O LORD our God, You answered them. You were a forgiving God to them, yet an avenger of their misdeeds.
Parallel translations
- WEB You answered them, Yahweh our God. You are a God who forgave them, although you took vengeance for their doings.
- KJV Thou answeredst them, O LORD our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.
- NKJV You answered them, O Lord our God; You were to them God-Who-Forgives, Though You took vengeance on their deeds.
- NASB Lord our God, You answered them; You were a forgiving God to them, And yet an avenger of their evil deeds.
- NLT O Lord our God, you answered them. You were a forgiving God to them, but you punished them when they went wrong.
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 answered His people, forgiving them while still disciplining their wrongdoing. He is both merciful and just.
Overview
This verse holds together God's forgiveness and His holy correction of sin, showing that pardon does not cancel discipline. God remains faithful to His people while taking their sin seriously. This tension is resolved at the cross, where God justly punishes sin in Christ and freely forgives those who trust Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Num 20:12But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me to show My holiness in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.”
- Ps 89:33But I will not withdraw My loving devotion from him, nor ever betray My faithfulness.
- Jer 46:28And you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid, declares the LORD, for I am with you. Though I will completely destroy all the nations to which I have banished you, I will not completely destroy you. Yet I will discipline you justly, and will by no means leave you unpunished.”
- Eccl 7:29Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made men upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”
- Deut 9:19–20For I was afraid of the anger and wrath that the LORD had directed against you, enough to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me this time as well.
- Num 20:24“Aaron will be gathered to his people; he will not enter the land that I have given the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah.
- Num 14:20–34“I have pardoned them as you requested,” the LORD replied.
- Num 11:33–34But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and the LORD struck them with a severe plague.
- Deut 3:26But the LORD was angry with me on account of you, and He would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the LORD said to me. “Do not speak to Me again about this matter.
- Exod 32:2So Aaron told them, “Take off the gold earrings that are on your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”
- Rom 1:21For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
- Zeph 3:7I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me and accept correction.’ Then her dwelling place would not be cut off despite all for which I punished her. But they rose early to corrupt all their deeds.
- Exod 32:34–35Now go, lead the people to the place I described. Behold, My angel shall go before you. But on the day I settle accounts, I will punish them for their sin.”
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 99:8 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.