Proverbs 4:16 (WEB)

Passage

For they don’t sleep, unless they do evil. Their sleep is taken away, unless they make someone fall.

Nearby Context

Proverbs 4:14 Don’t enter into the path of the wicked. Don’t walk in the way of evil men.

Proverbs 4:15 Avoid it, and don’t pass by it. Turn from it, and pass on.

Proverbs 4:16 For they don’t sleep, unless they do evil. Their sleep is taken away, unless they make someone fall.

Proverbs 4:17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the righteous is like the dawning light, that shines more and more until the perfect day.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sleep", "unless", "evil", "taken", "away", and "make". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sleep" and "unless", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "Avoid it and don t pass by..." into verse 17's "For they eat the bread of wickedness...", so "sleep" and "unless" belong inside that flow. In Proverbs context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "sleep" and "unless" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.