Bible Strands
Proverbs 11:18
The wicked man earns an empty wage, but he who sows righteousness reaps a true reward.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The wisdom writer addresses Israel’s community, contrasting the immediate outcomes of two opposing life paths. The words — רָשָ֗ע (ra.sha') denotes a wicked person, while אֱמֶֽת ('e.met) means truth. The thread — This sowing and reaping principle appears in Hosea 10:12 and Galatians 6:8. Why it lands — It requires the reader to evaluate actions by their permanent consequences rather than their immediate payout.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.
Cross-references
- Galatians 6:8 The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
- Ecclesiastes 10:8 He who digs a pit may fall into it, and he who breaches a wall may be bitten by a snake.
- Hosea 10:12 Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain.
- James 3:18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness.
- Psalms 126:5 Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.
- Proverbs 22:8 He who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
- Proverbs 1:18 But they lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush their own lives.
- Proverbs 5:22 The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
- Job 27:13 This is the wicked man’s portion from God—the heritage the ruthless receive from the Almighty.
- Isaiah 59:5 They hatch the eggs of vipers and weave a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die; crack one open, and a viper is hatched.