Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Proverbs 16:1 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 1. 1The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse contributes the claim, image, or instruction “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD”.
The heart prepares; the LORD answers; a clean self-verdict is not the last weighing
This verse is one part of that explanation in Proverbs 16:1–4. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Proverbs 16:1–4
Read Proverbs 16:1 with 16:1–4. Read alone, “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the…” could turn a compressed observation, warning, comparison, or command into a guarantee or complete policy. The full unit establishes: contributes the claim, image, or instruction “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD”; by 16:4, it opens with “The LORD hath made all things for himself” and develops the line through “yea, even the wicked for the day of evil”. Together the unit concentrates on reverent accountability before the LORD, speech, listening, truth, and relational consequence within “First Solomonic sentence-saying collection.”
Why This Verse Appears Here
Proverbs 16:1–4 forms a reviewed local cluster inside “First Solomonic sentence-saying collection.” Its lines concentrate on reverent accountability before the LORD, speech, listening, truth, and relational consequence, while each sentence proverb retains its own force and the neighboring database unit does not supply its meaning. Within that relationship, this verse contributes the claim, image, or instruction “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD”.
What Remains True
Wisdom begins with reverent accountability to the LORD and refuses to make human insight self-sufficient. In Proverbs 16:1, that bounded truth is expressed through “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the…,” not through a promise detached from its literary form.
How It Can Shape Life
- Prepare a decision with evidence and alternatives, then remain open to correction and outcomes beyond your control instead of baptizing the plan as guaranteed.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Proverbs 16:1–4 — Reverent accountability before the LORD — The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of…Sources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV words, canonical order, paragraph flags, supplied-word markup, and complete unit coverage.
Exact location: Proverbs 16:1–4, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Proverbs
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology used only for the exact unit's lexical, grammatical, parallel, superscription, number-saying, and acrostic questions.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Prov.xml, OSIS 16:1-16:4
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Proverbs with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-attached textual, lexical, grammatical, syntactic, parallelism, and older-English controls for the exact range.
Exact location: NET Bible Proverbs PDF, printed pp. 1125-1128, exact tc/tn/sn entries attached to 16:1–4
Open source ↗