Proverbs 11:19

True ¹  righteousness leads to ²  life, but the one who pursues evil pursues it ³  to his own death. ⁴ 

The truly righteous man attains life, but he who pursues evil goes to his death.

He who is steadfast in righteousness will attain to life, And he who pursues evil will bring about his own death.

Godly people find life; evil people find death.

Take your stand with God's loyal community and live, or chase after phantoms of evil and die.

So righteousness gives life; but he who goes after evil gets death for himself.

Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live, but whoever pursues evil will die.

As righteousness leads to life, So he who pursues evil pursues it to his own death.

True ¹  righteousness leads to ²  life, but the one who pursues evil pursues it ³  to his own death. ⁴ 

¹ tn Heb “the veritable of righteousness.” The adjective כֵּן (ken, “right; honest; veritable”) functions substantivally as an attributive genitive, meaning “veritable righteousness” = true righteousness (BDB 467 s.v. 2; HALOT 482 s.v. I כֵּן 2.b). One medieval Hebrew ms, LXX, and Syriac read בֵּן (ben), “son of righteousness.” That idiom, however, usually introduces bad qualities (“son of worthlessness”). Others interpret it as “righteousness is the foundation of life.” KB identifies the form as a participle and reads it as “steadfast in righteousness”; but the verb does not otherwise exist in the Qal. W. McKane reads it as כָּן (kan, from כּוּן, kun) and translates it “strive after” life (Proverbs [OTL], 435).

² tn Heb “is to life.” The expression “leads to” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but the idiom implies it; it is supplied in the translation for smoothness.

³ tn The phrase “pursues it” does not appear in the Hebrew but has been supplied in the translation from context.

⁴ sn “Life” and “death” describe the vicissitudes of this life but can also refer to the situation beyond the grave. The two paths head in opposite directions.