for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to every generation.
Parallel translations
- WEB for riches are not forever, nor does the crown endure to all generations.
- KJV For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?
- NKJV For riches are not forever, Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
- NASB For riches are not forever, Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
- NLT for riches don’t last forever, and the crown might not be passed to the next generation.
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
Wealth and power are not permanent, so they cannot be relied upon. It warns against trusting in riches that inevitably pass away.
Overview
Continuing the call to diligence, the proverb reminds that riches and even royal authority do not last forever, urging ongoing stewardship rather than complacency. Earthly security is fleeting and must not become our trust. Jesus directs His followers instead to lay up treasure in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy (Matthew 6:19-20).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Prov 23:5When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.
- 1 Tim 6:17–18Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.
- Zeph 1:18Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the Day of the LORD’s wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of His jealousy.” For indeed, He will make a sudden end of all who dwell on the earth.
- 2 Sam 7:16Your house and kingdom will endure forever before Me, and your throne will be established forever.”
- Isa 9:7Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
- Jas 1:10But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field.
- Ps 89:36his offspring shall endure forever, and his throne before Me like the sun,
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 27:24 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.