Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require.
Parallel translations
- WEB Sacrifice and offering you didn’t desire. You have opened my ears. You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.
- KJV Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
- NKJV Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.
- NASB ¶You have not desired sacrifice and meal offering; You have opened my ears; You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.
- NLT You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings. Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand— you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings.
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
God desires obedience more than mere sacrifice and has opened David's ears to hear. Ritual without a willing heart cannot satisfy God.
Overview
David grasps that God prizes a heart attentive to His will above ceremonial offerings. Hebrews 10:5-7 applies this passage to Christ, who came to do God's will and offer the perfect, final sacrifice. The verse points beyond the old offerings to the obedient Servant.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Heb 10:5–12Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me.
- Isa 1:11“What good to Me is your multitude of sacrifices?” says the LORD. “I am full from the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed cattle; I take no delight in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.
- 1 Sam 15:22But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.
- Ps 51:16For You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; You take no pleasure in burnt offerings.
- Hos 6:6For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
- Matt 9:13But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
- Matt 12:7If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.
- Amos 5:22Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard.
- Jer 7:21–23This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves!
- Isa 66:3Whoever slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man; whoever sacrifices a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever presents a grain offering is like one who offers pig’s blood; whoever offers frankincense is like one who blesses an idol. Indeed, they have chosen their own ways and delighted in their abominations.
- Job 33:16He opens their ears and terrifies them with warnings
- Ps 50:8I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices, and your burnt offerings are ever before Me.
- Isa 50:4–5The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of discipleship, to sustain the weary with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning; He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
- Exod 21:6then his master is to bring him before the judges. And he shall take him to the door or doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he shall serve his master for life.
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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 40:6 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.