Proverbs 16:17

The highway ¹  of the upright is to turn ²  away from evil; the one who guards ³  his way safeguards his life. ⁴ 

The highway of the upright avoids evil; he who guards his way guards his life.

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who watches his way preserves his life.

The path of the upright leads away from evil; whoever follows that path is safe.

The road of right living bypasses evil; watch your step and save your life.

The highway of the upright is to be turned away from evil: he who takes care of his way will keep his soul.

The highway of the upright avoids evil; those who guard their way preserve their lives.

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who keeps his way preserves his soul.

The highway ¹  of the upright is to turn ²  away from evil; the one who guards ³  his way safeguards his life. ⁴ 

¹ sn The point of righteous living is made with the image of a highway, a raised and well-graded road (a hypocatastasis, implying a comparison between a highway and the right way of living).

² tn The form סוּר (sur) is a Qal infinitive; it indicates that a purpose of the righteous life is to turn away from evil. “Evil” here has the sense of sinful living. So the first line asserts that the well-cared-for life avoids sin.

³ sn The second half of the verse uses two different words for “guard”; this one is נֹצֵר (notser) “the one who guards his way,” and the first is שֹׁמֵר (shomer) “the one who guards his life” (the order of the words is reversed in the translation). The second colon then explains further the first (synthetic parallelism), because to guard one’s way preserves life.

⁴ tc The LXX adds three lines after 17a and one after 17b: “The paths of life turn aside from evils, and the ways of righteousness are length of life; he who receives instruction will be prosperous, and he who regards reproofs will be made wise; he who guards his ways preserves his soul, and he who loves his life will spare his mouth.”