Proverbs 4:16
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
American King James Version (AKJV)
For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
American Standard Version (ASV)
For they sleep not, except they do evil; And their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
For they take no rest till they have done evil; their sleep is taken away if they have not been the cause of someone's fall.
Webster's Revision
For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
World English Bible
For they don't sleep, unless they do evil. Their sleep is taken away, unless they make someone fall.
English Revised Version (ERV)
For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
Clarke's Proverbs 4:16 Bible Commentary
Except they have done mischief - The night is their time for spoil and depredation. And they must gain some booty, before they go to rest. This I believe to be the meaning of the passage. I grant, also, that there may be some of so malevolent a disposition that they cannot be easy unless they can injure others, and are put to excessive pain when they perceive any man in prosperity, or receiving a kindness. The address in Virgil, to an illnatured shepherd is well known: -
Et cum vidisti puero donata, dolebas:
Et si non aliqua nocuisses, mortuus esses.
Eclog. 3: 14.
"When thou sawest the gifts given to the lad, thou wast distressed; and hadst thou not found some means of doing him a mischief, thou hadst died."
Barnes's Proverbs 4:16 Bible Commentary
A fearful stage of debasement. Sin is the condition without which there can be no repose.
Wesley's Proverbs 4:16 Bible Commentary
4:16 For - They cannot sleep with quietness.