Back to Proverbs 12

Proverbs 12:21

No mischief shall happen to the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    No mischief shall happen to the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil.

  • KJV King James Version

    There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief.

  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    There shall no mischief befall the righteous; but the wicked are filled with evil.

View more translations →

Examined in Scripture Analysis

Contradictions (2)

Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.

Explore Contradictions →

Cross-references (10)

Passages linked to Proverbs 12:21 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • 1 Peter 3:13 Now who will harm you if you become imitators of that which is good?
  • Psalms 91:10 no evil shall happen to you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.
  • Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.
  • Proverbs 1:31 Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes.
  • Jeremiah 13:12-14 “Therefore you shall speak to them this word: ‘Yahweh, the God of Israel says, “Every container should be filled with wine.” ’ They will tell you, ‘Do we not certainly know that every container should be filled with wine?’ Then tell them, ‘Yahweh says, “Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness. I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together,” says Yahweh: “I will not pity, spare, or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.” ’ ”
  • Proverbs 14:14 The unfaithful will be repaid for his own ways; likewise a good man will be rewarded for his ways.
  • Habakkuk 2:16 You are filled with shame, and not glory. You will also drink, and be exposed! The cup of Yahweh’s right hand will come around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.
  • 1 Corinthians 3:22-23 whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come. All are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
  • Revelation 18:6 Return to her just as she returned, and repay her double as she did, and according to her works. In the cup which she mixed, mix to her double.
  • 2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory,

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

↑ Top

Explain this verse (15 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 12:21 There shall no evil happen to the…

Pro 12:21 There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief.

Ver. 21. There shall no evil happen to the just.] First, For evil of sin: God will not lead him into temptation, but will cut off occasions, remove stumbling blocks out of his way: devoratory evils, as Tertullian calls them, he shall be sure not to fall into. "That evil one shall not touch him," {1Jn 5:18} viz., tactu qualitativo, as Cajetan expounds it, with a deadly touch: nibble he may at their heels, but cannot reach their heads; shake he may his chain at them, but shall not set his fangs in them, or so far thrust his sting into them as to infuse into them the venom of that sin unto death. {Pro 12:17} Next, For evil of pain: though "many be the troubles of the righteous," {Psa 34:19} and they "fall into manifold temptations," {Jas 1:2} they go not in step by step into these waters of Marah, but "fall into" them, being, as it were, precipitated, plunged over head and ears, yet are bidden to be "exceeding glad," as a merchant is to see his ship come laden in. Their afflictions are not penal, but probational; not mortal, but medicinal. "By this shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the fruit, the taking away of his sin." {Isa 27:9} Look how the scourging and beating of a garment with a stick, drives out the moths and the dust; so doth affliction corruptions from the heart; and there is no hurt in that, no evil happens thereby to the just.

Read full note →

But the wicked shall be filled with mischief.] To treasure up sin, is to treasure up wrath. {Rom 2:5} "Every bottle shall be filled with wine"; {Jer 13:12} the bottle of wickedness, when once filled with those bitter waters, will sink to the bottom: the ephah of wickedness, when top full, shall be borne "into the land of Shiner, and set there upon her own base." {Zec 5:8; Zec 5:11} He that makes a match with mischief, shall have his bellyful of it; {Hos 4:17 Pro 14:14} he shall have an evil, "an evil, an only evil" {Eze 7:5} - that is, "judgment without mercy," as St James expounds it. {Jas 2:13} Non surgit hic afflictio, as the prophet Nahum hath it; {Nah 1:9} affliction shall not rise up the second time: God will have but one blow at him; he shall totally and finally be cut down at once. The righteous are smitten in the branches, but the wicked at the root; {Isa 27:8} those he corrects with a rod, yea, with the rods of men, hominum debilium, of weak or old men, as the word signifies, {2Sa 7:11} but these with a "grounded staff"; {Isa 30:32} and yet the worst is behind too. For whatsoever a wicked man suffers in this world is but hell typical; it is but as the falling of leaves - the whole tree will one day fall upon them. It is but as a drop of wrath forerunning the great storm, a crack forerunning the ruin of the whole building; it is but as a paying the use money required for the debt that must be paid at last.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain No evil; either,
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Note, 1. Piety is a sure protection. If men…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain There shall no evil happen to the just,.... The…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 21. There shall no evil happen to the…
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Sad. Even if he fall into sin, he will…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain no evil--(as in Psa 91:10), under God's wise limitations…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 21. Evil — Calamity.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 21. evil … mischief] Rather, mischief … evil, with…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (21) There shall no evil happen to the just.—Comp.…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain There shall no evil mischiefhappen to the just. The…
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain There shall no evil happen to the just.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain MAIN HOMILETICS OF Pro_12:21
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain v. 21. There shall no evil happen to the…
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 No ill comes

↑ Top

Share