An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.
Parallel translations
- WEB An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning, won’t be blessed in the end.
- BSB An inheritance gained quickly will not be blessed in the end.
- NKJV An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning Will not be blessed at the end.
- NASB An inheritance gained in a hurry at the beginning Will not be blessed in the end.
- NLT An inheritance obtained too early in life is not a blessing in the end.
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
An inheritance grabbed hastily or greedily will not be blessed in the end. It matters because gain pursued wrongly carries no lasting blessing.
Overview
Wealth seized impatiently or by improper means lacks God's blessing and proves fleeting (Proverbs 13:11; 28:20). The verse warns against grasping for quick riches rather than trusting God's timing. True and lasting blessing comes from righteous diligence under the Lord's hand.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 1 Tim 6:9But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
- Prov 13:22A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.
- Prov 28:8He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.
- Prov 23:4Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
- Prov 28:22He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.
- Job 27:16–17Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay;
- Prov 28:20A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.
- Hab 2:6Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay!
- Mal 2:2If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
- Zech 5:4I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 20:21 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
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