"Where there is no vision..."

Read Proverbs 29.

The English Standard Version (among others) got it right!
"Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law." (v.18)

This is one of the most misused and abused verses in the Bible due to the wording in the King James Version.  Too often verse 18 has been used to promote the necessity of organizational vision development and the warning that without it the organization will die.  That is a leadership truism but has nothing to do with this verse.

The vision here is the revelation of God's message delivered to His prophet.  In other words, it is the Word of God that people need to hear.  In the absence of knowing what God has said, people will be left to themselves to determine right from wrong and how to behave.  The Hebrew word translated in the KJV as "perish" correctly means "to loosen" or, as in the ESV, "cast off restraint."

An illustration of Proverbs 29:18 may be found in Exodus 32.  Moses was still on Mt. Sinai receiving commandments of the law from the LORD.  With no word from God and concerned about what may have happened to Moses, the people became impatient demanding they take spiritual matters into their own hands.  They wanted to make idols of gold, like the pagan nations around them.  They gave credit to these made-up gods for delivering them from Egypt!  Without restraint, they presented offerings in worship to their idols, feasted, and then they "rose up to play."

All false teaching stems from a lack of studying and understanding the Scriptures.  Dr. Bill Bright used to say that people are not gospel hardened as they are gospel ignorant.  A major part of our mission to teach all that God has commanded (Matthew 28:20).