in whose hands are wicked schemes, whose right hands are full of bribes.
Parallel translations
- WEB in whose hands is wickedness, their right hand is full of bribes.
- KJV In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.
- NKJV In whose hands is a sinister scheme, And whose right hand is full of bribes.
- NASB In whose hands is a wicked scheme, And whose right hand is full of bribes.
- NLT Their hands are dirty with evil schemes, and they constantly take bribes.
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 wicked are described as those whose hands hold evil schemes and bribes. Their corruption is contrasted with David's integrity.
Overview
David characterizes the wicked he wishes to avoid as men full of evil plots whose hands are laden with bribes, marking their injustice and corruption. The description sharpens the contrast with his own washed hands of innocence. The verse exposes the moral ruin of those who reject God's ways, from which only the cleansing grace of Christ can save.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Exod 23:8Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.
- Deut 16:19Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.
- Ps 52:2Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit.
- 1 Sam 8:3But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside toward dishonest gain, accepting bribes and perverting justice.
- Mic 7:3Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.
- Prov 1:16For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood.
- Acts 23:12When daylight came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
- Ps 11:2For behold, the wicked bend their bows. They set their arrow on the string to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.
- Ps 55:9–11O Lord, confuse and confound their speech, for I see violence and strife in the city.
- Prov 4:16For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall.
- Matt 26:3–4At that time the chief priests and elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas,
- Amos 5:12For I know that your transgressions are many and your sins are numerous. You oppress the righteous by taking bribes; you deprive the poor of justice in the gate.
- Ezek 22:12–13In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.
- Ps 36:4Even on his bed he plots wickedness; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he fails to reject evil.
- Ps 10:14But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.
- Isa 33:15He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—
- Mic 2:1–3Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.
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 26:10 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.