The Way of the Wicked
Proverbs 4:19
The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.


There is a castle on the Lake of Geneva which stands upon a rock, and the lake is underneath. In the old, cruel days great atrocities were perpetrated there, and one was this: There is a shaft from that prison to the lake. Looking down it, you see the water glittering far away below. In those days they used to plant in that shaft spikes or sharp knives. Then they came in the darkness, and, opening the door, whispered to the prisoners, "Three steps and liberty." And the poor prisoner took his leap in the dark — as he thought, to liberty; but he fell amongst these knives, and in a few moments dropped, a bleeding corpse, into the lake below. Yes; three steps and liberty — to be cut up, and drop, a mangled body, into the abyss. I tell you that is like the liberty of sin. A man who fancies he is going to live after his passions takes a leap in the dark, and, pierced through with many sorrows, drops into the gulf of darkness.

(W. L. Watkinson.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

WEB: The way of the wicked is like darkness. They don't know what they stumble over.




The Obscurity and Uncertainty of the Way of the Wicked
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