Limitless Word
The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.
Proverbs 14:32 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB The wicked is brought down in his calamity, but in death, the righteous has a refuge.
  • BSB The wicked man is thrown down by his own sin, but the righteous man has a refuge even in death.
  • NKJV The wicked is banished in his wickedness, But the righteous has a refuge in his death.
  • NASB The wicked is thrust down by his own wrongdoing, But the righteous has a refuge when he dies.
  • NLT The wicked are crushed by disaster, but the godly have a refuge when they die.

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 wicked are crushed by calamity, but the righteous have a refuge even in death. Faith provides hope beyond the grave.

Overview

While disaster overwhelms the wicked, the righteous find shelter, even when facing death itself. This striking phrase hints at a hope that outlasts this life, developed more fully in later revelation. For the believer, that refuge is Christ, who has conquered death and secured eternal life for His own (John 11:25-26).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 25

  • 2 Tim 4:18And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
  • Ps 23:4Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
  • 2 Cor 5:8We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
  • Gen 49:18I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.
  • Job 19:25–27For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
  • Rev 14:13And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
  • Job 13:15Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
  • Ps 37:37Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.
  • 2 Cor 1:9But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:
  • Prov 24:16For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
  • Ps 17:15As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
  • Ps 16:11Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
  • John 8:21Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.
  • John 8:24I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
  • Rom 9:22What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
  • 1 Th 5:3For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
  • Job 27:20–22Terrors take hold on him as waters, a tempest stealeth him away in the night.
  • Job 18:18He shall be driven from light into darkness, and chased out of the world.
  • Dan 5:26–30This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
  • Luke 2:29Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
  • Phil 1:21For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
  • Phil 1:23For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:
  • Prov 6:15Therefore shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy.
  • 1 Cor 15:55–58O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
  • Ps 58:9Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Proverbs videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Proverbs 14:32YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ProverbsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 14:32 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.