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I know that Yahweh will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the needy.
Psalms 140:12 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor.
  • BSB I know that the LORD upholds justice for the poor and defends the cause of the needy.
  • NKJV I know that the Lord will maintain The cause of the afflicted, And justice for the poor.
  • NASB ¶I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, And justice for the poor.
  • NLT But I know the Lord will help those they persecute; he will give justice to the poor.

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.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 14

  • Ps 9:4For you have maintained my just cause. You sit on the throne judging righteously.
  • 1 Kgs 8:49then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven, your dwelling place, and maintain their cause;
  • 1 Kgs 8:45then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
  • Prov 23:10–11Don’t move the ancient boundary stone. Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless:
  • Jer 22:16He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Wasn’t this to know me?” says Yahweh.
  • Matt 11:5the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
  • Ps 102:17He has responded to the prayer of the destitute, and has not despised their prayer.
  • Ps 35:10All my bones shall say, “Yahweh, who is like you, who delivers the poor from him who is too strong for him; yes, the poor and the needy from him who robs him?”
  • Ps 72:12–14For he will deliver the needy when he cries; the poor, who has no helper.
  • Ps 72:4He will judge the poor of the people. He will save the children of the needy, and will break the oppressor in pieces.
  • Ps 22:24For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.
  • Prov 22:22Don’t exploit the poor, because he is poor; and don’t crush the needy in court;
  • Isa 11:4but with righteousness he will judge the poor, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.
  • Ps 10:17–18Yahweh, you have heard the desire of the humble. You will prepare their heart. You will cause your ear to hear,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

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 140:12YouTube · 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 140:12 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.