The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.
Parallel translations
- WEB A righteous man walks in integrity. Blessed are his children after him.
- BSB The righteous man walks with integrity; blessed are his children after him.
- NKJV The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him.
- NASB A righteous person who walks in his integrity— How blessed are his sons after him.
- NLT The godly walk with integrity; blessed are their children who follow them.
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
A righteous person's integrity blesses even his children. Godly character leaves a legacy of blessing.
Overview
This proverb commends the righteous man who walks in integrity and pronounces his children blessed after him, recognizing how a parent's godly life benefits the next generation. It reflects the covenant pattern of God's faithfulness extending to the children of those who love Him (Exod. 20:6). While each person stands before God individually, the verse encourages parents that integrity bears fruit beyond themselves, ultimately rooted in God's covenant grace in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 112:2His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.
- Ps 37:26He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.
- Jer 32:39And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
- 2 Cor 1:12For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.
- Acts 2:39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.
- 3 Jn 1:3–4For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.
- 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 19:1Better is the poor that walketh in his integrity, than he that is perverse in his lips, and is a fool.
- Luke 1:6And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
- Ps 15:2He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.
- Gen 17:7And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
- Ps 26:1Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide.
- Prov 14:2He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the LORD: but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him.
- Titus 2:11–12For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
- Isa 33:15He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;
- Ps 26:11But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.
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 20:7 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.