Proverbs 20:25
It is ruin for a man to devour what is holy, or, after making vows, to retract them.
Catholic Public Domain Version
In The King James Version
It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.
In Context
24The steps of men are directed by the Lord. But who is the man able to understand his own way?
26A wise king scatters the impious and bends an archway over them.
Cross References
Leviticus 5:15If a soul, by mistake, shall have transgressed the ceremonies in those things that are sanctified to the Lord, he shall offer for his offense an immaculate ram from the flocks, such as can be bought for two shekels, according to the weight of the Sanctuary.
Leviticus 27:9But an animal which could be immolated to the Lord, if anyone has vowed it, shall be holy,
Numbers 30:2And he said to the leaders of the tribes of the sons of Israel: “This is the word, which the Lord has instructed:
Deuteronomy 23:23But as soon as it has departed from your lips, you shall observe and do just as you have promised to the Lord your God and just as you have spoken by your own free will and with your own mouth.
Judges 21:22And when their fathers and brothers arrive, and they begin to complain against you and to argue, we will say to them: ‘Take pity on them. For they have not seized them by right of war or conquest. Instead, begging to receive them, you did not give them, and so the sin was on your part.’”
Ecclesiastes 5:2Dreams follow many worries, and in many words foolishness will be found.
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 20:25
24 Man's goings are of the Lord ; how can a man then understand his own way? We are here taught that in all our affairs, 1. We have a necessary and constant dependence upon God. All our natural actions depend upon his providence, all our spiritual actions upon his grace. The best man is no better than God makes him; and every creature is that to us which it is the will of God that it should be. Our enterprises succeed, not as we desire and design, but as God directs and disposes. The goings even of a strong man… Read the whole commentary →