“When a wicked man dies, his expectation will perish, and the hope of the unjust perishes. The righteous is delivered from trouble, and it comes to the wicked instead. The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous will be delivered. When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices; and when the wicked perish, there is jubilation. By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked” (Proverbs 11:7-11).
The Bible’s contrast of the wisdom of righteousness and the folly of wickedness is thorough. In this passage alone, there are four explicit dissimilarities and an implicit one. First, the righteous are delivered from trouble; the unrighteous reap trouble (v. 8). Second, the righteous are delivered from false speech (slander); the unrighteous destroy their neighbors with their words (v. 9). Third, others rejoice at the righteous’ success and rejoice at the wicked’s defeat (v. 10). And fourth, the community is blessed by the lives of the upright and blighted by the lives of the wicked (v. 11).
Therefore, all expectations and hope of the wicked perish at death.
Not so, for the righteous.
