Proverbs 12:28

In the path of righteousness there is life, but another path leads to death. ¹ 

In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality.

In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway there is no death.

The way of the godly leads to life; their path does not lead to death.

Good men and women travel right into life; sin's detours take you straight to hell.

In the road of righteousness is life, but the way of the evil-doer goes to death.

In the path of righteousness there is life, in walking its path there is no death.

In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway there is no death.

In the path of righteousness there is life, but another path leads to death. ¹ 

¹ tc The consonants אל־מות (’l-mvt) are vocalized by the MT as אַל־מָוֶת (’al-mavet, “no death”), meaning: “the journey of her path is no-death” = immortality. However, many medieval Hebrew mss and all the versions vocalize it as אֶל־מָוֶת (’el-mavet, “to death”), meaning: “but another path leads to death” (cf. NAB, NCV). W. McKane adopts this reading, and suggests that MT is a scribal change toward eternal life (Proverbs [OTL], 451-52). Others adopt this reading because they do not find the term “life” used in Proverbs for eternal life, nor do they find references to immortality elsewhere in Proverbs.

tn Heb “no death.” This phrase may mean “immortality.” Those who enter the path of righteousness by faith and seek to live righteously are on their way to eternal life. However, M. Dahood suggests that it means permanence (“Immortality in Proverbs 12:28,” Bib 41 [1960]: 176-81).