Evil shall kill the wicked. Those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
Parallel translations
- KJV Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.
- BSB Evil will slay the wicked, and the haters of the righteous will be condemned.
- NKJV Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
- NASB Evil will bring death to the wicked, And those who hate the righteous will suffer for their guilt.
- NLT Calamity will surely destroy the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be punished.
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
Evil will bring death to the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
Overview
David declares that wickedness ultimately destroys the wicked, and enemies of the righteous face condemnation. Sin carries its own judgment. This sober contrast highlights the deliverance from condemnation offered to all who take refuge in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Ps 94:23He has brought on them their own iniquity, and will cut them off in their own wickedness. Yahweh, our God, will cut them off.
- Isa 3:11Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them; for the deeds of his hands will be paid back to him.
- Prov 24:16for a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.
- Ps 37:12–15The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth.
- 2 Th 1:9who will pay the penalty: eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
- Ps 89:23I will beat down his adversaries before him, and strike those who hate him.
- Luke 19:14But his citizens hated him, and sent an envoy after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us.’
- Ps 37:30–40The mouth of the righteous talks of wisdom. His tongue speaks justice.
- Luke 19:27But bring those enemies of mine who didn’t want me to reign over them here, and kill them before me.’”
- Ps 40:15Let them be desolate by reason of their shame that tell me, “Aha! Aha!”
- 1 Sam 19:4–5Jonathan spoke good of David to Saul his father, and said to him, “Don’t let the king sin against his servant, against David; because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you;
- 1 Th 2:15–16who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and drove us out, and didn’t please God, and are contrary to all men;
- 2 Th 1:6Since it is a righteous thing with God to repay affliction to those who afflict you,
- 1 Kgs 22:37So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.
- Exod 20:7“You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
- John 7:7The world can’t hate you, but it hates me, because I testify about it, that its works are evil.
- John 15:18–23If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you.
- 1 Kgs 22:8The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Yahweh, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” Jehoshaphat said, “Don’t let the king say so.”
- 1 Sam 31:4Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me!” But his armor bearer would not; for he was terrified. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell on it.
- Luke 19:41–44When he came near, he saw the city and wept over it,
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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 34:21 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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