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As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be upon Israel.
Psalms 125:5 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, Yahweh will lead them away with the workers of iniquity. Peace be on Israel.
  • BSB But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel.
  • NKJV As for such as turn aside to their crooked ways, The Lord shall lead them away With the workers of iniquity. Peace be upon Israel!
  • NASB But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, The Lord will lead them away with those who practice injustice. Peace be upon Israel.
  • NLT But banish those who turn to crooked ways, O Lord. Take them away with those who do evil. May Israel have peace!

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

Those who turn to crooked ways are removed with evildoers, while peace is invoked on Israel. It warns that persistent rebellion ends in judgment, but God's people rest in His peace.

Overview

The psalm closes by contrasting the upright with apostates who twist their paths toward evil, who will share the fate of the workers of iniquity. Yet the final word is a blessing of peace on Israel. This peace finds its fullness in Christ, the Prince of Peace, who reconciles His people to God.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 23

  • Isa 59:8The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.
  • Prov 2:15Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:
  • Ps 128:6Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel.
  • Gal 6:16And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
  • Ps 40:4Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
  • Ps 101:3I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.
  • Matt 7:23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
  • John 14:27Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
  • Phil 2:15That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
  • Ps 94:4How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?
  • Prov 14:14The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself.
  • Zeph 1:6And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.
  • Jer 2:19Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
  • Isa 54:13And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
  • 1 Chr 10:13–14So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;
  • Heb 10:38Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
  • Hos 2:18And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely.
  • Ps 92:7When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:
  • Isa 54:10For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
  • 1 Pet 1:2Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
  • Ezek 37:26Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
  • Matt 24:48–51But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
  • Job 23:11My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined.

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 125:5YouTube · 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 125:5 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.