In the way of righteousness is life: and in the pathway thereof there is no death.
Parallel translations
- WEB In the way of righteousness is life; in its path there is no death.
- BSB There is life in the path of righteousness, but another path leads to death.
- NKJV In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway there is no death.
- NASB In the way of righteousness there is life, And in its pathway there is no death.
- NLT The way of the godly leads to life; that path does not lead to death.
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
In the way of righteousness there is life, and along its path there is no death. Walking in righteousness leads to life itself.
Overview
This proverb gathers up the chapter's two-ways theme, declaring that the path of righteousness leads to life and not death. It holds out the deepest promise of wisdom literature. Its fullest meaning is found in Christ, the way that leads to eternal life, who has conquered death for all who walk in Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 3 Jn 1:11Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
- Rom 5:21That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Ezek 18:20–24The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
- Titus 2:11–12For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
- Prov 11:19As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death.
- Ezek 18:9Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD.
- 1 Jn 2:29If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
- Prov 8:35For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.
- Prov 10:16The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.
- 1 Jn 3:7Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
- Deut 30:15See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
- Rom 6:22–23But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
- Prov 9:11For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased.
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 12:28 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.