"Do not say, 'I'll pay you back for this wrong!' Wait for the LORD, and he will avenge you."
— Proverbs 20:22 (NIV)
Proverbs 20:22 catches revenge at the moment it turns into words. Before you say "I'll get them back," the proverb tells you to stop, wait for the Lord, and let him deal with it. This page gives the verse, what the key Hebrew words mean, where it fits in Proverbs and the rest of Scripture, and a plain reading. For more on the theme, see Bible verses about waiting on God and Bible verses about justice.
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The verse
The King James reads: "Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee."
"Say" is 'amar (H559), to speak or say, including saying something to yourself. "Pay back" or "recompense" is shalam (H7999), a word tied to being whole or complete; in this form it means to make good or repay. "Wrong" or "evil" is ra' (H7451), bad, harm, evil. "Wait" is qavah (H6960), to wait for or look eagerly for. The last verb is yasha' (H3467), to save or deliver. The KJV renders it "save thee," and the NIV renders it "avenge you"; either way, the rescue comes from God, not from you.
Where it sits in Proverbs
Proverbs comes back to revenge more than once. A few chapters later it says, "Do not say, 'I'll do to them as they have done to me; I'll pay them back for what they did'" (Proverbs 24:29). And it goes further than holding back: "If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink" (Proverbs 25:21-22).
Paul picks up the same thread in the New Testament: "Do not repay anyone evil for evil" (Romans 12:17) and "Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath" (Romans 12:19).
What the verse is saying
The first half is about your mouth. Revenge usually starts as a promise you make to yourself or to someone else: "they'll pay for this." The proverb says not to make that promise.
The second half gives you something to do instead. Waiting on the Lord is not doing nothing. It is handing the score to the one who sees it clearly and trusting him to set it right. Psalm 27:14 says it twice: "Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD" (Psalm 27:14).
Questions people ask
What does Proverbs 20:22 say?
In the NIV it says, "Do not say, 'I'll pay you back for this wrong!' Wait for the LORD, and he will avenge you." The KJV says, "Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee."
What does "wait on the Lord" mean in Proverbs 20:22?
The Hebrew word qavah means to wait for or look eagerly for. Here it means trusting God to handle the wrong instead of taking it into your own hands.
Why does the KJV say "save" and the NIV say "avenge"?
The Hebrew verb is yasha', which means to save or deliver. The KJV translates it directly. The NIV reads it in light of the first half of the verse, where the issue is a wrong done to you, so God's rescue includes setting that wrong right.
Is Proverbs 20:22 about revenge?
Yes. It tells you not to plan or announce payback for a wrong and to leave it with God. Proverbs 25:21-22 and Romans 12:19 teach the same thing.
What verses go with Proverbs 20:22?
Proverbs 24:29 (do not say "I'll pay them back"), Proverbs 25:21-22 (feed your enemy), Romans 12:17 (do not repay evil for evil), and Romans 12:19 (leave room for God's wrath) are close companions.
