The righteous is delivered from trouble, And it comes to the wicked instead.
Parallel translations
- WEB A righteous person is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked takes his place.
- KJV The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead.
- BSB The righteous man is delivered from trouble; in his place the wicked man goes in.
- NASB The righteous is rescued from trouble, But the wicked takes his place.
- NLT The godly are rescued from trouble, and it falls on the wicked instead.
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 are rescued from trouble, and the wicked end up taking their place in it. God's justice often reverses the fortunes of the upright and the evil.
Overview
This proverb describes a pattern in which the righteous are delivered from danger while the wicked fall into the very trouble they intended. It reflects God's just governance, even when the timing is His own. Scripture's larger story shows this reversal supremely at the cross and in final judgment, when the righteous are vindicated.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Dan 6:23–24Then was the king exceeding glad, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.
- Prov 21:18The wicked is a ransom for the righteous; the treacherous for the upright.
- Esth 7:9–10Then Harbonah, one of the eunuchs who were with the king said, “Behold, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman has made for Mordecai, who spoke good for the king, is standing at Haman’s house.” The king said, “Hang him on it!”
- Isa 43:3–4For I am Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I have given Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 11:8 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.