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for they have opened the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit against me. They have spoken to me with a lying tongue.
Psalms 109:2 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
  • BSB For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me; they speak against me with lying tongues.
  • ESV For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues.
  • NKJV For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful Have opened against me; They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
  • NASB For they have opened a wicked and deceitful mouth against me; They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
  • NLT while the wicked slander me and tell lies about me.

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

Wicked and deceitful mouths have opened against David, speaking with lying tongues.

Overview

David describes the slander and falsehood with which his enemies assail him. The assault is verbal, marked by deceit and lies aimed at his ruin. This unjust accusation foreshadows the false testimony brought against Christ, who likewise endured lying tongues yet entrusted himself to God.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 15

  • Ps 52:4You love all devouring words, you deceitful tongue.
  • Ps 120:2–3Deliver my soul, Yahweh, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.
  • Prov 6:17haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood;
  • Jer 9:5Everyone will deceive their neighbors, and will not speak the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak lies. They weary themselves commiting iniquity.
  • Acts 6:13and set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law.
  • Ps 31:13For I have heard the slander of many, terror on every side, while they conspire together against me, they plot to take away my life.
  • 2 Sam 17:1Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight.
  • Ps 31:18Let the lying lips be mute, which speak against the righteous insolently, with pride and contempt.
  • Prov 12:19Truth’s lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only momentary.
  • Matt 26:59–62Now the chief priests, the elders, and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, that they might put him to death;
  • 2 Sam 15:3–8Absalom said to him, “Behold, your matters are good and right; but there is no man deputized by the king to hear you.”
  • Prov 15:28The heart of the righteous weighs answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes out evil.
  • Ps 64:3–4who sharpen their tongue like a sword, and aim their arrows, deadly words,
  • Jer 9:3“They bend their tongue, as their bow, for falsehood; and they have grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they don’t know me,” says Yahweh.
  • Ps 140:3They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent. Viper’s poison is under their lips. Selah.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 109:2YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 109:2 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

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.