They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.
Parallel translations
- WEB They who also render evil for good are adversaries to me, because I follow what is good.
- BSB Those who repay my good with evil attack me for pursuing the good.
- NKJV Those also who render evil for good, They are my adversaries, because I follow what is good.
- NASB And those who repay evil for good, They become my enemies, because I follow what is good.
- NLT They repay me evil for good and oppose me for pursuing good.
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
His adversaries return evil for good and oppose him precisely because he pursues righteousness. Goodness itself provokes their enmity.
Overview
David's pursuit of what is right earns him hatred rather than gratitude. This is the perennial conflict between the godly and the wicked. The righteous Christ supremely repaid the world's evil with good and was hated for it.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ps 35:12They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul.
- 1 Jn 3:12Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
- Jer 18:20Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from them.
- 1 Pet 4:14–16If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.
- John 10:32Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
- Ps 109:3–5They compassed me about also with words of hatred; and fought against me without a cause.
- 1 Sam 25:21Now 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 7:4If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:)
- 1 Pet 3:17–18For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.
- 1 Sam 19:4–6And 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 Sam 23:12Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the LORD said, They will deliver thee up.
- Matt 5:10Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- 1 Pet 3:13And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?
- 1 Sam 23:5So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
- 1 Sam 25:16They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.
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 38:20 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.