The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise.
Parallel translations
- WEB The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. He who is wise wins souls.
- KJV The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
- BSB The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.
- NASB The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And one who is wise gains souls.
- NLT The seeds of good deeds become a tree of life; a wise person wins friends.
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 fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the wise win souls. Godly lives nourish others and draw them toward life.
Overview
The 'tree of life' imagery pictures the righteous person's life as life-giving to those around him, and wisdom as winning people to that good way. It points to the influence of a godly life. This finds its fullest expression in the gospel, where the wise lead others to Christ, the true source of life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Dan 12:3Those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse; and those who turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.
- Jas 5:20let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
- 1 Cor 9:19–23For though I was free from all, I brought myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more.
- 1 Th 2:19For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Isn’t it even you, before our Lord Jesus at his coming?
- Prov 3:18She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her. Happy is everyone who retains her.
- Matt 4:19He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men.”
- Luke 5:9–10For he was amazed, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had caught;
- John 4:36He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit to eternal life; that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
- Prov 15:4A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but deceit in it crushes the spirit.
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 11:30 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.