Bible Strands
Proverbs 29:16
When the wicked thrive, rebellion increases; but the righteous will see their downfall.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The wisdom teacher addresses a general audience within a collection of instructional proverbs, positioning this observation between two directives about parental correction and its restorative purpose.
The words — רְשָׁעִים (rešaʿîm) means "wicked [people]," and פֶּשַׁע (pešaʿ) denotes "transgression" or rebellion.
The thread — The motif of the wicked's sudden end and the righteous witnessing divine judgment runs through Psalms 37:34, 37:36, and 58:10.
Why it lands — The text requires a clear-eyed reading of social conditions, noting that moral disorder escalates when evil is allowed to prosper, and it directs the reader to look past present prosperity to the certainty of righteous judgment.
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
When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth: but the righteous shall see their fall.
Cross-references
- Psalms 37:34 Wait for the LORD and keep His way, and He will raise you up to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
- Psalms 37:36 yet he passed away and was no more; though I searched, he could not be found.
- Psalms 58:10 The righteous will rejoice when they see they are avenged; they will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked.
- Psalms 91:8 You will only see it with your eyes and witness the punishment of the wicked.
- Psalms 92:11 My eyes see the downfall of my enemies; my ears hear the wailing of my wicked foes.
- Proverbs 29:2 When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.
- Psalms 112:8 His heart is assured; he does not fear, until he looks in triumph on his foes.
- Revelation 15:4 Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.”
- Revelation 18:20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because God has pronounced for you His judgment against her.
- Psalms 92:9 For surely Your enemies, O LORD, surely Your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered.