The wicked have drawn the sword and bent the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright.
Parallel translations
- WEB The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, to kill those who are upright on the path.
- KJV The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.
- NKJV The wicked have drawn the sword And have bent their bow, To cast down the poor and needy, To slay those who are of upright conduct.
- NASB The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow To take down the afflicted and the needy, To kill off those who are upright in conduct.
- NLT The wicked draw their swords and string their bows to kill the poor and the oppressed, to slaughter those who do right.
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 draw sword and bend bow to strike down the poor, needy, and upright. They aim their violence at the defenseless godly.
Overview
David vividly depicts the aggression of the wicked, armed to kill the vulnerable righteous. The targets, 'the poor and needy' and those 'upright on the path,' highlight the injustice. Yet the next verses show this weaponry recoiling on its wielders; God defends the lowly, a care perfected in Christ who came to rescue the helpless and oppressed.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Prov 29:27An unjust man is detestable to the righteous, and one whose way is upright is detestable to the wicked.
- Ps 11:2For behold, the wicked bend their bows. They set their arrow on the string to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.
- 1 Jn 3:12Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.
- Prov 29:10Men of bloodshed hate a blameless man, but the upright care for his life.
- Acts 7:52Which of the prophets did your fathers fail to persecute? They even killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One. And now you are His betrayers and murderers—
- 1 Sam 24:17and said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have rewarded me with good, though I have rewarded you with evil.
- Ps 35:10All my bones will exclaim, “Who is like You, O LORD, who delivers the afflicted from the aggressor, the poor and needy from the robber?”
- Ps 64:2–6Hide me from the scheming of the wicked, from the mob of workers of iniquity,
- Acts 12:11Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”
- 1 Sam 24:11See, my father, look at the corner of your robe in my hand. For I cut it off, but I did not kill you. See and know that there is no evil or rebellion in my hands. I have not sinned against you, even though you are hunting me down to take my life.
- Acts 12:23Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.
- Hab 1:13Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate the faithless? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
- Matt 23:30–34And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’
- Acts 12:2–3He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.
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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 37:14 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.