For the wicked man boasts in the cravings of his heart; he blesses the greedy and reviles the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB For the wicked boasts of his heart’s cravings. He blesses the greedy, and condemns Yahweh.
- KJV For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.
- ESV For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the LORD.
- NKJV For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire; He blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord.
- NASB ¶For the wicked boasts of his soul’s desire, And the greedy person curses and shows disrespect to the Lord.
- NLT For they brag about their evil desires; they praise the greedy and curse the Lord.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
The wicked boasts of his cravings and blesses the greedy while spurning Yahweh. Sin glories in self and despises God.
Overview
This verse exposes the heart of wickedness: pride in one's desires, approval of the greedy, and contempt for the Lord. The wicked invert true values, praising what God condemns and rejecting God Himself. It diagnoses the root rebellion that the gospel addresses by giving a new heart.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 37
- Ps 94:4They pour out arrogant words; all workers of iniquity boast.
- Luke 12:19Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’
- Zech 11:5–8whose buyers slaughter them without remorse. Those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich!’ Even their own shepherds have no compassion on them.
- Mic 6:10–12Can I forget any longer, O house of the wicked, the treasures of wickedness and the short ephah, which is accursed?
- Job 31:24If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security,
- Prov 28:4Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them.
- Ps 49:6They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches.
- Ps 5:6You destroy those who tell lies; the LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.
- Deut 29:19because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’ This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.
- Ps 49:11–13Their graves are their eternal homes—their dwellings for endless generations—even though their lands were their namesakes.
- Isa 37:23Whom have you taunted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel!
- Ps 35:21They gape at me and say, “Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen!”
- Exod 15:9The enemy declared, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword; my hand will destroy them.’
- Eph 5:5For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure, or greedy person (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
- Isa 57:17I was enraged by his sinful greed, so I struck him and hid My face in anger; yet he kept turning back to the desires of his heart.
- Lev 26:30I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you.
- 1 Sam 23:21“May you be blessed by the LORD,” replied Saul, “for you have had compassion on me.
- Hab 2:9Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, to place his nest on high and escape the hand of disaster!
- Isa 10:7–11But this is not his intention; this is not his plan. For it is in his heart to destroy and cut off many nations.
- Rom 1:32Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.
- Deut 32:19When the LORD saw this, He rejected them, provoked to anger by His sons and daughters.
- Hos 12:7–8A merchant loves to defraud with dishonest scales in his hands.
- Ps 49:18Though in his lifetime he blesses his soul—and men praise you when you prosper—
- Luke 16:14–15The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all of this and were scoffing at Jesus.
- 2 Tim 3:2–4For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
- 1 Tim 6:9–10Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
- Rom 1:29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,
- Matt 26:15–16and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you?” And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver.
- Luke 12:15And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”
- Col 3:5Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.
- Ps 73:8–9They mock and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression.
- Jas 4:13Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”
- 1 Cor 6:10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
- Ps 52:1For the choirmaster. A Maskil of David. After Doeg the Edomite went to Saul and told him, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.” Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The loving devotion of God endures all day long.
- 1 Jn 2:15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- Jer 22:17“But your eyes and heart are set on nothing except your own dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, on practicing extortion and oppression.”
- Jas 4:16As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil.
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 10:3 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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