Be assured that the wicked will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will escape.
Parallel translations
- WEB Most certainly, the evil man will not be unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.
- KJV Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.
- NKJV Though they join forces, the wicked will not go unpunished; But the posterity of the righteous will be delivered.
- NASB Be assured, the evil person will not go unpunished, But the descendants of the righteous will be rescued.
- NLT Evil people will surely be punished, but the children of the godly will go free.
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
Be assured, the wicked will not go unpunished, but the children of the righteous will be delivered. God's justice is certain even when it seems delayed.
Overview
The emphatic 'most certainly' underscores the reliability of God's justice: evil will be judged and the righteous will be rescued. The proverb steadies faith when wrongdoing seems to prosper. Its assurance finds its anchor in God's character and is fully vindicated in the final judgment Christ will bring.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ps 112:1–2Hallelujah! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in His commandments.
- Acts 2:39This promise belongs to you and your children and to all who are far off—to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.”
- Jer 32:39I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and for the good of their children after them.
- Ps 37:26They are ever generous and quick to lend, and their children are a blessing.
- Prov 16:5Everyone who is proud in heart is detestable to the LORD; be assured that he will not go unpunished.
- Prov 13:22A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is passed to the righteous.
- Gen 17:7–8I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
- Exod 23:2You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.
- Isa 27:4I am not angry. If only thorns and briers confronted Me, I would march and trample them, I would burn them to the ground.
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 11:21 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.