A righteous man walks in integrity. Blessed are his children after him.
Parallel translations
- KJV The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed 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 offspring will be mighty in the land. The generation of the upright will be blessed.
- Ps 37:26All day long he deals graciously, and lends. His offspring is blessed.
- Jer 32:39and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their good, and of their children after them:
- 2 Cor 1:12For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you.
- Acts 2:39For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.”
- 3 Jn 1:3–4For I rejoiced greatly, when brothers came and testified about your truth, even as you walk in truth.
- Prov 13:22A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored for the righteous.
- Prov 19:1Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than he who is perverse in his lips and is a fool.
- Luke 1:6They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.
- Ps 15:2He who walks blamelessly does what is right, and speaks truth in his heart;
- Gen 17:7I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you and to your offspring after you.
- Ps 26:1By David. Judge me, Yahweh, for I have walked in my integrity. I have trusted also in Yahweh without wavering.
- Prov 14:2He who walks in his uprightness fears Yahweh, but he who is perverse in his ways despises him.
- Titus 2:11–12For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
- Isa 33:15He who walks righteously, and speaks blamelessly; He who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil —
- Ps 26:11But as for me, I will walk in my integrity. Redeem me, and be merciful to 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.