Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.
Parallel translations
- WEB Evil shall kill the wicked. Those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
- 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 94:23And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.
- Isa 3:11Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.
- Prov 24:16For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
- Ps 37:12–15The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
- 2 Th 1:9Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
- Ps 89:23And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.
- Luke 19:14But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.
- Ps 37:30–40The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment.
- Luke 19:27But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.
- Ps 40:15Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.
- 1 Sam 19:4–5And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good:
- 1 Th 2:15–16Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:
- 2 Th 1:6Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
- 1 Kgs 22:37So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.
- Exod 20:7Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
- John 7:7The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.
- John 15:18–23If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
- 1 Kgs 22:8And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
- 1 Sam 31:4Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.
- Luke 19:41–44And when he was come near, he beheld 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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