When the righteous thrive, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.
Parallel translations
- WEB When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices. When the wicked perish, there is shouting.
- KJV When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting.
- NKJV When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices; And when the wicked perish, there is jubilation.
- NASB When things go well for the righteous, the city rejoices, And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.
- NLT The whole city celebrates when the godly succeed; they shout for joy when the wicked die.
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
A city rejoices when the righteous prosper and when the wicked perish. The moral health of a community affects everyone in it.
Overview
This proverb observes that the flourishing of righteous people blesses a whole community, while the downfall of the wicked brings public relief. It teaches that righteousness has communal, not merely private, benefits. The reign of Christ, the perfectly righteous King, is the ultimate good news for which creation longs.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Prov 28:12When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, but when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.
- Esth 8:15–16Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal garments of blue and white, with a large gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.
- Ps 58:10–11The righteous will rejoice when they see they are avenged; they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.
- Judg 5:31So may all Your enemies perish, O LORD! But may those who love You shine like the sun at its brightest.” And the land had rest for forty years.
- Prov 28:28When the wicked come to power, people hide themselves; but when they perish, the righteous flourish.
- Job 27:23It claps its hands at him and hisses him out of his place.
- Rev 19:1–7After this I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude in heaven, shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God!
- Exod 15:21And Miriam sang back to them: “Sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted; the horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.”
Resources, by level
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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 11:10 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.