I love those who love me, and those who seek me early shall find me.
Parallel translations
- WEB I love those who love me. Those who seek me diligently will find me.
- KJV I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
- NKJV I love those who love me, And those who seek me diligently will find me.
- NASB “I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me.
- NLT “I love all who love me. Those who search will surely find me.
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
Wisdom loves those who love her, and those who seek her diligently will find her. God rewards the earnest pursuit of wisdom.
Overview
This warm promise assures the seeker that the pursuit of wisdom is not one-sided; wisdom responds with love to those who love her. The call to seek 'diligently' implies wholehearted effort, echoing the promise that those who seek God find him (Jeremiah 29:13). Jesus affirms the same principle, promising that those who seek will find (Matthew 7:7).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- John 14:23Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
- John 14:21Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”
- Ps 91:14“Because he loves Me, I will deliver him; because he knows My name, I will protect him.
- Isa 55:6Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
- 1 Jn 4:19We love because He first loved us.
- 1 Sam 2:30Therefore, the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I did indeed say that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever. But now the LORD declares: Far be it from Me! For I will honor those who honor Me, but those who despise Me will be disdained.
- Matt 7:7–8Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
- Matt 6:33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
- Isa 45:19I have not spoken in secret, from a place in a land of darkness. I did not say to the descendants of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in a wasteland.’ I, the LORD, speak the truth; I say what is right.
- Jas 1:5Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
- John 16:27For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God.
- Prov 1:28Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.
- Eccl 12:1Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, “I find no pleasure in them,”
- Mark 10:14But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and told them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them! For the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 8:17 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.