Proverbs 1:17

New Life Version

Yes, the net is spread for nothing if the bird is watching.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
It is useless to spread a netwhere any bird can see it,

Hebrew Names Version
For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird:

King James Version
Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

English Standard Version
For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird,

New Century Version
It is useless to spread out a net right where the birds can see it.

New English Translation
Surely it is futile to spread a net in plain sight of any bird,

Amplified Bible
Indeed, it is useless to spread the baited net In the sight of any bird;

New American Standard Bible
Indeed, it is useless to spread the baited net In the sight of any bird;

World English Bible
For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird:

Geneva Bible (1587)
Certainely as without cause the net is spred before the eyes of all that hath wing:

Legacy Standard Bible
For it is no use that a net is spreadIn the sight of any bird;

Berean Standard Bible
How futile it is to spread the net where any bird can see it.

Contemporary English Version
They are like a bird that sees the bait, but ignores the trap.

Complete Jewish Bible
For in vain is the net baited if any bird can see it;

Darby Translation
For in vain the net is spread in the sight of anything which hath wings.

Easy-to-Read Version
You cannot trap birds with a net if they see you spreading it out.

George Lamsa Translation
Surely in deceit is the net spread in the sight of any bird.

Good News Translation
It does no good to spread a net when the bird you want to catch is watching,

Lexham English Bible
for "in vain is the net scattered, in the sight of any winged bird."

Literal Translation
For in vain the net is spread in the sight of every bird.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But in vayne is ye net layed forth before the byrdes eyes.

American Standard Version
For in vain is the net spread In the sight of any bird:

Bible in Basic English
Truly, to no purpose is the net stretched out before the eyes of the bird:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
For in vain the net is spread in the eyes of any bird;

King James Version (1611)
Surely in vaine the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
But [as] in vayne, the nette is layde foorth before the birdes eyes:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
for nets are not without cause spread for birds.

English Revised Version
For in vain is the net spread, in the eyes of any bird:

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
But a net is leid in veyn bifore the iyen of briddis, that han wengis.

Update Bible Version
For in vain is the net spread In the sight of any bird:

Webster's Bible Translation
Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird.

New King James Version
Surely, in vain the net is spread In the sight of any bird;

New Living Translation
If a bird sees a trap being set, it knows to stay away.

New Revised Standard
For in vain is the net baited while the bird is looking on;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Surely, in vain, is spread the net, in the sight of aught that hath wings!

Douay-Rheims Bible
But a net is spread in vain before the eyes of them that have wings.

Revised Standard Version
For in vain is a net spread in the sight of any bird;

Young's Literal Translation
Surely in vain is the net spread out before the eyes of any bird.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Indeed, it is useless to spread the baited net In the sight of any bird;

Contextual Overview

¹⁰ My son, if sinners try to lead you into sin, do not go with them. ¹¹ If they say, "Come with us. Let us lie in wait to kill someone. Let us set a trap for those who are without blame. ¹² Let us swallow them alive like death, as those who go down to the grave. ¹³ We will find all kinds of things of great worth. We will fill our houses with the stolen riches. ¹⁴ Throw in your share with us. We will all have one money bag." ¹⁵ My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your feet from their path. ¹⁶ For their feet run to sin and hurry to kill. ¹⁷ Yes, the net is spread for nothing if the bird is watching. ¹⁸ They set traps for their own lives and wait to die. ¹⁹ Such are the ways of all who get things by hurting others. Their desire for stolen riches takes away their own lives.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

in vain: Proverbs 7:23, Job 35:11, Isaiah 1:3, Jeremiah 8:7

sight of any bird: Heb. eyes of everything that hath a wing

Reciprocal: Proverbs 6:5 - as a bird Proverbs 6:6 - the ant Proverbs 12:12 - desireth Proverbs 29:5 - spreadeth Jeremiah 5:26 - lay wait 1 Timothy 6:9 - snare 2 Peter 3:17 - seeing

Cross-References

Genesis 9:13
I will set My rain-bow in the cloud, and it will be something special to see because of an agreement between Me and the earth.

Job 38:12
"Have you ever in your life told the morning when to come, and caused the first light of day to know its place,

Psalms 8:1
O Lord, our Lord, how great is Your name in all the earth. You have set Your shining-greatness above the heavens.

Psalms 8:3
When I look up and think about Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in their place,

Acts 13:47
The Lord gave us a work to do. He said, ‘You are to be a light to the people who are not Jews. You are to preach so that men over all the earth can be saved from the punishment of their sins.'"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. Or "without cause" y, as the word is rendered in Proverbs 1:11; and so the words are an illustration of the preceding; showing that the blood of innocent persons is shed without cause, no injury being done by them to those that do it, but is shed without any provocation at all; just as the net is spread for the innocent bird, which has done no harm to the fowler that seeks to take it; so Gersom: or else the sense is, that though the net is spread by the fowler even in the sight of the bird, yet it is in vain to the bird, though not to the fowler; it is so intent upon the corn that is spread about, that it takes no notice of the net, and so is caught in it; and thus it is with those men that are bent upon their sinful practices, upon theft and murder, though their ruin and destruction are before their eyes; and they daily see their companions in iniquity come to an untimely end; they know that they are liable to suffer death by the hand of the civil magistrate, and to be followed by the justice and vengeance of God, and suffer eternal punishment; yet take no warning hereby, but rush on to their own ruin, as follows.

y הנם "sine causa", Vatablus, Mercerus, Gejerus.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Strictly speaking, this is the first proverb (i. e., similitude) in the book; a proverb which has received a variety of interpretations. The true meaning seems to be as follows: “For in vain, to no purpose, is the net spread out openly. Clear as the warning is, it is in vain. The birds still fly in. The great net of God’s judgments is spread out, open to the eyes of all, and yet the doers of evil, willfully blind, still rush into it.” Others take the words as pointing to the failure of the plans of the evil-doers against the innocent (the “bird”): others, again, interpret the proverb of the young man who thinks that he at least shall not fall into the snares laid for him, and so goes blindly into them.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Proverbs 1:17. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. — This is a proverb of which the wise man here makes a particular use; and the meaning does not seem as difficult as some imagine. The wicked are represented as lurking privily for the innocent. It is in this way alone that they can hope to destroy them and take their substance; for if their designs were known, proper precautions would be taken against them; for it would be vain to spread the net in the sight of those birds which men wish to ensnare. Attend therefore to my counsels, and they shall never be able to ensnare thee.