1 Peter 5:8
What does 1 Peter 5:8 mean?
A plain-English look at 1 Peter 5:8 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What 1 Peter 5:8 means
Peter calls for sober-minded watchfulness. The Christian life is not naive to threats: there is a personal adversary, the devil, who prowls like a roaring lion, seeking to devour. The image conveys danger and intimidation; he aims to terrify, isolate, and destroy. Sobriety keeps the mind clear; watchfulness keeps the heart alert. Believers are to neither deny his reality nor be paralyzed by it. Knowing the enemy’s nature and tactics prepares us to resist him. This verse anchors spiritual warfare in realism: suffering saints are not abandoned; they are on contested ground, and attentiveness is part of faithful endurance.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
KJV
King James Version · 1611Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Be serious and keep watch; the Evil One, who is against you, goes about like a lion with open mouth in search of food;
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862Be sober, vigilant, because your opponent the devil, as a roaring lion, doth walk about, seeking whom he may swallow up,
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752Be sober and watch: because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890Be vigilant, watch. Your adversary [the] devil as a roaring lion walks about seeking whom he may devour.
Context
After urging trustful humility (verses 6–7), Peter warns against spiritual carelessness. The call to be sober and watchful sets up the strategy of verse 9: resist the devil by steadfast faith, remembering the solidarity of suffering throughout the church. This shift from inward burdens to external threats broadens the frame, preparing for the comforting promise of God’s restoring grace in verse 10.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Titus 2:4
that they may train the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,
- Job 1:6
Now it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah, that Satan also came among them.
- Romans 13:11
And this, knowing the season, that already it is time for you to awake out of sleep: for now is salvation nearer to us than when wefirstbelieved.
- Matthew 4:11
Then the devil leaveth him; and behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
- 1 Peter 1:13
Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
- James 4:7
Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
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