You forgave the guilt of your people— yes, you covered all their sins. Interlude
Parallel translations
- WEB You have forgiven the iniquity of your people. You have covered all their sin. Selah.
- KJV Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.
- BSB You forgave the iniquity of Your people; You covered all their sin. Selah
- NKJV You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin. Selah
- NASB You forgave the guilt of Your people; You covered all their sin. Selah
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
God forgave His people's iniquity and covered all their sin. Forgiveness is His gracious act of removing guilt.
Overview
The verse celebrates the full, gracious pardon God extended, where 'covered' sin recalls the language of atonement. 'Selah' invites pause to reflect on this mercy. This forgiveness foreshadows the gospel, where sin is fully covered and removed through the blood of Christ, in whom God justly pardons all who believe.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Col 2:13You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
- Mic 7:18Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn’t retain his anger forever, because he delights in loving kindness.
- Ps 32:1By David. A contemplative psalm. Blessed is he whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
- Acts 13:39and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.
- Num 14:19Please pardon the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of your loving kindness, and according as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”
- Jer 50:20In those days, and in that time,” says Yahweh, “the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there will be none; also the sins of Judah, and they won’t be found; for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant.
- Ps 79:8–9Don’t hold the iniquities of our forefathers against us. Let your tender mercies speedily meet us, for we are in desperate need.
- Ps 78:38But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn’t destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, and didn’t stir up all his wrath.
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 85:2 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.