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The Lord is righteous; He has cut in pieces the cords of the wicked.
Psalms 129:4 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Yahweh is righteous. He has cut apart the cords of the wicked.
  • KJV The LORD is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.
  • BSB The LORD is righteous; He has cut me from the cords of the wicked.
  • NASB The Lord is righteous; He has cut up the ropes of the wicked.
  • NLT But the Lord is good; he has cut me free from the ropes of the ungodly.

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

Yahweh is righteous and has cut the cords that bound His people to the wicked. It declares God's just intervention to free the oppressed.

Overview

The tone shifts to deliverance: the righteous Lord severs the ropes by which the wicked held His people captive. God's justice does not leave oppression unanswered but acts to liberate. This points to Christ, who breaks the bonds of sin and sets His people free.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Ps 119:137You are righteous, Yahweh. Your judgments are upright.
  • Lam 3:22It is because of Yahweh’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail.
  • Dan 9:7Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of face, as it is today; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you.
  • Neh 9:33However you are just in all that has come on us; for you have dealt truly, but we have done wickedly.
  • Ps 124:6–7Blessed be Yahweh, who has not given us as a prey to their teeth.
  • Ps 140:5–11The proud have hidden a snare for me, they have spread the cords of a net by the path. They have set traps for me. Selah.
  • Ezra 9:15Yahweh, the God of Israel, you are righteous; for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guiltiness; for no one can stand before you because of this.”
  • Lam 1:18“Yahweh is righteous; for I have rebelled against his commandment. Please hear all you peoples, and see my sorrow. My virgins and my young men have gone into captivity.

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 129:4YouTube · 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 129:4 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.