4Riches do not profit in the day of wrath,
         But righteousness delivers from death.

5The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way,
         But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.

6The righteousness of the upright will deliver them,
         But the treacherous will be caught by their own greed.

7When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish,
         And the hope of strong men perishes.

8The righteous is delivered from trouble,
         But the wicked takes his place.

9With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor,
         But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.

10When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,
         And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.

11By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted,
         But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.

12He who despises his neighbor lacks sense,
         But a man of understanding keeps silent.

13He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets,
         But he who is trustworthy conceals a matter.

14Where there is no guidance the people fall,
         But in abundance of counselors there is victory.

15He who is guarantor for a stranger will surely suffer for it,
         But he who hates being a guarantor is secure.

16A gracious woman attains honor,
         And ruthless men attain riches.

17The merciful man does himself good,
         But the cruel man does himself harm.

18The wicked earns deceptive wages,
         But he who sows righteousness gets a true reward.

19He who is steadfast in righteousness will attain to life,
         And he who pursues evil will bring about his own death.

20The perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD,
         But the blameless in their walk are His delight.

21Assuredly, the evil man will not go unpunished,
         But the descendants of the righteous will be delivered.

22As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout
         So is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.

23The desire of the righteous is only good,
         But the expectation of the wicked is wrath.

24There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more,
         And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want.

25The generous man will be prosperous,
         And he who waters will himself be watered.

26He who withholds grain, the people will curse him,
         But blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.

27He who diligently seeks good seeks favor,
         But he who seeks evil, evil will come to him.

28He who trusts in his riches will fall,
         But the righteous will flourish like the green leaf.

29He who troubles his own house will inherit wind,
         And the foolish will be servant to the wisehearted.

30The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
         And he who is wise wins souls.

31If the righteous will be rewarded in the earth,
         How much more the wicked and the sinner!

Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
The integrity of the upright will guide them, But the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
Integrity guides decent people, but hypocrisy leads treacherous people to ruin.

King James Bible
The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.

Douay-Rheims Bible
The simplicity of the just shall guide them: and the deceitfulness of the wicked shall destroy them.

Darby Bible Translation
The integrity of the upright guideth them; but the crookedness of the unfaithful destroyeth them.

English Revised Version
The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of the treacherous shall destroy them.

Webster's Bible Translation
The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.

World English Bible
The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the perverseness of the treacherous shall destroy them.

Young's Literal Translation
The integrity of the upright leadeth them, And the perverseness of the treacherous destroyeth them.

Cross References

Proverbs 2:22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land And the treacherous will be uprooted from it.

Proverbs 13:6 Righteousness guards the one whose way is blameless, But wickedness subverts the sinner.

Proverbs 19:3 The foolishness of man ruins his way, And his heart rages against the LORD.

Proverbs 22:12 The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, But He overthrows the words of the treacherous man.

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Verse 3

It is not only promised that God will guide the upright, and threatened that he will destroy the transgressors, but, that we may be the more fully assured of both, it is here represented as if the nature of the thing were such on both sides that it would do it itself. 1. The integrity of an honest man will itself be his guide in the way of duty and the way of safety. His principles are fixed, his rule is certain, and therefore his way is plain; his sincerity keeps him steady, and he needs not tack about every time the wind turns, having no other end to drive at than to keep a good conscience. Integrity and uprightness will preserve men, Ps. 25:21. 2. The iniquity of a bad man will itself be his ruin. As the plainness of a good man will be his protection, though he is ever so much exposed, so the perverseness of sinners will be their destruction, though they think themselves eve so well fortified. They shall fall into pits of their own digging, ch. 5:22.

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New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org.

GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Quotations are used by permission. Copyright 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved.

