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The wicked are crushed by disaster, but the godly have a refuge when they die.
Proverbs 14:32 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB The wicked is brought down in his calamity, but in death, the righteous has a refuge.
  • KJV The wicked is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death.
  • 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.

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 will deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me for his heavenly Kingdom; to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
  • Ps 23:4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
  • 2 Cor 5:8We are courageous, I say, and are willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be at home with the Lord.
  • Gen 49:18I have waited for your salvation, Yahweh.
  • Job 19:25–27But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives. In the end, he will stand upon the earth.
  • Rev 14:13I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write, ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them.”
  • Job 13:15Behold, he will kill me. I have no hope. Nevertheless, I will maintain my ways before him.
  • Ps 37:37Mark the perfect man, and see the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace.
  • 2 Cor 1:9Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead,
  • Prov 24:16for a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.
  • Ps 17:15As for me, I shall see your face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with seeing your form.
  • Ps 16:11You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forever more.
  • John 8:21Jesus said therefore again to them, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sins. Where I go, you can’t come.”
  • John 8:24I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.”
  • Rom 9:22What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath made for destruction,
  • 1 Th 5:3For when they are saying, “Peace and safety,” then sudden destruction will come on them, like birth pains on a pregnant woman; and they will in no way escape.
  • Job 27:20–22Terrors overtake him like waters. A storm steals 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 has counted your kingdom, and brought it to an end;
  • Luke 2:29“Now you are releasing your servant, Master, according to your word, in peace;
  • Phil 1:21For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
  • Phil 1:23But I am in a dilemma between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
  • Prov 6:15Therefore his calamity will come suddenly. He will be broken suddenly, and that without remedy.
  • 1 Cor 15:55–58“Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?”
  • Ps 58:9Before your pots can feel the heat of the thorns, he will sweep away the green and the burning alike.

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.