“May a slanderer not endure on the earth; May evil hunt a violent person violently.”
Parallel translations
- WEB An evil speaker won’t be established in the earth. Evil will hunt the violent man to overthrow him.
- KJV Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth: evil shall hunt the violent man to overthrow him.
- BSB May no slanderer be established in the land; may calamity hunt down the man of violence.
- NKJV Let not a slanderer be established in the earth; Let evil hunt the violent man to overthrow him.”
- NLT Don’t let liars prosper here in our land. Cause great disasters to fall on the violent.
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 slanderer will not be established in the earth, and evil will hunt down the violent man. It affirms that wickedness ultimately destroys itself.
Overview
David expresses confidence that evil speech and violence have no lasting foundation; the very evil they pursue will pursue and overthrow them. This is a settled principle of God's moral order. The stability David lacked among enemies belongs finally to the righteous in Christ, who alone cannot be ultimately shaken (Psalm 1:6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 34:21Evil shall kill the wicked. Those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
- Prov 18:21Death and life are in the power of the tongue; those who love it will eat its fruit.
- Prov 13:21Misfortune pursues sinners, but prosperity rewards the righteous.
- Isa 3:11Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them; for the deeds of his hands will be paid back to him.
- Prov 17:20One who has a perverse heart doesn’t find prosperity, and one who has a deceitful tongue falls into trouble.
- Prov 6:17haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood;
- Ps 7:14–16Behold, he travails with iniquity. Yes, he has conceived mischief, and brought out falsehood.
- Ps 12:3–4May Yahweh cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that boasts,
- Prov 12:13An evil man is trapped by sinfulness of lips, but the righteous shall come out of trouble.
- Ps 9:16Yahweh has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah.
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 140:11 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.