The wicked man earns an empty wage, but he who sows righteousness reaps a true reward.
Parallel translations
- WEB Wicked people earn deceitful wages, but one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.
- KJV The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.
- NKJV The wicked man does deceptive work, But he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward.
- NASB A wicked person earns deceptive wages, But one who sows righteousness gets a true reward.
- NLT Evil people get rich for the moment, but the reward of the godly will last.
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
Wicked work brings deceptive, fleeting pay, but sowing righteousness yields a sure reward. Righteous living produces lasting fruit that evil cannot.
Overview
Using the imagery of wages and sowing, this proverb contrasts the illusory earnings of the wicked with the dependable harvest of those who sow righteousness. It teaches that godliness yields a reward as certain as planted seed. The New Testament takes up this image, promising that those who sow to the Spirit will reap eternal life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Gal 6:8–9The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
- Eccl 10:8He who digs a pit may fall into it, and he who breaches a wall may be bitten by a snake.
- Hos 10:12–13Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain.
- Jas 3:18Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness.
- Ps 126:5–6Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.
- Prov 22:8He who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
- Prov 1:18But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives.
- Prov 5:22The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
- Isa 59:5–8They hatch the eggs of vipers and weave a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die; crack one open, and a viper is hatched.
- Job 27:13–23This is the wicked man’s portion from God—the heritage the ruthless receive from the Almighty.
- Eph 4:22to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;
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 11:18 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.