But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance 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.
- BSB Yet if caught, he must pay sevenfold; he must give up all the wealth 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 19:8And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
- 2 Sam 12:6And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
- Exod 22:1–4If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.
- Job 20:18That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.
- Matt 18:25But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
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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