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They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.
Psalms 83:3 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB They conspire with cunning against your people. They plot against your cherished ones.
  • BSB With cunning they scheme against Your people and conspire against those You cherish,
  • NKJV They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, And consulted together against Your sheltered ones.
  • NASB They make shrewd plans against Your people, And conspire together against Your treasured ones.
  • NLT They devise crafty schemes against your people; they conspire against your precious ones.

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 enemies craftily conspire against God's people, whom He cherishes. The attack targets those God holds dear.

Overview

The plotting nations scheme against Israel, here called God's 'cherished ones' or treasured people. The phrase underscores the intimate covenant love God has for His own. To assault those God treasures is to invite His protective response, a comfort to all whom God counts as His beloved in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 10

  • Ps 64:2Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:
  • Ps 27:5For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
  • Ps 31:20Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
  • Isa 7:6–7Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal:
  • Ps 91:1He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
  • Ps 10:9He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.
  • Luke 20:20–23And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor.
  • Ps 56:6They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.
  • Col 3:3For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
  • 1 Sam 13:19Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears:

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 83:3YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 83:3 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.