and pointing fingers, which are an aid to his accomplices. All of this indicates this worthless man is planning evil against someone. The question is, ‘how will this end for this good for nothing man?’

[1] Lit sends out