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Yahweh’s curse is in the house of the wicked, but he blesses the habitation of the righteous.
Proverbs 3:33 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.
  • BSB The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the righteous.
  • NKJV The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked, But He blesses the home of the just.
  • NASB The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked, But He blesses the home of the righteous.
  • NLT The Lord curses the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the upright.

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 LORD's curse rests on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous. God himself governs the outcomes of wicked and righteous households.

Overview

Using the language of curse and blessing, the proverb declares that God's favor or judgment reaches into the daily life and households of people. These are general patterns of God's moral governance, not mechanical guarantees in every case. The righteousness ultimately blessed is found in those justified by faith in Christ, who bore the curse for us (Gal 3:13).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • Ps 37:22For such as are blessed by him shall inherit the land. Those who are cursed by him shall be cut off.
  • Lev 26:14–46“‘But if you will not listen to me, and will not do all these commandments;
  • Job 8:6–7If you were pure and upright, surely now he would awaken for you, and make the habitation of your righteousness prosperous.
  • Ps 91:10no evil shall happen to you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.
  • Mal 2:2If you will not listen, and if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name,” says Yahweh of Armies, “then will I send the curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have cursed them already, because you do not lay it to heart.
  • Deut 7:26You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and become a devoted thing like it. You shall utterly detest it, and you shall utterly abhor it; for it is a devoted thing.
  • Prov 21:12The Righteous One considers the house of the wicked, and brings the wicked to ruin.
  • 2 Sam 6:11Yahweh’s ark remained in Obed-Edom the Gittite’s house three months; and Yahweh blessed Obed-Edom and all his house.
  • Deut 29:19–29and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, “I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart, to destroy the moist with the dry.”
  • Deut 28:2–68All these blessings will come upon you, and overtake you, if you listen to Yahweh your God’s voice.
  • Ps 1:3He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that produces its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper.
  • Zech 5:3–4Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the surface of the whole land; for everyone who steals shall be cut off according to it on the one side; and everyone who swears falsely shall be cut off according to it on the other side.
  • Josh 7:13“Get up! Sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, for Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, “There is a devoted thing among you, Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted thing from among you.”
  • Deut 11:28and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you today, to go after other gods, which you have not known.
  • Josh 6:18But as for you, only keep yourselves from what is devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted it, you take of the devoted thing; so you would make the camp of Israel accursed, and trouble it.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Proverbs videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Proverbs 3:33YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ProverbsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 3:33 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.