Rescue me from these criminals; save me from these murderers.
Parallel translations
- WEB Deliver me from the workers of iniquity. Save me from the bloodthirsty men.
- KJV Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men.
- BSB Deliver me from workers of iniquity, and save me from men of bloodshed.
- NKJV Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, And save me from bloodthirsty men.
- NASB Rescue me from those who practice injustice, And save me from men of bloodshed.
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 for deliverance from evildoers and bloodthirsty men bent on his death. It is a prayer for rescue from those who intend real harm.
Overview
David specifies the danger: workers of iniquity who thirst for blood. He does not minimize the threat but lays it plainly before God. Such honest prayer in the face of violence shows that the believer may bring even the gravest fears to the Lord, who hears and saves.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Ps 139:19If only you, God, would kill the wicked. Get away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
- Ps 26:9Don’t gather my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloodthirsty men;
- Ps 55:23But you, God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in you.
- Ps 27:2When evildoers came at me to eat up my flesh, even my adversaries and my foes, they stumbled and fell.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 59:2 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.