¹ tn Heb “he who walks.” The idiom is used widely in both OT and NT for conduct, behavior, or lifestyle.

² sn “Integrity” here means “blameless” in conduct. Security follows integrity, because the lifestyle is blameless. The righteous is certain of the course to be followed and does not fear retribution from man or God.

³ tn Heb “walks.”

⁴ tn Heb “he who perverts his ways” (so NASB); NIV “who takes crooked paths” (NLT similar). The Piel participle מְעַקֵּשׁ (mÿ’aqqesh) means “make crooked; twisted; perverse.” It is stronger than simply taking crooked paths; it refers to perverting the ways. The one who is devious will not get away with it.

⁵ sn The “way of the Lord” is an idiom for God’s providential administration of life; it is what the Lord does (“way” being a hypocatastasis).

⁶ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “for the one with integrity” (לַתֹּם, latom).

⁸ tn Or “ruin” (so NIV).

⁹ tn Heb “those who practice iniquity.”