In 8.18 and 21 Wisdom has wealth to give to her followers. In this saying prosperity is the reward given to good people.

“In the house of the righteous there is much treasure”: “In the house of the righteous” means “where good people live.” “Treasure” translates a word meaning “stores” or “wealth.” 10.2 renders a different Hebrew word but with the same sense as here. Contemporary English Version says “Good people become wealthy,” and Bible en français courant has “Good people’s lives are filled with wealth.” In some languages a literal rendering of “house” is appropriate: “Good people have plenty of things in their houses.”

“But trouble befalls the income of the wicked”: This line seems literally to say “but in the increase of the wicked [there is] trouble.” However, it is not certain if this means that the wealth of the wicked causes trouble for others or that the wicked are troubled by their own wealth, which seems to be more likely. “Income” renders a word found in 10.16, where Revised Standard Version translates “gain” and Good News Translation “leads . . . to.” In 14.4 this word is translated by Revised Standard Version in agricultural terms as “crops.” In the present verse its application is general, and it means “profit” or “wealth,” matching the parallel term “treasure” in line 1. New English Bible/Revised English Bible say “the gains of the wicked bring trouble,” which we should probably understand to mean “bring trouble to the wicked.” Biblia Dios Habla Hoy says “but evil persons’ earnings do them no good.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .