The violence of the wicked will sweep them away because they refuse to do what is just.
Parallel translations
- WEB The violence of the wicked will drive them away, because they refuse to do what is right.
- KJV The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them; because they refuse to do judgment.
- ESV The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, because they refuse to do what is just.
- NKJV The violence of the wicked will destroy them, Because they refuse to do justice.
- NASB The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, Because they refuse to act with justice.
- NLT The violence of the wicked sweeps them away, because they refuse to do what is just.
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
The violence of the wicked sweeps them away because they refuse to do right. It matters because injustice ultimately destroys those who practice it.
Overview
The wicked's own violence becomes their undoing, dragging them to ruin because they reject justice (Psalm 7:15-16). Sin carries its own self-destructive consequences under God's moral order. The verse warns that refusing to do right is no path to security but to downfall.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Prov 21:21He who pursues righteousness and loving devotion finds life, righteousness, and honor.
- Mic 3:9–12Now hear this, O leaders of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and pervert all that is right,
- Zech 5:3–4Then he told me, “This is the curse that is going out over the face of all the land, for according to one side of the scroll, every thief will be removed; and according to the other side, every perjurer will be removed.
- Ps 7:16His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.
- Eph 5:6Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.
- Prov 22:22–23Do not rob a poor man because he is poor, and do not crush the afflicted at the gate,
- Jer 7:15And I will cast you out of My presence, just as I have cast out all your brothers, all the descendants of Ephraim.
- Ezek 22:13–14Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst.
- Prov 1:18–19But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives.
- Isa 1:23–24Your rulers are rebels, friends of thieves. They all love bribes and chasing after rewards. They do not defend the fatherless, and the plea of the widow never comes before them.
- Ezek 18:18As for his father, he will die for his own iniquity, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what was wrong among his people.
- Ps 9:16The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah
- Prov 10:6Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
- Jer 7:9–11Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,
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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 21:7 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
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