Will the workers of iniquity never learn? They devour my people like bread; they refuse to call upon God.
Parallel translations
- WEB Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and don’t call on God?
- KJV Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.
- NKJV Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And do not call upon God?
- NASB ¶Have the workers of injustice no knowledge, Who eat up My people like they ate bread, And have not called upon God?
- NLT Will those who do evil never learn? They eat up my people like bread and wouldn’t think of praying to God.
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
The wicked devour God's people thoughtlessly and refuse to call on him. It rebukes the senseless cruelty of those who ignore God.
Overview
David marvels at the ignorance of evildoers who consume the godly as casually as eating bread and never seek the Lord. Their prayerlessness reveals their refusal to acknowledge God. The verse comforts the oppressed that God sees their mistreatment and will hold the wicked accountable.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Jer 4:22“For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”
- Jer 10:25Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, and on the families that do not call on Your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have consumed him and finished him off; they have devastated his homeland.
- Ps 27:2When the wicked came upon me to devour my flesh, my enemies and foes stumbled and fell.
- Ps 94:8Take notice, O senseless among the people! O fools, when will you be wise?
- Isa 27:11When its limbs are dry, they are broken off. Women come and use them for kindling; for this is a people without understanding. Therefore their Maker has no compassion on them, and their Creator shows them no favor.
- Matt 23:17–39You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes it sacred?
- Rev 17:16And the ten horns and the beast that you saw will hate the prostitute. They will leave her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
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 53:4 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.