Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 20:21 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: World English Bible — Catholic Edition
" An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning won’t be blessed in the end. "
Proverbs 20:21
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
19 He who goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets; therefore don’t keep company with him who opens wide his lips.
20 Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.
21 An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning won’t be blessed in the end.
22 Don’t say, “I will pay back evil.” Wait for the LORD, and he will save you.
23 The LORD detests differing weights, and dishonest scales are not pleasing.
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It is possible for a person’s estate to rise very quickly. Some people are determined to get rich, whether by right means or wrong ones. They do not care what they say or do if it brings in money. If they have the chance, they will cheat even their own father. They also live meanly and stingily, saving and hoarding everything they get. They deny themselves and their families proper food, and they think everything is wasted except what they use to buy land or lend out for interest.
By such means, a person may become wealthy, even very wealthy, in a short time, especially at the start of life.
But an estate that rises so fast is often ruined just as fast. It was built in haste, and because it was not built honestly, it is soon ripe for ruin and soon rotten. “The end thereof shall not be blessed of God.” If God does not bless it, it cannot be truly comfortable or last long. In the end, the one who gained it will prove foolish. He would have done better to take time and build his estate on a firmer foundation.
From This Chapter
Proverbs 20:1
"Wine is a mocker and beer is a brawler. Whoever is led astray by them is not wise."
Proverbs 20:2
"The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion. He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life."
Proverbs 20:3
"It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife, but every fool will be quarreling."
Proverbs 20:4
"The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing."
Proverbs 20:5
"Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out."
Proverbs 20:6
"Many men claim to be men of unfailing love, but who can find a faithful man?"
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