Proverbs 3:29 (YLT)

Passage

Devise not against thy neighbour evil, And he sitting confidently with thee.

Nearby Context

Proverbs 3:27 Withhold not good from its owners, When thy hand <FI>is<Fi> toward God to do <FI>it<Fi> .

Proverbs 3:28 Say not thou to thy friend, `Go, and return, and to-morrow I give,' And substance with thee.

Proverbs 3:29 Devise not against thy neighbour evil, And he sitting confidently with thee.

Proverbs 3:30 Strive not with a man without cause, If he have not done thee evil.

Proverbs 3:31 Be not envious of a man of violence, Nor fix thou on any of his ways.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "devise", "against", "neighbour", "evil", "sitting", "confidently", and "thee". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "devise" and "against", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 28's "Say not thou to thy friend Go..." into verse 30's "Strive not with a man without cause...", so "devise" and "against" 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 "devise" and "against" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.