He who brings trouble on his house will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who troubles his own house shall inherit the wind. The foolish shall be servant to the wise of heart.
- KJV He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.
- NKJV He who troubles his own house will inherit the wind, And the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.
- NASB One who troubles his own house will inherit wind, And the foolish will be servant to the wise-hearted.
- NLT Those who bring trouble on their families inherit the wind. The fool will be a servant to the wise.
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
Whoever brings trouble on his own household will inherit nothing but wind, and the fool ends up serving the wise. Folly ruins one's own home and standing.
Overview
This proverb warns that mismanaging and harming one's family yields only emptiness, and that the fool ultimately becomes subject to the wise. It underscores the practical consequences of foolish living. Wisdom that builds rather than destroys the household reflects the order and stewardship God intends for His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Eccl 5:16This too is a grievous evil: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?
- Prov 14:19The evil bow before the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
- Hab 2:9–10Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, to place his nest on high and escape the hand of disaster!
- Prov 15:27He who is greedy for unjust gain brings trouble on his household, but he who hates bribes will live.
- Josh 7:24–25Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his oxen and donkeys and sheep, his tent, and everything else he owned, and brought them to the Valley of Achor.
- 1 Sam 25:38About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead.
- 1 Sam 25:3His name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.
- 1 Sam 25:17Now consider carefully what you must do, because disaster looms over our master and all his household. For he is such a scoundrel that nobody can speak to him!”
- Hos 8:7For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. There is no standing grain; what sprouts fails to yield flour. Even if it should produce, the foreigners would swallow it up.
- Gen 34:30Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land. We are few in number; if they unite against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 11:29 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.