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Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying,
Psalms 2:5 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Then he will speak to them in his anger, and terrify them in his wrath:
  • KJV Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
  • BSB Then He rebukes them in His anger, and terrifies them in His fury:
  • NKJV Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure:
  • NLT Then in anger he rebukes them, terrifying them with his fierce fury.

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 will speak to the rebellious nations in righteous anger and strike them with terror. His patience does not mean He overlooks rebellion.

Overview

After the divine laughter comes the divine word of wrath. God's anger here is His settled, holy opposition to sin and rebellion, and it terrifies those who defy Him. This warning anticipates the day when the rejected King returns as Judge, and points sinners to seek refuge in Him before that day (verse 12).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 13

  • 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.
  • Rev 19:15Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that with it he should strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He treads the wine press of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty.
  • Ps 110:5–6The Lord is at your right hand. He will crush kings in the day of his wrath.
  • Ps 21:9You will make them as a fiery furnace in the time of your anger. Yahweh will swallow them up in his wrath. The fire shall devour them.
  • Ps 78:49–50He threw on them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, indignation, and trouble, and a band of angels of evil.
  • Luke 19:27But bring those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.’”
  • Zech 1:15I am very angry with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, but they added to the calamity.”
  • Isa 66:6A voice of tumult from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of Yahweh that repays his enemies what they deserve.
  • Matt 23:33–36You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?
  • Matt 22:7When the king heard that, he was angry, and sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.
  • Rev 1:16He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.
  • Luke 19:43–44For the days will come on you, when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, surround you, hem you in on every side,
  • Ps 50:16–22But to the wicked God says, “What right do you have to declare my statutes, that you have taken my covenant on your lips,

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 2:5YouTube · 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 2:5 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.