Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.
Parallel translations
- WEB Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.
- BSB Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.
- ESV Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
- NKJV Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people.
- NASB Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people.
- NLT Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people. National well-being is tied to moral character.
Overview
This sweeping proverb declares that righteousness lifts up a nation while sin brings it shame and decline. It applies wisdom's principles beyond the individual to the life of whole peoples. The verse reminds nations of their accountability to God, whose moral order undergirds all human society and finds its center in Christ's righteous reign.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ps 107:34A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.
- Deut 28:1–68And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
- Deut 29:18–28Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;
- Deut 4:6–8Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
- Hos 13:1When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.
- Judg 2:6–14And when Joshua had let the people go, the children of Israel went every man unto his inheritance to possess the land.
- Ezek 16:1–63Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
- Ezek 22:1–23Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
- Jer 2:2–25Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
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 14:34 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.