When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.
Parallel translations
- WEB When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people groan.
- KJV When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.
- NKJV When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.
- NASB When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked person rules, people groan.
- NLT When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan.
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
People rejoice when the righteous flourish but groan under wicked rule. It shows how the character of leaders shapes a society's joy or misery.
Overview
The proverb contrasts the rejoicing that comes when the righteous increase in influence with the groaning that follows when the wicked rule. Just governance is a blessing to the people, while corrupt power is a burden. It stirs longing for the reign of the righteous King, Christ, under whose rule the redeemed will finally rejoice (Isaiah 9:7).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Prov 28:12When the righteous triumph, there is great glory, but when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.
- Prov 11:10When the righteous thrive, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.
- Prov 28:28When the wicked come to power, people hide themselves; but when they perish, the righteous flourish.
- Esth 8:15Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal garments of blue and white, with a large gold crown and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa shouted and rejoiced.
- Eccl 10:5There is an evil I have seen under the sun—an error that proceeds from the ruler:
- Esth 3:15The couriers left, spurred on by the king’s command, and the edict was issued in the citadel of Susa. Then the king and Haman sat down to drink, but the city of Susa was in confusion.
- Rev 11:15Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”
- Ps 72:1–7Of Solomon. Endow the king with Your justice, O God, and the son of the king with Your righteousness.
- Jer 23:5–6Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land.
- Isa 32:1–2Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice.
- Matt 2:16When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.
- Matt 2:3When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
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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 29:2 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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