Give them according to their deeds, And according to the wickedness of their endeavors; Give them according to the work of their hands; Render to them what they deserve.
Parallel translations
- WEB Give them according to their work, and according to the wickedness of their doings. Give them according to the operation of their hands. Bring back on them what they deserve.
- KJV Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.
- BSB Repay them according to their deeds and for their works of evil. Repay them for what their hands have done; bring back on them what they deserve.
- NASB Give back to them according to their work and according to the evil of their practices; Give back to them according to the work of their hands; Repay them what is due them.
- NLT Give them the punishment they so richly deserve! Measure it out in proportion to their wickedness. Pay them back for all their evil deeds! Give them a taste of what they have done to others.
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 asks God to repay the wicked according to their evil deeds. It is an appeal for divine justice, not personal vengeance.
Overview
This imprecation entrusts judgment to God rather than David's own hand, asking that evildoers receive what their works deserve. Such prayers express zeal for God's righteousness and confidence that He judges justly. They are tempered in light of Christ, who teaches love of enemies while still upholding final divine justice.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- 2 Tim 4:14Alexander, the coppersmith, did much evil to me. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds,
- Rev 22:12“Behold, I come quickly. My reward is with me, to repay to each man according to his work.
- Rev 18:6Return to her just as she returned, and repay her double as she did, and according to her works. In the cup which she mixed, mix to her double.
- Ps 109:17–21Yes, he loved cursing, and it came to him. He didn’t delight in blessing, and it was far from him.
- Ps 59:12–13For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride, for the curses and lies which they utter.
- Ezra 9:13“After all that has come on us for our evil deeds, and for our great guilt, since you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such a remnant,
- Ps 103:10He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities.
- Rom 11:22See then the goodness and severity of God. Toward those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
- Ps 5:10Hold them guilty, God. Let them fall by their own counsels; Thrust them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against you.
- Ps 2:1–5Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?
- Ps 69:22–24Let their table before them become a snare. May it become a retribution and a trap.
- Ezek 38:10Thus says the Lord Yahweh: It shall happen in that day, that things shall come into your mind, and you shall devise an evil device:
- Ps 62:12Also to you, Lord, belongs loving kindness, for you reward every man according to his work.
- Jer 18:21–23Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives become childless, and widows; and let their men be slain of death, and their young men struck by the sword in battle.
- Ps 103:3–4who forgives all your sins; who heals all your diseases;
- Ps 21:10You will destroy their descendants from the earth, their posterity from among the children of men.
- Rom 2:6–8who “will pay back to everyone according to their works:”
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 28:4 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.