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The Wicked Lies in Wait for Blood

Proverbs 12:6 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)
⁶The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,
but the mouth of the upright delivers them.

The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood: The words of the wicked carry over the thought from line 2 in verse 5 that the counsel of the wicked is deceitful. However, the image conveyed here is like a lion lying in tall weeds, waiting for his prey, seeking blood.

but the mouth of the upright delivers them: Words from the mouth of the upright (good, honest, righteous person) refer to words and thoughts which can deliver them. The upright (יָשָׁר yashar) are God’s true believers, his holy ones, who are diligently seeking and searching to know, love, and obey God and to live righteously as one can within their human imperfection. Uprightness: (יָשָׁר yashar) is the quality of one who conforms to God’s moral standards. He is honest in his words and actions about what is real. “Delivers” translates the Hebrew verb (נָצַל natsal), meaning to be saved (physically) from ruin, destruction, harm, and even eternal destruction. Who is the “them” in delivers them? It is the upright person who may have been caught by the wicked, who had been lying in wait for blood.

The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood because they seek to do serious harm to the innocent victims. The upright ones, having taken in the knowledge of God (2:5), which has given them wisdom and insight into the mind of the wicked, their thinking, their plans, and their plots, which is needed to be cautious so as to not be caught as prey, enabling them to avoid danger. The upright may even be able to use their wisdom and knowledge of God to be delivered from the wicked if they have been caught in their trap. Moreover, they can further use their wisdom and knowledge of God to warn the unwary and help deliver them from the deceitful plots of the wicked.