Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.
Parallel translations
- KJV Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach 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 107:34and a fruitful land into a salt waste, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
- Deut 28:1–68It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you today, that Yahweh your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
- Deut 29:18–28lest there should be among you man, woman, family, or tribe whose heart turns away today from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that produces bitter poison;
- Deut 4:6–8Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who shall hear all these statutes, and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”
- Hos 13:1When Ephraim spoke, there was trembling. He exalted himself in Israel, but when he became guilty in Baal, he died.
- Judg 2:6–14Now when Joshua had sent the people away, the children of Israel each went to his inheritance to possess the land.
- Ezek 16:1–63Again Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
- Ezek 22:1–23Moreover Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
- Jer 2:2–25“Go, and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “I remember for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your weddings; how you went after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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.