Their hands are dirty with evil schemes, and they constantly take 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.
- BSB in whose hands are wicked schemes, whose right hands are 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.
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 23:8“You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the words of the righteous.
- Deut 16:19You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality. You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise, and perverts the words of the righteous.
- Ps 52:2Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
- 1 Sam 8:3His sons didn’t walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.
- Mic 7:3Their hands are on that which is evil to do it diligently. The ruler and judge ask for a bribe; and the powerful man dictates the evil desire of his soul. Thus they conspire together.
- Prov 1:16for their feet run to evil. They hurry to shed blood.
- Acts 23:12When it was day, some of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.
- Ps 11:2For, behold, the wicked bend their bows. They set their arrows on the strings, that they may shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
- Ps 55:9–11Confuse them, Lord, and confound their language, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
- Prov 4:16For they don’t sleep, unless they do evil. Their sleep is taken away, unless they make someone fall.
- Matt 26:3–4Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas.
- Amos 5:12For I know how many your offenses, and how great are your sins — you who afflict the just, who take a bribe, and who turn aside the needy in the courts.
- Ezek 22:12–13In you have they taken bribes to shed blood. You have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by oppression, and have forgotten me,” says the Lord Yahweh.
- Ps 36:4He plots iniquity on his bed. He sets himself in a way that is not good. He doesn’t abhor evil.
- Ps 10:14But you do see trouble and grief. You consider it to take it into your hand. You help the victim and the fatherless.
- Isa 33:15He who walks righteously, and speaks blamelessly; He who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil —
- Mic 2:1–3Woe to those who devise iniquity and work evil on their beds! When the morning is light, they practice it, because it is in the power of their hand.
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
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