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Bible Browser

The Waterer Watered
A sermon (No. 626) delivered on Sunday Morning, April 23, 1865, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, by C. H. Spurgeon. "He that watereth shall be watered also himself."--Proverbs 11:25. The general principle is that in living for the good of others, we shall be profited also ourselves. We must not isolate our own interests, but feel that we live for others. This teaching is sustained by the analogy of nature, for in nature there is a law that no one thing can be independent of the rest of …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

Withholding Corn
A sermon (No. 642) delivered on Sunday morning, July 30, 1865, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, by C. H. Spurgeon. "He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it."--Proverbs 11:26. If I dared, I should always preach upon the comfortable promises and gracious doctrines of God's Word. I find it most delightful and easy work to expatiate upon those themes of revelation which abound in sweetness, and are full of savor and preciousness …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

The Soul Winner
A sermon (No. 1292) delivered on Thursday evening, January 20th, 1876, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, by C. H. Spurgeon. "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise."--Proverbs 11:30. I had very great joy last night--many of you know why but some do not. We held our annual meeting of the church, and it was a very pleasant sight to see so many brethren and sisters knit together in the heartiest love, welded together as one mass by common sympathies, …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

Soul Winning
A sermon (No. 850) delivered at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, by C. H. Spurgeon. "He that winneth souls is wise."--Proverbs 11:30. The text does not say "he that winneth sovereigns is wise," though no doubt he thinks himself wise, and perhaps in a certain grovelling sense in these days of competition he must be so; but such wisdom is of the earth and ends with the earth; and there is another world where the currencies of Europe will not be accepted, nor their past possession be any sign …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

To Win Souls Requires Wisdom.
Text.--He that winneth souls is wise.--Proverbs xi. 30. THE most common definition of wisdom is, that it is the choice of the best end and the selection of the most appropriate means for the accomplishment of that end--the best adaptation of means to secure a desired end. "He that winneth souls," God says, "is wise." The object of this evening's lecture is to direct Christians in the use of means for accomplishing their infinitely desirable end, the salvation of souls. To-night I shall confine my …
Charles Grandison Finney—Lectures on Revivals of Religion

A Wise Minister Will be Successful.
Text.--He that winneth souls is wise.--Proverbs xi. 30. I PREACHED last Friday evening from the same text, on the method of dealing with sinners by private Christians. My object at this time is to take up the more public means of grace, with particular reference to the DUTIES OF MINISTERS. As I observed in my last lecture, wisdom is the choice and pursuit of the best end by the most appropriate means. The great end for which the Christian Ministry was appointed, is to glorify God in the salvation …
Charles Grandison Finney—Lectures on Revivals of Religion

How to Preach the Gospel.
Text.--He that winneth souls is wise.--Proverbs xi. 30. ONE of the last remarks in my last lecture, was this, that the text ascribes conversion to men. Winning souls is converting men. This evening I design to show, I. That several passages of Scripture ascribe conversion to men. II. That this is consistent with other passages which ascribe conversion to God. III. I purpose to discuss several further particulars which are deemed important, in regard to the preaching of the Gospel, and which show …
Charles Grandison Finney—Lectures on Revivals of Religion

The Desire of the Righteous Granted;
OR, A DISCOURSE OF THE RIGHTEOUS MAN'S DESIRES. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR As the tree is known by its fruit, so is the state of a man's heart known by his desires. The desires of the righteous are the touchstone or standard of Christian sincerity--the evidence of the new birth--the spiritual barometer of faith and grace--and the springs of obedience. Christ and him crucified is the ground of all our hopes--the foundation upon which all our desires after God and holiness are built--and the root …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

How those are to be Admonished who Decline the Office of Preaching Out of Too Great Humility, and those who Seize on it with Precipitate Haste.
(Admonition 26.) Differently to be admonished are those who, though able to preach worthily, are afraid by reason of excessive humility, and those whom imperfection or age forbids to preach, and yet precipitancy impells. For those who, though able to preach with profit, still shrink back through excessive humility are to be admonished to gather from consideration of a lesser matter how faulty they are in a greater one. For, if they were to hide from their indigent neighbours money which they possessed …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

