Proverbs 13 · Verse 11

Proverbs 13:11

Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.
Proverbs 13:11, King James Version

Proverbs 13:11 in other translations

BSBDishonest wealth will dwindle, but what is earned through hard work will be multiplied.
WEBWealth gained dishonestly dwindles away, but he who gathers by hand makes it grow.
ASVWealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished; But he that gathereth by labor shall have increase.
YLTWealth from vanity becometh little, And whoso is gathering by the hand becometh great.
DARBYWealth gotten by vanity diminisheth; but he that gathereth by manual-labour shall increase it.
BBEWealth quickly got will become less; but he who gets a store by the work of his hands will have it increased.
WebsterWealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labor shall increase.

What does Proverbs 13:11 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
11. by vanity--or, "nothingness," that is, which is vain or useless to the public (as card playing or similar vices). gathereth ... labour--(Compare Margin), little by little, laboriously.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 11 Wealth gotten by vanity - Wealth that is not the result of honest industry and hard labor is seldom permanent. All fortunes acquired by speculation, lucky hits, and ministering to the pride or luxury of others, etc., soon become dissipated. They are not gotten in the way of Providence, and have not God's blessing, and therefore are not permanent.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Wealth gotten by dishonesty or vice, has a secret curse, which will speedily waste it.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Proverbs 13:11 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ה֭וֹןHonwealthH1952
מֵהֶ֣בֶלme.He.velfrom vanityH1892
יִמְעָ֑טyim.'Atit will become smallH4591
וְקֹבֵ֖ץve.ko.Vetzand [one who] gathersH6908
עַל\־'al-onH5921
יָ֣דyadhandH3027
יַרְבֶּֽה\׃yar.Behhe will increaseH7235

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Proverbs 13:11

  • Proverbs 20:21

    An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.

  • Proverbs 10:2

    Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death.

  • James 5:1-5

    Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. …

  • Proverbs 28:8

    He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor.

  • Proverbs 27:23-27

    Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds. For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation? The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered. The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field. …

  • Proverbs 28:20

    A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent.

  • Proverbs 13:22-23

    A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. Much food is in the tillage of the poor: but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment.

  • Job 27:16-17

    Though he heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay; He may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.

  • Proverbs 28:22

    He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.

  • Psalms 128:2

    For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

  • Jeremiah 17:11

    As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.

  • Habakkuk 2:6-7

    Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay! Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Wealth.
10:2; 20:21; 28:8; Job 15:28,29; 20:15,19-22; 27:16,17; Ec 5:14
Jer 17:11; Hab 2:6,7; Jas 5:1-5
he.
22,23; 20:21; 27:23-27; Ps 128:2
by labour. Heb. with the hand.

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Proverbs 13:10

    Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.

  • Proverbs 13:11

    Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase.

  • Proverbs 13:12

    Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

Read all of Proverbs 13

Proverbs 13:11 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Disminuiránse las riquezas de vanidad: empero multiplicará el que allega con su mano.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Les biens qui viennent de la vanité diminuent, mais celui qui amasse à la main les accroîtra.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Vermögen, das auf nichtige Weise erworben ist, vermindert sich; wer aber allmählich sammelt, vermehrt es.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Substantia festinata minuetur; quæ autem paulatim colligitur manu, multiplicabitur.