“For the evil man has no future”: This verse gives the reason for the warning in verse 19, which is that in the end evildoers will have nothing. The line is literally “for there will not be a future for the bad person.” For “future” see 23.18; this line is the negative of what is stated there. It may be expressed as “Nothing good lies ahead for the wicked person.” The Contemporary English Version rendering is “They will soon be gone.”

“The lamp of the wicked will be put out”: See 13.9, where the Hebrew is identical. In this verse the line expresses the same thought as in the first line, but in figurative language.

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 .