The godly can look forward to a reward, while the wicked can expect only judgment.
Parallel translations
- WEB The desire of the righteous is only good. The expectation of the wicked is wrath.
- KJV The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath.
- BSB The desire of the righteous leads only to good, but the hope of the wicked brings wrath.
- NKJV The desire of the righteous is only good, But the expectation of the wicked is wrath.
- NASB The desire of the righteous is only good, But the expectation of the wicked is wrath.
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 desire only good, but the wicked can expect only wrath. Our deepest desires shape the outcomes we receive.
Overview
This proverb contrasts the wholesome longings of the righteous, which end in good, with the expectations of the wicked, which end in wrath. Desire reveals character and points toward destiny. The believer's renewed desires, formed by the Spirit, increasingly aim at the good God intends and promises in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Rom 2:8–9but to those who are self-seeking, and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath and indignation,
- Ps 37:4Also delight yourself in Yahweh, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
- Matt 5:6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.
- Ps 10:17Yahweh, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear,
- Ps 119:10With my whole heart, I have sought you. Don’t let me wander from your commandments.
- Ps 27:4One thing I have asked of Yahweh, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in Yahweh’s house all the days of my life, to see Yahweh’s beauty, and to inquire in his temple.
- Isa 26:9With my soul I have desired you in the night. Yes, with my spirit within me will I seek you earnestly; for when your judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
- Jer 17:16As for me, I have not hurried from being a shepherd after you; neither have I desired the woeful day; you know. That which came out of my lips was before your face.
- Prov 10:28The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hope of the wicked will perish.
- Ps 39:7–8Now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you.
- Prov 11:7When a wicked man dies, hope perishes, and expectation of power comes to nothing.
- Ps 119:5Oh that my ways were steadfast to obey your statutes!
- Heb 10:27but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries.
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 11:23 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.