Those who love pleasure become poor; those who love wine and luxury will never be rich.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who loves pleasure shall be a poor man. He who loves wine and oil shall not be rich.
- KJV He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.
- BSB He who loves pleasure will become poor; the one who loves wine and oil will never be rich.
- ESV Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.
- NKJV He who loves pleasure will be a poor man; He who loves wine and oil will not be rich.
- NASB One who loves pleasure will become a poor person; One who loves wine and oil will not become rich.
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
Loving pleasure, wine, and luxury leads to poverty. It matters as a warning that self-indulgence ruins a person financially and otherwise.
Overview
A life devoted to indulgence and extravagance squanders resources and ends in want (Proverbs 23:20-21; Luke 15:13-14). The verse commends self-control and moderation over the pursuit of pleasure. True riches are found not in indulgence but in the disciplined, God-fearing life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Prov 23:21for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
- 1 Tim 5:6But she who gives herself to pleasure is dead while she lives.
- 2 Tim 3:4traitors, headstrong, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God;
- Prov 5:10–11lest strangers feast on your wealth, and your labors enrich another man’s house.
- Prov 21:20There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man swallows it up.
- Luke 16:24–25He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’
- Luke 15:13–16Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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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 21:17 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.