Who will stand up for me against evildoers? Who will take his stand for me against those who do injustice?
Parallel translations
- WEB Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will stand up for me against the evildoers?
- KJV Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
- BSB Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will stand for me against the workers of iniquity?
- NKJV Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
- NLT Who will protect me from the wicked? Who will stand up for me against evildoers?
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 psalmist asks who will rise up for him against the wicked. He realizes no human champion is sufficient against evildoers.
Overview
Facing oppression, the psalmist looks for a defender and finds none among men. This honest sense of helplessness drives him to depend wholly on God (v.17). Ultimately God Himself is the believer's defender, supremely in Christ who rose to defeat every enemy on our behalf (Romans 8:31-34).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Judg 5:23‘Curse Meroz,’ said Yahweh’s angel. ‘Curse bitterly its inhabitants, because they didn’t come to help Yahweh, to help Yahweh against the mighty.’
- Num 25:6–13Behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the Tent of Meeting.
- Ps 59:2Deliver me from the workers of iniquity. Save me from the bloodthirsty men.
- 3 Jn 1:8We therefore ought to receive such, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.
- John 7:50–51Nicodemus (he who came to him by night, being one of them) said to them,
- Isa 59:16He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor. Therefore his own arm brought salvation to him; and his righteousness sustained him.
- Neh 5:7Then I consulted with myself, and contended with the nobles and the rulers, and said to them, “You exact usury, everyone of his brother.” I held a great assembly against them.
- Jer 5:1“Run back and forth through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in its wide places, if you can find a man, if there are any who does justly, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her.
- 2 Kgs 9:32He lifted up his face to the window, and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked out at him.
- Ezek 22:30“I sought for a man among them, who should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.
- Jer 26:16–19Then the princes and all the people said to the priests and to the prophets: “This man is not worthy of death; for he has spoken to us in the name of Yahweh our God.”
- Isa 63:5I looked, and there was no one to help; and I wondered that there was no one to uphold: therefore my own arm brought salvation to me; and my own wrath upheld me.
- Exod 32:26–29then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is on Yahweh’s side, come to me!” All the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him.
- Num 10:35When the ark went forward, Moses said, “Rise up, Yahweh, and let your enemies be scattered! Let those who hate you flee before you!”
- 1 Kgs 18:39–40When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces. They said, “Yahweh, he is God! Yahweh, he is God!”
- 2 Kgs 10:15When he had departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him. He greeted him, and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?” Jehonadab answered, “It is.” “If it is, give me your hand.” He gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.
- Ps 17:13Arise, Yahweh, confront him. Cast him down. Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword;
- Matt 12:30“He who is not with me is against me, and he who doesn’t gather with me, scatters.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 94:16 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
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