Sanctions of Moral Law, Natural and Governmental.
In the discussion of this subject, I shall show-- I. What constitute the sanctions of law. 1. The sanctions of law are the motives to obedience, the natural and the governmental consequences or results of obedience and of disobedience. 2. They are remuneratory, that is, they promise reward to obedience. 3. They are vindicatory, that is, they threaten the disobedient with punishment. 4. They are natural, that is, happiness is to some extent naturally connected with, and the necessary consequence of, …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Jesus, My Rock.
When the storm and the tempest are raging around me, Oh! where shall I flee to be safe from their shock? There are walls which no mortal hands built to surround me, A Refuge Eternal,--'Tis JESUS MY ROCK! When my heart is all sorrow, and trials aggrieve me, To whom can I safely my secrets unlock? No bosom (save one) has the power to relieve me, The bosom which bled for me, JESUS MY ROCK! When Life's gloomy curtain, at last, shall close o'er me, And the chill hand of death unexpectedly knock, I will …
John Ross Macduff—The Cities of Refuge: or, The Name of Jesus

George Muller, and the Secret of His
POWER IN PRAYER WHEN God wishes anew to teach His Church a truth that is not being understood or practised, He mostly does so by raising some man to be in word and deed a living witness to its blessedness. And so God has raised up in this nineteenth century, among others, George Muller to be His witness that He is indeed the Hearer of prayer. I know of no way in which the principal truths of God's word in regard to prayer can be more effectually illustrated and established than a short review …
Andrew Murray—With Christ in the School of Prayer

The Publication of the Gospel
The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it [or of the preachers] P erhaps no one Psalm has given greater exercise to the skill and patience of commentators and critics, than the sixty-eighth. I suppose the difficulties do not properly belong to the Psalm, but arise from our ignorance of various circumstances to which the Psalmist alludes; which probably were, at that time, generally known and understood. The first verse is the same with the stated form of benediction …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

We Shall not be Curious in the Ranking of the Duties in which Christian Love...
We shall not be curious in the ranking of the duties in which Christian love should exercise itself. All the commandments of the second table are but branches of it: they might be reduced all to the works of righteousness and of mercy. But truly these are interwoven through other. Though mercy uses to be restricted to the showing of compassion upon men in misery, yet there is a righteousness in that mercy, and there is mercy in the most part of the acts of righteousness, as in not judging rashly, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Controversy Ended
At the close of the thousand years, Christ again returns to the earth. He is accompanied by the host of the redeemed and attended by a retinue of angels. As He descends in terrific majesty He bids the wicked dead arise to receive their doom. They come forth, a mighty host, numberless as the sands of the sea. What a contrast to those who were raised at the first resurrection! The righteous were clothed with immortal youth and beauty. The wicked bear the traces of disease and death. Every eye in that …
Ellen Gould White—The Great Controversy

Thoughts Upon Worldly-Riches. Sect. Ii.
TIMOTHY after his Conversion to the Christian Faith, being found to be a Man of great Parts, Learning, and Piety, and so every way qualified for the work of the Ministry, St. Paul who had planted a Church at Ephesus the Metropolis or chief City of all Asia, left him to dress and propagate it, after his departure from it, giving him Power to ordain Elders or Priests, and to visit and exercise Jurisdiction over them, to see they did not teach false Doctrines, 1 Tim. i. 3. That they be unblameable in …
William Beveridge—Private Thoughts Upon a Christian Life

A Liberal Church
In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul gave the believers instruction regarding the general principles underlying the support of God's work in the earth. Writing of his apostolic labors in their behalf, he inquired: "Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? For it is written in the law of …
Ellen Gould White—The Acts of the Apostles

The Bible and the French Revolution
In the sixteenth century the Reformation, presenting an open Bible to the people, had sought admission to all the countries of Europe. Some nations welcomed it with gladness, as a messenger of Heaven. In other lands the papacy succeeded to a great extent in preventing its entrance; and the light of Bible knowledge, with its elevating influences, was almost wholly excluded. In one country, though the light found entrance, it was not comprehended by the darkness. For centuries, truth and error struggled …
Ellen Gould White—The Great Controversy

Proverbs
Many specimens of the so-called Wisdom Literature are preserved for us in the book of Proverbs, for its contents are by no means confined to what we call proverbs. The first nine chapters constitute a continuous discourse, almost in the manner of a sermon; and of the last two chapters, ch. xxx. is largely made up of enigmas, and xxxi. is in part a description of the good housewife. All, however, are rightly subsumed under the idea of wisdom, which to the Hebrew had always moral relations. The Hebrew …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament