How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked exult?
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked triumph?
- KJV LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?
- NKJV Lord, how long will the wicked, How long will the wicked triumph?
- NASB How long, Lord, shall the wicked— How long shall the wicked triumph?
- NLT How long, O Lord? How long will the wicked be allowed to gloat?
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 how long the wicked will go on triumphing. He voices the believer's honest anguish over delayed justice.
Overview
The repeated 'how long' expresses the painful tension of waiting for God to act while evil seems to win. Such laments are honest prayers that God invites and answers in His time. The cry is echoed by the martyrs awaiting vindication, assured that justice will come (Revelation 6:10; Habakkuk 1:2).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Rev 6:10And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”
- Job 20:5the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?
- Jer 12:1–2Righteous are You, O LORD, when I plead before You. Yet about Your judgments I wish to contend with You: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?
- Ps 74:9–10There are no signs for us to see. There is no longer any prophet. And none of us knows how long this will last.
- Ps 43:2For You are the God of my refuge. Why have You rejected me? Why must I walk in sorrow because of the enemy’s oppression?
- Ps 73:8They mock and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression.
- Esth 7:6Esther replied, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked man—Haman!” And Haman stood in terror before the king and queen.
- Ps 80:4O LORD God of Hosts, how long will Your anger smolder against the prayers of Your people?
- Esth 5:11–12Haman recounted to them his glorious wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honored and promoted him over the other officials and servants.
- Esth 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.
- Ps 89:46How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath keep burning like fire?
- Acts 12:22–23And they began to shout, “This is the voice of a god, not a man!”
- Ps 79:5How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire?
- Esth 6:6–10Haman entered, and the king asked him, “What should be done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor?” Now Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king be delighted to honor more than me?”
- Jer 47:6‘Alas, O sword of the LORD, how long until you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still!’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 94:3 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.