Psalm 36:3

3 The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful; they fail to act wisely or do good.

Psalm 36:3 in Other Translations

3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good.

3 The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely and do good.

3 Everything they say is crooked and deceitful. They refuse to act wisely or do good.

3 Words gutter from his mouth, dishwater dirty. Can't remember when he did anything decent.

3 The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: He hath ceased to be wise [and] to do good.

3 The words from his mouth are [nothing but] trouble and deception. He has stopped doing what is wise and good.

3 The words of his mouth are malicious and deceptive; he has stopped acting wisely and doing good.

3 His mouth speaks words that are evil and false. He has stopped being wise. He has stopped doing good.

Psalm 36:3 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 36:3

The words of his mouth [are] iniquity and deceit
Not only sinful, but sin itself; his mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, of filthy and unchaste words, of corrupt communication, lying, deceit, and flattery; out of the abundance of the wickedness of his heart his mouth speaketh; and which shows the badness of it, and proves all that is said before of him;

he hath left off to be wise, [and] to do good;
by which the psalmist seems to intend one that had been a professor of religion, who, besides the light of nature he had acted contrary to, had had the advantage of a divine revelation, and had been enlightened into the knowledge of divine things, and had done many things externally good, particularly acts of beneficence; but now had dropped his profession of religion, denied the truths he had been enlightened into, and ceased from doing good; otherwise a natural man understandeth not; and, though he is wise to do evil, to do good he has no knowledge.

Psalm 36:3 In-Context

1 I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:There is no fear of God before their eyes.

2 In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin.

3 The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful; they fail to act wisely or do good.

4 Even on their beds they plot evil; they commit themselves to a sinful course and do not reject what is wrong.

5 Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 10:7
• 2. S Job 5:13; Psalms 5:6,9; Psalms 43:1; Psalms 144:8,11; Isaiah 44:20
• 3. Psalms 94:8
• 4. Jeremiah 4:22; Jeremiah 13:23; Amos 3:10