For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”
Parallel translations
- WEB For whom the Lord loves, he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.”
- KJV For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
- BSB For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.”
- NKJV For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”
- NASB For whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He punishes every son whom He accepts.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The Lord disciplines those he loves and chastens every son he receives. God's correction is a sign of his fatherly love, not his anger.
Overview
Completing the quotation from Proverbs 3, this verse states that discipline flows from love and applies to every true child of God. Far from contradicting his love, God's chastening expresses it, for he trains those he has received as sons. Believers can therefore interpret hardship as evidence of belonging to God, who shapes his children for their good.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Rev 3:19As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent.
- Prov 3:12for whom Yahweh loves, he reproves; even as a father reproves the son in whom he delights.
- Ps 119:75Yahweh, I know that your judgments are righteous, that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
- Prov 13:24One who spares the rod hates his son, but one who loves him is careful to discipline him.
- Ps 94:12Blessed is the man whom you discipline, Yah, and teach out of your law;
- Jer 10:24Yahweh, correct me, but in measure: not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.
- 2 Sam 7:14I will be his father, and he will be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men;
- Deut 8:5You shall consider in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so Yahweh your God disciplines you.
- Ps 32:1–5By David. A contemplative psalm. Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
- Heb 12:7–8It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline?
- Jas 1:12Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him.
- Ps 119:71It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes.
- Ps 89:30–34If his children forsake my law, and don’t walk in my ordinances;
- Jas 5:11Behold, we call them blessed who endured. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
- Ps 73:14–15For all day long I have been plagued, and punished every morning.
- Isa 27:9Therefore by this the iniquity of Jacob will be forgiven, and this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: that he makes all the stones of the altar as chalk stones that are beaten in pieces, so that the Asherah poles and the incense altars shall rise no more.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Hebrews is sustained worship of Christ: better than angels, Moses, and the priests; the great High Priest after Melchizedek who by one sacrifice perfects forever those he saves.
How Hebrews 12:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.