God’s Word for You
Proverbs 10:2-3 White-collar sins
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Saturday, September 5, 2026
2 Treasures gained by wickedness do not bring profit,
but righteousness saves from death.
3 The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry,
but he frustrates the greed of the wicked.
In chapters 10-22, we are given about 375 proverbs or maxims which most people doubt have any particular order. The usual form is the distich (dís-tick), or “this… but that” pair of lines. Many of the pairings are found in small groups, two or three proverbs that are related by a subject. In the pairing before us, there is an ABBA pattern, where the wicked do not succeed but the righteous are rescued from death and hunger by the LORD himself.
I often imagine Solomon in his daily routine, coming down from the private stairway he had made to the temple, having witnessed the morning sacrifice, prayed, and sung a psalm, now settling into the session of morning court as the high judge. Case after case would be brought before him as the sun climbed in the east. Two men would be brought, one accusing the other of some offense such as not paying a debt, but Solomon would soon ferret out the truth, and the accuser would be caught in a greedy scheme. As the men left the court, Solomon would turn to his scribe, seated nearby, and say, “Treasures gained by wickedness do not bring profit, but righteousness saves from death.” Maybe his mother would catch his eye and smile at him; his wisdom was growing in its fame, but Solomon, despite his wealth and fame, was, so far, remaining a humble man.
Verse 2 presents one of the most common crimes: stealing treasure. Notice that the passage does not even hint whether this is about robbery, theft, wicked seizure of property (a “show a right,” as Luther condemns in the explanation of the Ninth Commandment ), or so-called white-collar crimes like embezzlement, extortion, larceny, graft, forgery, bribery, and other kinds of fraud.
The second part of verse 2 is a beautiful reminder of the Gospel: “Righteousness saves from death.” The death in question may not be physical death, for that kind of death comes to us all in the end. But the righteousness that is by faith brings eternal life, because no one is saved from their sins by their good works or pious deeds, but by faith alone, by the grace of God. “For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith’” (Romans 1:17).
The sins that manifest in the greed of the wicked are voluntary sins, committed out of deliberate malice, with the intention to take whatever one can get away with. As is sometimes said in government, “Do what you can get away with, and apologize later.” Such an act might be a turning away from God (that is, discontent), but is more likely a turning toward created things, which is lust, greed, and so forth. These are sins especially of the Second Table, sins of theft and covetousness.
Our Lord God takes care of the righteous, with more than just food and drink; everything under the First Article. Someone might ask, what about exceptions, when a righteous man suffers, loses his home, starves or dies of thirst. What, for example, about Job? Does Job’s experience negate this proverb? God does not let us go hungry spiritually. But as for our physical lives, he does test us from time to time. If we look at the whole book of Job, and not just the opening chapters, we see that if God removes his bounty or some particular blessing, this may reinforce us or test us, or toughen us up for the future.
The proverbs proclaim a series of general truths. But the Lord may not deal with us in a general way, but in a more specific way according to his will in our lives. The lesson is that we must trust in the Lord for our daily bread, and we should always pray for it, and thank him for it. If something does not come on a certain day, then our Father has some other purpose in mind.
These two proverbs teach us that coveting someone else’s treasure is a temptation many of us face from time to time. The only way out of that sin is to bring it before the Lord, either privately or with the help of your pastor, so that you can be assured of God’s forgiveness. And we need to ask God to continuously help us fight against this temptation. The more we give in to any temptation, the more it turns into a craving—and a craving is a hard thing to fight. Fortunately, we have the sure defense: God’s Word of forgiveness, promise, and victory over that very temptation.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.