How long, Lord, shall the wicked— How long shall the wicked triumph?
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?
- BSB How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked exult?
- NKJV Lord, how long will the wicked, How long will 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 6:10They cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, Master, the holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”
- Job 20:5that the triumphing of the wicked is short, the joy of the godless but for a moment?
- Jer 12:1–2You are righteous, Yahweh, when I contend with you; yet I would reason the cause with you: why does the way of the wicked prosper? why are all they at ease who deal very treacherously?
- Ps 74:9–10We see no miraculous signs. There is no longer any prophet, neither is there among us anyone who knows how long.
- Ps 43:2For you are the God of my strength. Why have you rejected me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
- Ps 73:8They scoff and speak with malice. In arrogance, they threaten oppression.
- Esth 7:6Esther said, “An adversary and an enemy, even this wicked Haman!” Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.
- Ps 80:4Yahweh God of Armies, How long will you be angry against the prayer of your people?
- Esth 5:11–12Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the multitude of his children, all the things in which the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.
- Esth 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.
- Ps 89:46How long, Yahweh? Will you hide yourself forever? Will your wrath burn like fire?
- Acts 12:22–23The people shouted, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!”
- Ps 79:5How long, Yahweh? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?
- Esth 6:6–10So Haman came in. The king said to him, “What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” Now Haman said in his heart, “Who would the king delight to honor more than myself?”
- Jer 47:6“‘You sword of Yahweh, how long will it be before you are quiet? Put yourself back into your scabbard; rest, and be still.’
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 94:3 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.