The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth.
Parallel translations
- WEB The righteous will never be removed, but the wicked will not dwell in the land.
- BSB The righteous will never be shaken, but the wicked will not inhabit the land.
- NKJV The righteous will never be removed, But the wicked will not inhabit the earth.
- NASB The righteous will never be shaken, But the wicked will not live in the land.
- NLT The godly will never be disturbed, but the wicked will be removed from the land.
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 will remain secure, but the wicked will not endure in the land. Stability belongs to those who live rightly before God.
Overview
Drawing on covenant language about dwelling in the promised land, this proverb affirms the lasting security of the righteous and the displacement of the wicked. It speaks to God's just ordering of life, even if its full realization awaits the age to come. Jesus' promise that the meek will inherit the earth fulfills this hope of an enduring place for God's people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ps 37:22For such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth; and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off.
- Ps 125:1They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.
- Ps 37:28–29For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.
- Ps 37:9–10For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
- Prov 2:21–22For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
- Prov 10:25As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation.
- Ps 16:8I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
- 2 Pet 1:10–11Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
- Rom 8:35–39Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
- Ps 112:6Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.
- Matt 21:41They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
- Ps 52:5God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.
- Mic 2:9–10The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever.
- Ezek 33:24–26Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance.
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
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 10:30 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.