But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field.
Parallel translations
- WEB and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away.
- KJV But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
- NKJV but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away.
- NASB but the rich person is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.
- NLT And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field.
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 rich believer should boast in his humbling, recognizing that worldly wealth is fleeting like a fading flower. Riches offer no lasting security.
Overview
By contrast with the poor, the wealthy believer's true boast is in being brought low—learning that earthly riches cannot save and will pass away. The fading flower image, drawn from Isaiah 40:6-8, underscores the transience of all that the world prizes. Both rich and poor find their true worth not in status but in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- 1 Pet 1:24For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
- 1 Jn 2:17The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.
- Job 14:2Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
- 1 Tim 6:17Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.
- Matt 5:3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- Ps 103:15As for man, his days are like grass—he blooms like a flower of the field;
- Isa 40:6A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field.
- Ps 90:5–6You whisk them away in their sleep; they are like the new grass of the morning—
- Jas 4:14You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
- Matt 6:30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
- Ps 37:2For they wither quickly like grass and wilt like tender plants.
- 1 Cor 7:31and those who use the things of this world, as if not dependent on them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
- Ps 102:11My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.
- Isa 66:2Has not My hand made all these things? And so they came into being,” declares the LORD. “This is the one I will esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at My word.
- Ps 37:35–36I have seen a wicked, ruthless man flourishing like a well-rooted native tree,
- Phil 3:8More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
- Isa 57:15For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.
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