Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Parallel translations
- WEB Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin.
- BSB Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
- NKJV Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.
- NASB Wash me thoroughly from my guilt And cleanse me from my sin.
- NLT Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.
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 asks to be washed thoroughly and cleansed from his sin. He longs for inward purity, not just pardon.
Overview
Using imagery of washing, David recognizes that sin defiles and that only God can make him clean. The repeated requests—'wash,' 'cleanse'—express deep awareness of his guilt and his need for complete purification. This anticipates the cleansing from sin that the New Testament locates in the blood of Christ, which 'cleanses us from all sin' (1 John 1:7).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 1 Jn 1:7–9But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
- Heb 10:21–22And having an high priest over the house of God;
- Ezek 36:25Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
- Jer 4:14O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
- Ps 51:7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
- Isa 1:16Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
- Rev 1:5And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
- 1 Cor 6:11And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
- Acts 22:16And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
- Rev 7:14And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
- Zech 13:1In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.
- Ps 19:12Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
- Heb 9:13–14For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
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 51:2 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.