He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like foliage.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous shall flourish as the green leaf.
- KJV He that trusteth in his riches shall fall; but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.
- NKJV He who trusts in his riches will fall, But the righteous will flourish like foliage.
- NASB One who trusts in his riches will fall, But the righteous will flourish like the green leaf.
- NLT Trust in your money and down you go! But the godly flourish like leaves in spring.
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
Those who trust in riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like green leaves. Misplaced trust in wealth fails, while trust in God brings life.
Overview
The proverb contrasts the collapse of those who rely on riches with the vibrant, leafy flourishing of the righteous. It exposes the instability of wealth as an object of trust. Jesus likewise warned against serving money and called His followers to trust God, who alone makes the soul flourish.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 1 Tim 6:17Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.
- Jer 17:8He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit.
- Ps 52:7–8“Look at the man who did not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his wealth and strengthened himself by destruction.”
- Ps 1:3He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.
- Ps 92:12–14The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
- Ps 62:10Place no trust in extortion, or false hope in stolen goods. If your riches increase, do not set your heart upon them.
- Mark 10:24–25And the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
- Prov 10:15The wealth of the rich man is his fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor.
- Job 31:24–25If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security,
- Ps 49:6They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches.
- Isa 60:21Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified.
- Deut 8:12–14Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses in which to dwell,
- Luke 12:20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’
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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 11:28 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.