Bible Strands
Proverbs 23:18
For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — A father or wise teacher speaks to his son, placing this assurance between a warning against envying sinners (v. 17) and a command to walk the right course (v. 19). It is the pivot: the stated reason the exhortations on either side are worth heeding.
The words — אַחֲרִית ('aḥărîṯ) means "a future" or "an end" and carries the entire promise of the verse. The verb תִכָּרֵת (tikkārēṯ), "it will be cut off," is the image of a line severed — the opposite of what is happening here.
The thread — Jeremiah 29:11 uses the same root 'aḥărîṯ for "a future," and the logic of hope that holds a reward recurs in Hebrews 10:35 and Psalm 9:18.
Why it lands — It asks the reader to stop measuring a life by its present visible results and to accept that reverence for the LORD produces an outcome that is not severed. It is not a comfort for the weak; it is the basis on which the commands in verses 17 and 19 are issued.
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
For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
Cross-references
- Hebrews 10:35 So do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward.
- Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.
- Psalms 9:18 For the needy will not always be forgotten; nor the hope of the oppressed forever dashed.
- Proverbs 24:14 Know therefore that wisdom is sweet to your soul. If you find it, there is a future for you, and your hope will never be cut off.
- Philippians 1:20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have complete boldness so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
- Proverbs 24:20 For the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished.
- Romans 6:21 What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death.
- Psalms 37:37 Consider the blameless and observe the upright, for posterity awaits the man of peace.
- Luke 16:25 But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.