Do not take my soul away with sinners, or my life with men of bloodshed,
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t gather my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men;
- KJV Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men:
- NKJV Do not gather my soul with sinners, Nor my life with bloodthirsty men,
- NASB Do not take my soul away along with sinners, Nor my life with men of bloodshed,
- NLT Don’t let me suffer the fate of sinners. Don’t condemn me along with murderers.
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
David prays not to be swept away with sinners and violent men. He asks to be spared the fate of the wicked.
Overview
David pleads that God would not include him among sinners and bloodthirsty men when judgment falls. He desires a destiny different from that of the wicked. This plea expresses dependence on God's mercy rather than confidence in self, a separation from condemnation ultimately secured for believers through Christ, who delivers his people from wrath.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Rev 22:14–15Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by its gates.
- Matt 25:32All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
- Ps 139:19O God, that You would slay the wicked—away from me, you bloodthirsty men—
- Matt 24:51Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
- 2 Sam 16:7And as he yelled curses, Shimei said, “Get out, get out, you worthless man of bloodshed!
- 1 Sam 25:29And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the LORD your God in the bundle of the living. But He shall fling away the lives of your enemies like stones from a sling.
- 1 Sam 22:18–19So the king ordered Doeg, “You turn and strike down the priests!” And Doeg the Edomite turned and struck down the priests himself. On that day he killed eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod.
- Mal 3:18So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
- Ps 51:14Deliver me from bloodguilt, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing of Your righteousness.
- Ps 28:1–3Of David. To You, O LORD, I call; be not deaf to me, O my Rock. For if You remain silent, I will be like those descending to the Pit.
- Ps 55:23But You, O God, will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.
- Matt 25:46And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
- Matt 25:44And they too will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’
- 2 Sam 21:1During the reign of David there was a famine for three successive years, and David sought the face of the LORD. And the LORD said, “It is because of the blood shed by Saul and his family, because he killed the Gibeonites.”
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 26:9 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.