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The Way of the Blameless One Is Straight

Proverbs 11:5 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
⁵The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight,
but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.

The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight: The expression the righteousness of the blameless is complicated, as the words the righteousness and the blameless are related terms. Righteousness (צְדָקָה tsedaqah) is a Hebrew noun meaning justice, rightness, blameless behavior, a person adhering to the moral standard set out by God in his Word. Blameless (תָּמִים tamim) is a Hebrew adjective that describes the righteous person who is innocent, free of guilt, or is not subject to blame, that is, tamim applies to a righteous person’s moral goodness, with the sense of being guiltless, not liable for sin or wrong in that God has credited them righteousness based on their relationship with him. Keeps … straight is a Hebrew verb (יָשַׁר yashar) here that means that the blameless one stays on the moral path of steadfastly doing right and being upright in all of his ways (דֶּרֶךְ derek), never deviating from his course.

but the wicked falls by his own wickedness: The Hebrew noun (rishah) rendered wicked and related forms designate that which does not conform to God’s moral standards and has the sense of wickedness, bad, evil, or worthless. The wicked person who is characterized by his wickedness and godlessness (רָשָׁע rasha) falls (נָפַל naphal) in the figurative sense in that he will eventually suffer a downfall, ruination because of his evil ways. It is only a matter of time, and it can be the same day, 20-years later, or even at death in there is no hope of a resurrection.

Solomon has been contrasting the outcome of the blameless with that of the wicked. The blameless person need not worry about suffering any kind of downfall or ruination as a result of his behavior. His ways are on the moral path of steadfastly doing right and be upright in all of his dealings, never deviating from the upright course. At the end of his life, the upright one will be rescued from the distresses of having had to live in the wicked one’s world. In a world of wicked ones being led and directed by their human imperfection and the wicked one, Satan the Devil, at times, the wicked may seem powerful and successful, but in the end, they have no such deliverance as will be true of the upright, the blameless, the righteous one.