He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy truth.
Parallel translations
- WEB He will repay the evil to my enemies. Destroy them in your truth.
- BSB He will reward my enemies with evil. In Your faithfulness, destroy them.
- 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 of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant.
- Ps 89:49Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses, which thou swarest unto David in thy truth?
- Ps 94:23And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.
- Ps 31:23O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
- Rev 18:6Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
- Ps 137:8O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
- 2 Tim 4:14Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
- Ps 5:8Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.
- Ps 27:11Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
- Ps 143:1Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness.
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.