Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold; he must give up all the wealth of his house.
Parallel translations
- WEB but if he is found, he shall restore seven times. He shall give all the wealth of his house.
- KJV But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.
- NKJV Yet when he is found, he must restore sevenfold; He may have to give up all the substance of his house.
- NASB But when he is found, he must repay seven times as much; He must give up all the property of his house.
- NLT But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole, even if he has to sell everything in his house.
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
Yet even the hungry thief, if caught, must make full and costly restitution. Sin still demands a heavy payment.
Overview
Though somewhat understandable, the thief who is caught must repay many times over, even at the cost of all he owns. The point is that lesser sins still carry real penalties under God's just order. By comparison, the adulterer's far graver offense brings consequences that cannot be repaid.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Luke 19:8But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will repay it fourfold.”
- 2 Sam 12:6Because he has done this thing and has shown no pity, he must pay for the lamb four times over.”
- Exod 22:1–4“If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he must repay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep.
- Job 20:18He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it; he cannot enjoy the profits of his trading.
- Matt 18:25Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.
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 6:31 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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