Do not fret over evildoers, and do not be envious of the wicked.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t fret yourself because of evildoers; neither be envious of the wicked:
- KJV Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked;
- NKJV Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the wicked;
- NASB ¶Do not get upset because of evildoers Or be envious of the wicked;
- NLT Don’t fret because of evildoers; don’t envy the wicked.
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
Do not fret over evildoers or envy the wicked.
Overview
Wisdom counsels against anxious agitation or envy toward those who do evil. Such fretting reveals a heart that misjudges the wicked's seeming success. Psalm 37 develops this same exhortation, urging trust in the Lord rather than distress over evildoers, whose end is certain (Ps. 37:1-2, 7).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 119:115Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may obey the commandments of my God.
- Prov 23:17Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the LORD.
- Prov 24:1Do not envy wicked men or desire their company;
- Ps 37:1Of David. Do not fret over those who do evil; do not envy those who do wrong.
- Prov 13:20He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.
- Ps 1:1Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.
- Ps 73:3For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
- Ps 26:4–5I do not sit with deceitful men, nor keep company with hypocrites.
- 2 Tim 3:2–5For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
- Eph 5:11Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
- Num 16:26And he warned the congregation, “Move away now from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.”
- Rev 18:4Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues.
- 2 Cor 6:17“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
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 24:19 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.