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Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
Psalms 44:22 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Yes, for your sake we are killed all day long. We are regarded as sheep for the slaughter.
  • BSB Yet for Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.
  • NKJV Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
  • NASB But for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
  • NLT But for your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.

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

It is for God's sake that they are killed all day long, regarded as sheep for slaughter. It matters because it names their suffering as endured for God, not for sin.

Overview

This climactic verse declares their affliction is suffered on God's account. Paul quotes it in Romans 8 to describe the suffering of Christians, immediately affirming that in all these things we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us. Thus the church's hardship is taken up into the assurance of God's inseparable love in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 13

  • Rom 8:36As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
  • Isa 53:7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
  • Ps 44:11Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the heathen.
  • John 15:21But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.
  • John 16:2–3They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
  • 1 Cor 4:9For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.
  • 1 Cor 15:30–31And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?
  • Matt 5:10–12Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
  • 1 Kgs 19:10And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
  • 1 Sam 22:17–19And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD: because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD.
  • Rev 11:3–9And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
  • Ps 79:2–3The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
  • Rev 17:6And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 44:22YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 44:22 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.