Proverbs 6:14 describes a person whose heart is bent toward wrongdoing and who keeps stirring up trouble between others. The verse is a warning, not a portrait of someone to admire: it names the inner corruption that produces repeated harm. Solomon, traditionally identified as the main author of the book of Proverbs, wrote these lines as counsel to a young man who needed to recognize the character traits that lead to ruin.
In whose heart is perverseness, who devises evil continually, who always sows discord.
Proverbs 6:14 (WEB)
What Proverbs 6:14 Means
The verse begins with “perverseness” in the heart, which points to a crooked or twisted inner orientation. Wisdom literature consistently locates sin first in the heart, not only in outward acts. The phrase “devises evil continually” describes someone who does not simply stumble into wrong but plans it and keeps returning to it in thought and strategy.
The last clause, “always sows discord,” describes the visible result. Discord is conflict or division, and the image of sowing suggests deliberate planting, with the harm spreading over time. The verse does not promise that every person who has a flaw will become a troublemaker, and it does not describe a single bad moment. It describes a settled pattern of character and behavior that the wise are urged to recognize and avoid.
The Context of Proverbs 6:14
Proverbs is a collection of wise sayings meant to shape a young person’s judgment about how to live before God. Its Hebrew setting assumes that life is governed by the Lord, who values justice and truth, and that choices have consequences. Verses 11 through 17 describe a worthless person who walks with a crooked mouth, winks and gestures to deceive, and whose disaster will come suddenly and without remedy. Verse 14 sits in the middle of that description as the root of the behavior.
Just after the verse, the passage says that the Lord hates six things and seven that are an abomination to him, including haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood. This placement shows that the danger named in verse 14 is not a minor social flaw. Reading the verse alongside what follows makes clear that sowing discord belongs to the same category of wickedness that God opposes, which is why the wise are urged to take it seriously.
Key Phrases in Proverbs 6:14
Matthew 5:9
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.
(WEB)
Jesus pronounces a blessing on peacemakers, which stands as the positive counterpart to the person who sows discord. Where Proverbs warns against planting division, this verse commends the work of bringing people together.
James 3:16
For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed.
(WEB)
James links disorder and every vile practice to envy and selfish ambition, showing how a crooked heart produces restless conflict. It helps explain the root that Proverbs 6:14 describes and shows where the cure begins.
A Short Prayer From Proverbs 6:14
Lord, you see what is hidden in my heart, including the crooked places I would rather ignore. Search me and show me any scheming thoughts or habits of stirring up conflict that I have allowed to grow. Turn my desires toward what is true and good, and make me a person who brings peace rather than division. Give me the courage to speak carefully and to refuse to join in what wounds others. Amen.
