To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.
Parallel translations
- WEB With the pure, you will show yourself pure. With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd.
- KJV With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.
- BSB to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd.
- NKJV With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.
- NASB With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.
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
God shows himself pure to the pure but shrewd toward the crooked. It matters because God meets the perverse with fitting opposition while blessing the upright.
Overview
Continuing the principle, David says God is pure with the pure but deals shrewdly with the crooked, opposing their schemes. God is never outmaneuvered by the devious; he frustrates their crookedness. This assures the upright that God's perfect justice will deal rightly with all, vindicating the pure in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Prov 3:34Surely he mocks the mockers, but he gives grace to the humble.
- Lev 26:23–24“‘If by these things you won’t be reformed to me, but will walk contrary to me;
- Jas 2:13For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- Lev 26:27–28“‘If you in spite of this won’t listen to me, but walk contrary to me;
- Ps 109:17–19Yes, he loved cursing, and it came to him. He didn’t delight in blessing, and it was far from him.
- Rom 2:4–6Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
- Rom 2:9oppression and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
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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 18:26 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.