Proverbs 10:16

The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.

The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin. This contrasts with men's false view of riches being a stronghold, and poverty "destruction" () - the true view of what brings life and what brings destruction. "The labour" or 'reward,' answering in parallelism to "the fruit" - i:e., the revenue or produce from the wicked man's ways (cf. ). The words are fitly chosen: "labour" in honest industry is the righteous man's ordinary way of living. 'Revenue' not gained by honest labour is frequently the wicked man's livelihood. The righteous man may or may not acquire by labour a splendid livelihood; but he certainly receives from God the "life" of grace here and of glory hereafter. On the other hand, though the wicked have a large revenue, yet, as they abuse it to "sin," there result is death, begun here in the soul, and consummated in soul and body hereafter, not only to themselves, but to others also by their influence and example.