Psalms 5:5

5:5 Arrogant people cannot stand in your presence; ¹ 

you hate ²  all who behave wickedly. ³ 

Psalms 6:8

6:8 Turn back from me, all you who behave wickedly, ⁴ 

for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping! ⁵ 

Psalms 14:4

14:4 All those who behave wickedly ⁶  do not understand – ⁷ 

those who devour my people as if they were eating bread,

and do not call out to the Lord.

Psalms 36:12

36:12 I can see the evildoers! They have fallen! ⁸ 

They have been knocked down and are unable to get up! ⁹ 

Psalms 53:4

53:4 All those who behave wickedly ¹⁰  do not understand ¹¹  –

those who devour my people as if they were eating bread,

and do not call out to God.

Psalms 58:2

58:2 No! ¹²  You plan how to do what is unjust; ¹³ 

you deal out violence in the earth. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 68:28

68:28 God has decreed that you will be powerful. ¹⁵ 

O God, you who have acted on our behalf, demonstrate your power,

Psalms 92:7

92:7 When the wicked sprout up like grass,

and all the evildoers glisten, ¹⁶ 

it is so that they may be annihilated. ¹⁷ 

Psalms 94:16

94:16 Who will rise up to defend me ¹⁸  against the wicked?

Who will stand up for me against the evildoers? ¹⁹ 

Psalms 101:8

101:8 Each morning I will destroy all the wicked people in the land,

and remove all evildoers from the city of the Lord.

Psalms 125:5

125:5 As for those who are bent on traveling a sinful path, ²⁰ 

may the Lord remove them, ²¹  along with those who behave wickedly! ²² 

May Israel experience peace! ²³ 

[5:5]  ¹ tn Heb “before your eyes.”

[5:5]  ² sn You hate. The Lord “hates” the wicked in the sense that he despises their wicked character and deeds and actively opposes and judges them for their wickedness. See Ps 11:5.

[5:5]  ³ tn Heb “all the workers of wickedness.”

[6:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “all [you] workers of wickedness.” See Ps 5:5.

[6:8]  ⁵ sn The Lord has heard. The psalmist’s mood abruptly changes because the Lord responded positively to the lament and petition of vv. 1-7 and promised him deliverance.

[14:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “all the workers of wickedness.” See Pss 5:5; 6:8.

[14:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “Do they not understand?” The rhetorical question (rendered in the translation as a positive affirmation) expresses the psalmist’s amazement at their apparent lack of understanding. This may refer to their lack of moral understanding, but it more likely refers to their failure to anticipate God’s defense of his people (see vv. 5-7).

[36:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “there the workers of wickedness have fallen.” The adverb שָׁם (sham, “there”) is used here for dramatic effect, as the psalmist envisions the evildoers lying fallen at a spot that is vivid in his imagination (BDB 1027 s.v.).

[36:12]  ¹¹ tn The psalmist uses perfect verbal forms in v. 12 to describe the demise of the wicked as if it has already taken place.

[53:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “the workers of wickedness.” See Pss 5:5; 6:8. Ps 14:4 adds כֹּל (kol, “all of”) before “workers of wickedness.”

[53:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Do they not understand?” The rhetorical question expresses the psalmist’s amazement at their apparent lack of understanding. This may refer to their lack of moral understanding, but it more likely refers to their failure to anticipate God’s defense of his people (see vv. 5-6).

[58:2]  ¹⁶ tn The particle אַף (’af, “no”) is used here as a strong adversative emphasizing the following statement, which contrasts reality with the rulers’ claim alluded to in the rhetorical questions (see Ps 44:9).

[58:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in the heart unjust deeds you do.” The phrase “in the heart” (i.e., “mind”) seems to refer to their plans and motives. The Hebrew noun עַוְלָה (’avlah, “injustice”) is collocated with פָּעַל (pa’al, “do”) here and in Job 36:23 and Ps 119:3. Some emend the plural form עוֹלֹת (’olot, “unjust deeds”; see Ps 64:6) to the singular עָוֶל (’avel, “injustice”; see Job 34:32), taking the final tav (ת) as dittographic (note that the following verbal form begins with tav). Some then understand עָוֶל (’avel, “injustice”) as a genitive modifying “heart” and translate, “with a heart of injustice you act.”

[58:2]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in the earth the violence of your hands you weigh out.” The imagery is from the economic realm. The addressees measure out violence, rather than justice, and distribute it like a commodity. This may be ironic, since justice was sometimes viewed as a measuring scale (see Job 31:6).

[68:28]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “God has commanded your strength.” The statement is apparently addressed to Israel (see v. 26).

[92:7]  ²² tn Or “flourish.”

[92:7]  ²³ tn Heb “in order that they might be destroyed permanently.”

[94:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “for me.”

[94:16]  ²⁶ sn Who will stand up for me…? The questions anticipate the answer, “No one except God” (see v. 17).

[125:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and the ones making their paths twisted.” A sinful lifestyle is compared to a twisting, winding road.

[125:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “lead them away.” The prefixed verbal form is understood as a jussive of prayer here (note the prayers directly before and after this). Another option is to translate, “the Lord will remove them” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[125:5]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the workers of wickedness.”

[125:5]  ³¹ tn Heb “peace [be] upon Israel.” The statement is understood as a prayer (see Ps 122:8 for a similar prayer for peace).