The wicked wander freely, and vileness is exalted among men.
Parallel translations
- WEB The wicked walk on every side, when what is vile is exalted among the sons of men.
- KJV The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.
- NKJV The wicked prowl on every side, When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
- NASB The wicked strut about on every side When vileness is exalted among the sons of mankind.
- NLT even though the wicked strut about, and evil is praised throughout the land.
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 roam freely when vileness is exalted among people. Evil flourishes wherever it is honored rather than restrained.
Overview
The psalm closes on a sober note: where society prizes what is base, the wicked move about unchecked. This realism about a fallen world frames the preceding confidence in God's word and protection. It leaves the faithful trusting God's promise rather than the moral state of their culture, awaiting His final justice.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Mark 14:63–65At this, the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “Why do we need any more witnesses?
- Ps 55:10–11Day and night they encircle the walls, while malice and trouble lie within.
- Prov 29:12If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials will be wicked.
- Hos 5:11Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, for he is determined to follow worthless idols.
- Judg 9:18–57but you have risen up against my father’s house this day and killed his seventy sons on a single stone, and you have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the leaders of Shechem because he is your brother—
- Isa 32:4–6The mind of the rash will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will speak clearly and fluently.
- Mic 6:16You have kept the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab’s house; you have followed their counsel. Therefore I will make you a desolation, and your inhabitants an object of contempt; you will bear the scorn of the nations.”
- Job 30:8A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land.
- Esth 3:6–15And when he learned the identity of Mordecai’s people, he scorned the notion of laying hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he sought to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the kingdom of Xerxes.
- Dan 11:21In his place a despicable person will arise; royal honors will not be given to him, but he will come in a time of peace and seize the kingdom by intrigue.
- 1 Sam 18:17–18Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I need not raise my hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”
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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 12:8 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.