He will reward my enemies with evil. In Your faithfulness, destroy them.
Parallel translations
- WEB He will repay the evil to my enemies. Destroy them in your truth.
- KJV He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy truth.
- NKJV He will repay my enemies for their evil. Cut them off in Your truth.
- NASB He will pay back the evil to my enemies; Destroy them in Your faithfulness.
- NLT May the evil plans of my enemies be turned against them. Do as you promised and put an end to them.
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 God to repay his enemies' evil and destroy them according to his truth. It commits justice to God rather than personal revenge.
Overview
David prays that God would requite the wickedness of his foes, appealing to God's faithfulness ('truth') as the standard. Such imprecatory pleas entrust judgment to God instead of taking it up himself. They express longing for evil to be answered, finally satisfied at the cross and the last judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 143:12And in Your loving devotion, cut off my enemies. Destroy all who afflict me, for I am Your servant.
- Ps 89:49Where, O Lord, is Your loving devotion of old, which You faithfully swore to David?
- Ps 94:23He will bring upon them their own iniquity and destroy them for their wickedness. The LORD our God will destroy them.
- Ps 31:23Love the LORD, all His saints. The LORD preserves the faithful, but fully repays the arrogant.
- Rev 18:6Give back to her as she has done to others; pay her back double for what she has done; mix her a double portion in her own cup.
- Ps 137:8O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, blessed is he who repays you as you have done to us.
- 2 Tim 4:14Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds.
- Ps 5:8Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make straight Your way before me.
- Ps 27:11Teach me Your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path, because of my oppressors.
- Ps 143:1A Psalm of David. O LORD, hear my prayer. In Your faithfulness, give ear to my plea; in Your righteousness, answer me.
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 54:5 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.