Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repayed.
Parallel translations
- WEB Misfortune pursues sinners, but prosperity rewards the righteous.
- BSB Disaster pursues sinners, but prosperity is the reward of the righteous.
- NKJV Evil pursues sinners, But to the righteous, good shall be repaid.
- NASB Adversity pursues sinners, But the righteous will be rewarded with prosperity.
- NLT Trouble chases sinners, while blessings reward the righteous.
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
Disaster dogs sinners, but good comes to the righteous. God's moral order generally rewards righteousness.
Overview
Personifying misfortune as a pursuer of sinners and prosperity as a reward for the righteous, the proverb affirms the broad pattern of divine justice. It speaks of general tendencies under God's governance rather than absolute, immediate outcomes in every case. The fullest 'good' awaits the righteous in Christ, whose final reward is sure (Romans 8:28).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ps 32:10Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.
- Isa 3:10–11Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
- Prov 13:13Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.
- Rom 2:7–10To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:
- Gen 4:7If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
- Ps 140:11Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth: evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.
- Num 32:23But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.
- Acts 28:4And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.
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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 13:21 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.