The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.
Parallel translations
- WEB The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hope of the wicked will perish.
- BSB The hope of the righteous is joy, but the expectations of the wicked will perish.
- NKJV The hope of the righteous will be gladness, But the expectation of the wicked will perish.
- NASB The hope of the righteous is gladness, But the expectation of the wicked perishes.
- NLT The hopes of the godly result in happiness, but the expectations of the wicked come to nothing.
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 righteous look forward to joy, but the hope of the wicked comes to nothing. What we hope in determines whether our future is gladness or disappointment.
Overview
Hope grounded in God yields lasting joy, while hope set on sin or self ultimately perishes. The proverb contrasts two destinies that flow from two different foundations for hope. For the believer this hope is secured in Christ, in whom our expectation can never be put to shame.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Job 8:13So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite’s hope shall perish:
- Ps 73:24–26Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
- Rom 15:13Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
- Prov 11:7When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth.
- 2 Th 2:16Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,
- Rom 5:2By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
- Job 11:20But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.
- Ps 112:10The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish.
- Rom 12:12Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
- Prov 14:32The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.
- Luke 16:23–26And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
- Ps 16:9Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 10:28 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 Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.