“The wage of the righteous leads to life”: “The wage” refers here to a reward, prize, or recompense. “The wage of the righteous” is the gift or reward for living an upright life. “Leads to life” means that “life” is the result of being a good, upright person. This may mean a good life or a prolonged life. Contemporary English Version says “If you live right, the reward is a good life.”

“The gain of the wicked to sin”: “Gain” renders a word meaning “income” or “profit.” The verb rendered “leads to” in the first line is understood in the second line. However, this line does not contrast with the first, and it is not clear in what sense gain or material goods lead to sin. We may take the contrast to be between good people, who obtain and use wealth properly, and the wicked, who acquire wealth in the wrong way. In the case of the righteous it leads to a long and good life, but in the case of the wicked it leads to a bad end. With this understanding Contemporary English Version translates the second line “if you are evil, all you have is sin.” See also Good News Translation.

Perhaps a better view is that the wicked person uses his riches to act in an evil way. Bible en français courant translates the whole verse “The work of an honest person enables him to live. A dishonest person uses his wealth to do evil things.”

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 .