The exercise of justice is joy for the righteous, But terror to those who practice injustice.
Parallel translations
- WEB It is joy to the righteous to do justice; but it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.
- KJV It is joy to the just to do judgment: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.
- BSB Justice executed is a joy to the righteous, but a terror to the workers of iniquity.
- ESV When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.
- NKJV It is a joy for the just to do justice, But destruction will come to the workers of iniquity.
- NLT Justice is a joy to the godly, but it terrifies evildoers.
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
Justice brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers. It matters because how one responds to justice reveals the heart.
Overview
The righteous delight to see justice done, while the wicked dread it as their destruction (Proverbs 10:29; 21:12). One's reaction to God's justice exposes whether one loves or rejects righteousness. For believers, the coming of God's perfect justice in Christ is cause for joy, not fear.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Prov 10:29The way of Yahweh is a stronghold to the upright, but it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.
- Matt 7:23Then I will tell them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.’
- Eccl 3:12I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice, and to do good as long as they live.
- Isa 64:5You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned. We have been in sin for a long time. Shall we be saved?
- Ps 40:8I delight to do your will, my God. Yes, your law is within my heart.”
- Matt 13:41–42The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity,
- Job 29:12–17Because I delivered the poor who cried, and the fatherless also, who had no one to help him,
- Prov 5:20For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another?
- Prov 21:12The Righteous One considers the house of the wicked, and brings the wicked to ruin.
- Ps 112:1Praise Yah! Blessed is the man who fears Yahweh, who delights greatly in his commandments.
- Ps 119:16I will delight myself in your statutes. I will not forget your word. GIMEL
- Luke 13:27–28He will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’
- John 4:34Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work.
- Rom 7:22For I delight in God’s law after the inward man,
- Ps 119:92Unless your law had been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
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 21:15 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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