Proverbs 21:18
The evil-doer will be given as a price for the life of the good man, and the worker of deceit in the place of the upright.
Bible in Basic English
In The King James Version
The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous, and the transgressor for the upright.
In Context
17The lover of pleasure will be a poor man: the lover of wine and oil will not get wealth.
19It is better to be living in a waste land, than with a bitter-tongued and angry woman.
Cross References
Isaiah 43:3For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your saviour; I have given Egypt as a price for you, Ethiopia and Seba for you.
Isaiah 55:8For my thoughts are not your thoughts, or your ways my ways, says the Lord.
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 21:18
17 He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich. Here is an argument against a voluptuous luxurious life, taken from the ruin it brings upon men's temporal interests. Here is 1. The description of an epicure: He loves pleasure. God allows us to use the delights of sense soberly and temperately, wine to make glad the heart and put vigour into the spirits, and oil to make the face to shine and beautify the countenance; but he that loves these, that sets his heart upon… Read the whole commentary →