Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
Parallel translations
- WEB Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Don’t fret, it leads only to evildoing.
- BSB Refrain from anger and abandon wrath; do not fret—it can only bring harm.
- NKJV Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it only causes harm.
- NASB Cease from anger and abandon wrath; Do not get upset; it leads only to evildoing.
- NLT Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper— it only leads to harm.
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 warns against anger and wrath, which only lead to more evildoing. Resentment over injustice can drive us into sin ourselves.
Overview
The repeated counsel not to fret is sharpened here: simmering anger and wrath are dangerous because they tempt us toward wrongdoing. Indignation at the wicked must not make us like them. The New Testament likewise warns that human anger does not produce God's righteousness (James 1:20), calling us instead to entrust justice to God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Prov 14:29He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.
- Prov 16:32He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
- Jas 1:19–20Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:
- Eph 4:31Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
- Eph 4:26Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
- Job 5:2For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.
- Jas 3:14–18But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
- Col 3:8But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
- Job 18:4He teareth himself in his anger: shall the earth be forsaken for thee? and shall the rock be removed out of his place?
- Jonah 4:1But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
- 1 Sam 25:21–23Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good.
- Ps 73:15If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children.
- Jonah 4:9And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
- Ps 31:22For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.
- Luke 9:54–55And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
- Jer 20:14–15Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
- Ps 116:11I said in my haste, All men are liars.
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 37:8 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.