as you sow, so shall you reap

English

Etymology

Probably from: 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Epistle to the Galatians, 6:7

• Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Proverb

as you sow, so shall you reap

1. (idiomatic) The personal consequences of one's actions are in proportion to the good or bad intentions towards others.

Synonyms

• you reap what you sow

Translations

consequences of actions are in proportion to intentions

• Armenian: ինչ որ ցանես, էն կհնձես (inčʻ or cʻanes, ēn khnjes)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 種瓜得瓜，種豆得豆／种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆 (zh) (zhòngguādéguā, zhòngdòudédòu), 种瓜得瓜，种豆得豆 (zh) (zhòngguādéguā, zhǒngdòudédòu) (Literally: sow melons and you get melons, sow beans and you get beans), 種瓜得瓜／种瓜得瓜 (zh) (zhòngguādéguā), 种瓜得瓜 (zh) (zhòngguādéguā), 種豆得豆／种豆得豆 (zh), 种豆得豆 (zh) (zhǒngdòudédòu), 出乎爾者、反乎爾者也。／出乎尔者、反乎尔者也。

• Danish: man ligger som man reder
• Faroese: sjálvgjørt er væl gjørt
• French: vous récolterez ce que vous semez
• Georgian: რასაც დასთეს იმას მოიმკი (rasac dastes imas moimḳi)
• German: man erntet was man sät
• Greek: όπως στρώσεις, θα κοιμηθείς (ópos stróseis, tha koimitheís)
• Hungarian: ki mint vet, úgy arat (hu)
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• Italian: raccogli quello che semini
• Japanese: 蒔いた種は刈らねばならない (まいたたねはからねばならない, maita tane wa karaneba naranai), 爾に出ずる者は、爾に反える (なんじにいずるものは、なんじにかえる, nanji ni izuru mono wa, nanji ni kaeru), 悪事身に返る (akuji mi ni kaeru (your evil deeds come back to you))
• Korean: 콩 심은 데 콩 나고 팥 심은 데 팥 난다 (ko) (kong sim-eun de kong nago pat sim-eun de pat nanda)
• Polish: kto sieje wiatr, zbiera burzę
• Portuguese: você colhe o que planta
• Russian: как посе́ешь, так и пожнёшь (kak poséješʹ, tak i požnjóšʹ), что посе́ешь, то и пожнёшь (ru) (što poséješʹ, to i požnjóšʹ), как ау́кнется, так и откли́кнется (ru) (kak aúknetsja, tak i otklíknetsja), кто се́ет ветер, пожнёт бу́рю (kto séjet veter, požnjót búrju)
• Slovene: kakor boš sejal, tako boš žel
• Swedish: som man sår får man skörda, som man bäddar får man ligga
• Urdu: جیسے کرنی ویسے بھرنی (jaise karni waise bharni)

References

• Gregory Y. Titelman, Random House Dictionary of Popular Proverbs and Sayings, 1996, →ISBN, p. 16.