For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?
Parallel translations
- WEB for riches are not forever, nor does the crown endure to all generations.
- BSB for riches are not forever, nor does a 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 23:5Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
- 1 Tim 6:17–18Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
- Zeph 1:18Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
- 2 Sam 7:16And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
- Isa 9:7Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
- Jas 1:10But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
- Ps 89:36His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.
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
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