Proverbs 10:30 - 32 More Righteous vs Wicked

Today we will look at the last three verses of chapter 10. These verses, as so many others in this chapter, are contrasts between those that are righteous and those that are wicked (or perverse.) Here are today's verses:

Proverbs 10:30 - 32 (NKJV)

30 The righteous will never be removed,

But the wicked will not inhabit the earth.

31 The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom,

But the perverse tongue will be cut out.

32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable,

But the mouth of the wicked what is perverse.

The first part of each of these three verses speaks of those that God calls “righteous.” These are people who, as we have seen before, are “morally upright and without guilt or sin.” They have decided to follow God and His ways with their whole hearts, souls, and minds. They have accepted Jesus’ sacrifice that paid for their sins and have been “made righteous in God’s eyes.”

Verse 30 tells us that the righteous “will never be removed,” and, since it is contrasted by the words, “the wicked will not inhabit the earth,” it sounds like this is another way of saying what it says in Psalm 37:29 (NKJV), “The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell in it forever.” Isaiah 60:21 (NKJV) also says something about this when talking about the end times: “Also your people shall all be righteous; They shall inherit the land forever, The branch of My planting, The work of My hands, That I may be glorified.”

The first parts of verses 31 & 32 also talks about those that are righteous, but concentrate on the way these people speak and what they say. Verse 31 says that people that have lived a life of following God will have gained wisdom as they have walked this path, and when they speak to others, that wisdom will show in what they have to say. Verse 32 says that these people will “KNOW” what is acceptable to speak, probably because of that wisdom they have gained.

Conversely, the second parts of these verses speak of wicked or perverse people. These types of people will not “inhabit the earth.” This means that they, and their type, will die off sooner or later. Not only will they be cut off from the earth in the future, but they, eventually, will not be allowed to speak at all. Verse 32 tells us that the “wicked” speak perverse things, and verse 31 even says that “the perverse tongue will be cut out.”