And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it.
Parallel translations
- WEB If he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood. His heart gathers iniquity to itself. When he goes abroad, he tells it.
- BSB My visitor speaks falsehood; he gathers slander in his heart; he goes out and spreads it abroad.
- NKJV And if he comes to see me, he speaks lies; His heart gathers iniquity to itself; When he goes out, he tells it.
- NASB And when he comes to see me, he speaks empty words; His heart gathers wickedness to itself; When he goes outside, he tells it.
- NLT They visit me as if they were my friends, but all the while they gather gossip, and when they leave, they spread it everywhere.
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
A visitor speaks empty words while inwardly gathering malice, then spreads slander abroad. Feigned friendship masks treachery.
Overview
The hypocrite comes with false sympathy but hoards evil thoughts to broadcast later. Such two-faced cruelty deepens the sufferer's pain. It exposes the deceit of the human heart that the gospel alone can renew.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ps 12:2They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak.
- Luke 11:53–54And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things:
- Prov 26:24–26He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him;
- Luke 20:20–23And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.
- Jer 20:10For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.
- Neh 6:1–14Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;)
- 2 Cor 11:26In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
- Mic 7:5–7Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.
- Dan 11:27And both these kings’ hearts shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper: for yet the end shall be at the time appointed.
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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 41:6 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
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