'Paths' in the Bible
“You also put my feet in the stocks [as punishment]And [critically] observe all my paths;You set a circle and limit around the soles of my feet [which I must not overstep],
“He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass,And He has set darkness upon my paths.
“Others have been with those who rebel against the light;They do not want to know its waysNor stay in its paths.
‘He puts my feet in the stocks [to hinder and humiliate me];He [suspiciously] watches all my paths,’ [you say].
That you may take it to its territoryAnd that you may know the paths to its house?
The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
Concerning the deeds of men, by the word of Your lipsI have kept away from the paths of the violent.
My steps have held closely to Your paths;My feet have not staggered.
He refreshes and restores my soul (life);He leads me in the paths of righteousnessfor His name’s sake.
All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and goodness and truth and faithfulnessTo those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.
Your way [of escape for Your people] was through the sea,And Your paths through the great waters,And Your footprints were not traceable.
I will meditate on Your preceptsAnd [thoughtfully] regard Your ways [the path of life established by Your precepts].
He guards the paths of justice;And He preserves the way of His saints (believers).
From those who leave the paths of uprightnessTo walk in the ways of darkness;
Whose paths are crooked,And who are devious in their ways;
For her house leads down to deathAnd her paths lead to the dead;
None who go to her return again,Nor do they regain the paths of life—
So you will walk in the way of good men [that is, those of personal integrity, moral courage and honorable character],And keep to the paths of the righteous.
In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].
Her ways are highways of pleasantness and favor,And all her paths are peace.
I have instructed you in the way of [skillful and godly] wisdom;I have led you in upright paths.
Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,Do not stray into her [evil, immoral] paths.
On the top of the heights beside the way,Where the paths meet, wisdom takes her stand;
“I, [Wisdom, continuously] walk in the way of righteousness,In the midst of the paths of justice,
And many peoples shall come and say,“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,To the house (temple) of the God of Jacob;That He may teach us His waysAnd that we may walk in His paths.”For the law will go out from ZionAnd the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
O My people! Children are their oppressors,And women rule over them.O My people! Your leaders lead you astrayAnd confuse (destroy, swallow up) the direction of your paths.
“I will lead the blind by a way they do not know;I will guide them in paths that they do not know.I will make darkness into light before themAnd rugged places into plains.These things I will do [for them],And I will not leave them abandoned or undone.”
Their feet run to evil,And they rush to shed innocent blood.Their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness [of sin, of injustice, of wrongdoing];Devastation and destruction are in their highways.
They do not know the way of peace,And there is no justice in their tracks.They have made them into crooked paths;Whoever walks on them does not know peace.
Thus says the Lord,“Stand by the roads and look; ask for the ancient paths,Where the good way is; then walk in it,And you will find rest for your souls.But they said, ‘We will not walk in it!’
“Therefore their way will be to them like slippery pathsIn the dark; they will be pushed and fall into them;For I will bring disaster on them,In the year of their punishment,” says the Lord.
He has blocked my ways with cut stone;He has made my paths crooked.
“Therefore, behold, I [the Lord God] will hedge up her way with thorns;And I will build a wall against her [shutting off her way] so that she cannot find her paths.
And many nations shall come and say,“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,To the house of the God of Jacob,That He may teach us about His waysAnd that we may walk in His paths.”For the law shall go forward from Zion,And the word of the Lord [the revelation about Him and His truth] from Jerusalem.