if I sharpen my glittering sword, my hand grasps it in judgment; I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and will repay those who hate me.
Parallel translations
- KJV If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.
- BSB when I sharpen My flashing sword, and My hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and repay those who hate Me.
- NKJV If I whet My glittering sword, And My hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to My enemies, And repay those who hate Me.
- NASB If I have sharpened My flashing sword, And My hand has taken hold of justice, I will return vengeance on My adversaries, And I will repay those who hate Me.
- NLT when I sharpen my flashing sword and begin to carry out justice, I will take revenge on my enemies and repay those who reject me.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God promises to sharpen His sword and take vengeance on His adversaries, repaying those who hate Him. It matters because it affirms that God will execute righteous judgment on the wicked.
Overview
The image of a sharpened sword wielded in judgment portrays God's determined justice against His foes. His repayment is just, directed at those who oppose Him. This certainty of divine judgment underscores the seriousness of opposing God, while assuring His people that evil will not finally triumph, a justice secured through Christ's victory.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Isa 66:16For Yahweh will execute judgment by fire and by his sword on all flesh; and those slain by Yahweh will be many.
- Isa 34:5–6For my sword has drunk its fill in the sky. Behold, it will come down on Edom, and on the people of my curse, for judgment.
- Exod 20:5you shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me,
- Isa 27:1In that day, Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan the twisted serpent; and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea.
- Ps 7:12If a man doesn’t relent, he will sharpen his sword; he has bent and strung his bow.
- Deut 5:9You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them; for I, Yahweh, your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me;
- Jer 50:29“Call together the archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp against her all around. Let none of it escape. Recompense her according to her work. According to all that she has done, do to her; for she has been proud against Yahweh, against the Holy One of Israel.
- Rom 1:30backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
- Ezek 21:20You shall appoint a way for the sword to come to Rabbah of the children of Ammon, and to Judah in Jerusalem the fortified.
- Ezek 21:9–15“Son of man, prophesy, and say, ‘Yahweh says: “A sword! A sword! It is sharpened, and also polished.
- Isa 1:24Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, the Mighty One of Israel, says: “Ah, I will get relief from my adversaries, and avenge myself on my enemies;
- Zeph 2:12You Cushites also, you will be killed by my sword.
- Mark 1:2As it is written in the prophets, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you:
- 2 Tim 3:4traitors, headstrong, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God;
- Isa 59:18According to their deeds, he will repay as appropriate, wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; he will repay the islands their due.
- Isa 66:6A voice of tumult from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of Yahweh that repays his enemies what they deserve.
- Rom 8:7because the mind of the flesh is hostile towards God; for it is not subject to God’s law, neither indeed can it be.
- Deut 32:35Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.”
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 32:41 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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