Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
Parallel translations
- WEB If only you, God, would kill the wicked. Get away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
- BSB O God, that You would slay the wicked—away from me, you bloodthirsty men—
- NKJV Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God! Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.
- NASB ¶If only You would put the wicked to death, God; Leave me, you men of bloodshed.
- NLT O God, if only you would destroy the wicked! Get out of my life, you murderers!
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
David wishes God would slay the wicked and separates himself from bloodthirsty men. It voices a longing for God's justice against entrenched evil.
Overview
After dwelling on God's intimate knowledge, David turns to the problem of the wicked who oppose this very God. His prayer for their judgment flows from zeal for God's holiness, not personal vindictiveness. Such imprecations are answered ultimately at the cross and the final judgment, where God deals justly with all evil while offering mercy to repentant sinners (Romans 12:19).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 119:115Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.
- Ps 5:6Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.
- Isa 11:4But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
- Ps 9:17The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
- Ps 6:8Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping.
- Ps 64:7But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.
- Ps 55:23But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.
- 2 Cor 6:17Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
- Matt 25:41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
- Ps 94:23And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.
- Matt 7:23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 139:19 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
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