Psalms 34:21

21 Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned.

Psalms 34:21 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
21 Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.
English Standard Version (ESV)
21 Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
New Living Translation (NLT)
21 Calamity will surely destroy the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be punished.
The Message Bible (MSG)
21 The wicked commit slow suicide; they waste their lives hating the good.
American Standard Version (ASV)
21 Evil shall slay the wicked; And they that hate the righteous shall be condemned.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
21 Evil will kill wicked people, and those who hate righteous people will be condemned.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
21 Evil brings death to the sinner, and those who hate the righteous will be punished.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
21 Sinners will be killed by their own evil. The enemies of godly people will be judged.

Psalms 34:21 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 34:21

Evil shall slay the wicked
Meaning either the evil they designed against the righteous shall return and fall upon their heads, to their own ruin; or the evil of affliction, which to them is the evil of punishment, both here and hereafter, from which they will have no deliverance in the end; though the righteous have from their afflictions, being not properly punishments, but chastisements for sin, and are but for a time; or else the evil of sin, which is the cause of death corporeal and eternal;

and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate;
or "shall be guilty" F14; be found so; or "shall be condemned", or "damned", as the Targum renders it. All wicked men hate the righteous, both Jesus Christ the righteous, and his people; and that because they are righteous, and do not run into the same excess of wickedness with them, these will be arraigned at the day of judgment, and will be convicted of all their hard speeches which they have spoken against Christ and his members; and will be pronounced guilty, and will be punished with everlasting destruction.


FOOTNOTES:

F14 (wmvay) "rei fiunt", Cocceius; "reatum habebunt", Schmidt; "damnabuntur", Gejerus; "shall be condemned as guilty", Ainsworth.

Psalms 34:21 In-Context

19 The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;
20 he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked; the foes of the righteous will be condemned.
22 The LORD will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

Cross References 1

  • 1. Psalms 7:9; Psalms 9:16; Psalms 11:5; Psalms 37:20; Psalms 73:27; Psalms 94:23; Psalms 106:43; Psalms 112:10; Psalms 140:11; Proverbs 14:32; Proverbs 24:16
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