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What shall be given to you, Or what shall be done to you, You false tongue?
Psalms 120:3 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB What will be given to you, and what will be done more to you, you deceitful tongue?
  • KJV What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
  • BSB What will He do to you, and what will be added to you, O deceitful tongue?
  • NASB What will He give to you, and what more will He do to you, You deceitful tongue?
  • NLT O deceptive tongue, what will God do to you? How will he increase your punishment?

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

He warns the deceitful tongue that God will repay its lies. Deceitful speech will not escape God's judgment.

Overview

Turning to address the 'deceitful tongue' directly, the psalmist poses a rhetorical warning of coming recompense. Lying speech invites God's just response rather than going unpunished. The verse affirms that God takes falsehood seriously, a seriousness fully met at the cross and the final judgment.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 3

  • Rom 6:21What fruit then did you have at that time in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
  • Matt 16:26For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?
  • Job 27:8For what is the hope of the godless, when he is cut off, when God takes away his life?

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

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 120:3YouTube · 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 120:3 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

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.