The labor of the righteous leads to life, but the gain of the wicked brings punishment.
Parallel translations
- WEB The labor of the righteous leads to life. The increase of the wicked leads to sin.
- KJV The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.
- NKJV The labor of the righteous leads to life, The wages of the wicked to sin.
- NASB The wages of the righteous is life, The income of the wicked, punishment.
- NLT The earnings of the godly enhance their lives, but evil people squander their money on sin.
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 wage of the righteous leads to life, but the gain of the wicked to sin. Righteous earnings bear good fruit; wicked gain leads to more evil.
Overview
The fruit of one's labor is shaped by one's character: the righteous use their gain toward life, while the wicked turn theirs toward sin. It is not wealth itself but the heart behind it that determines its outcome. This points to the deeper truth that genuine life comes from righteousness, fulfilled in Christ our righteousness (Romans 6:23).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Isa 3:10–11Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.
- Rom 6:23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Heb 6:10For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.
- John 6:27Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”
- Prov 11:18–19The wicked man earns an empty wage, but he who sows righteousness reaps a true reward.
- 1 Cor 15:58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
- Matt 12:33–34Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.
- Matt 7:17–18Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
- Prov 11:30The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.
- Gal 6:7–9Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return.
- Matt 15:19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.
- 2 Tim 3:13while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
- 2 Tim 2:17–18and the talk of such men will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 10:16 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
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