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Proverbs 12 · a question people ask

"No mischief shall happen to the righteous" (12:21). Is that a promise that nothing bad will happen to the righteous?

In the text

The verse says, "No mischief shall happen to the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil" (12:21), and it says no more about when or how. The same chapter speaks of the righteous in trouble: "An evil man is trapped by sinfulness of lips, but the righteous shall come out of trouble" (12:13). The chapter before has a saying like it: "A righteous person is delivered out of trouble" (Proverbs 11:8). A later chapter says, "for a righteous man falls seven times and rises up again" (Proverbs 24:16). The book asks its readers "to understand a proverb" (Proverbs 1:6), and in one place it sets two sayings side by side that pull different ways, each with its own reason (Proverbs 26:4-5). Christians differ over how far sayings like these are promises. These notes don't make 12:21 a guarantee the verse doesn't state, and they don't explain it away; they don't apply it to anyone's troubles today.

The verses

“An evil man is trapped by sinfulness of lips, but the righteous shall come out of trouble.”
Proverbs 12:13 · World English Bible
“No mischief shall happen to the righteous, but the wicked shall be filled with evil.”
Proverbs 12:21 · World English Bible
“A righteous person is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked takes his place.”
Proverbs 11:8 · World English Bible
“for a righteous man falls seven times and rises up again, but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.”
Proverbs 24:16 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Proverbs 12

Proverbs 12: The tongue of the wise heals

The prudent man of 12:16 and 12:23 is arum, the word Genesis 3:1 uses of the serpent, and both times he covers: an insult (12:16) and his knowledge (12:23). And 12:17 and 12:22 share their Hebrew words for truth and lying: "those who do the truth are his delight" (12:22).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions