Lectionary Calendar
Wednesday, April 8th, 2026
Wednesday in Easter Week
Attention!
For 10¢ a day you can enjoy StudyLight.org ads
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

King James Version (1611 Edition)

Psalms 37:8

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thy selfe in any wise to doe euill.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Anger;   Patience;   Thompson Chain Reference - Anger;   Wrath-Anger;   The Topic Concordance - Anger;   Forsaking;   Wrath;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Anger;   Resignation;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Letters;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Anger;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Acrostic;   English Versions;   Estate;   Ethics;   Greek Versions of Ot;   Psalms;   Sin;   Wealth;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Nunc Dimittis ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Lamentations of jeremiah;   Psalms the book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Cease;   Fret, Fretting;   Wrath (Anger);  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for May 7;   My Utmost for His Highest - Devotion for July 4;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Refrain from anger and give up your rage;do not be agitated—it can only bring harm.
Hebrew Names Version
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Don't fret, it leads only to evildoing.
King James Version
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
English Standard Version
Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
New Century Version
Don't get angry. Don't be upset; it only leads to trouble.
New English Translation
Do not be angry and frustrated! Do not fret! That only leads to trouble!
Amplified Bible
Cease from anger and abandon wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evil.
New American Standard Bible
Cease from anger and abandon wrath; Do not get upset; it leads only to evildoing.
World English Bible
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Don't fret, it leads only to evildoing.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Cease from anger, and leaue off wrath: fret not thy selfe also to doe euill.
Legacy Standard Bible
Cease from anger and forsake wrath;Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
Berean Standard Bible
Refrain from anger and abandon wrath; do not fret-it can only bring harm.
Contemporary English Version
Don't be angry or furious. Anger can lead to sin.
Complete Jewish Bible
Stop being angry, put aside rage, and don't be upset — it leads to evil.
Darby Translation
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; fret not thyself: it [would be] only to do evil.
Easy-to-Read Version
Don't become so angry and upset that you, too, want to do evil.
George Lamsa Translation
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; fret not yourself in any wise to do evil.
Good News Translation
Don't give in to worry or anger; it only leads to trouble.
Lexham English Bible
Refrain from anger and forsake wrath. Do not fret; it only brings evil.
Literal Translation
Abstain from anger and cease from fury; also do not inflame yourself to do evil.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Leaue of from wrath, let go displeasure, let not thy gelousy moue the also to do euell.
American Standard Version
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: Fret not thyself, it tendeth only to evil-doing.
Bible in Basic English
Put an end to your wrath and be no longer bitter; do not give way to angry feeling which is a cause of sin.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; fret not thyself, it tendeth only to evil-doing.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Leaue of from wrath, and let go displeasure: fret not thy selfe, lest thou be moued to do euill.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
ease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself so as to do evil.
English Revised Version
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself, it tendeth only to evil-doing.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Ceese thou of ire, and forsake woodnesse; nyle thou sue, that thou do wickidli.
Update Bible Version
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: Don't fret yourself, [it tends] only to evil-doing.
Webster's Bible Translation
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
New King James Version
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret--it only causes harm.
New Living Translation
Stop being angry! Turn from your rage! Do not lose your temper— it only leads to harm.
New Life Bible
Stop being angry. Turn away from fighting. Do not trouble yourself. It leads only to wrong-doing.
New Revised Standard
Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret—it leads only to evil.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath, Burn not with vexation - it would be only to do evil;
Douay-Rheims Bible
(36-8) Cease from anger, and leave rage; have no emulation to do evil.
Revised Standard Version
Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
Young's Literal Translation
Desist from anger, and forsake fury, Fret not thyself only to do evil.
THE MESSAGE
Bridle your anger, trash your wrath, cool your pipes—it only makes things worse. Before long the crooks will be bankrupt; God -investors will soon own the store.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.

Contextual Overview

7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thy selfe because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked deuices to passe. 8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thy selfe in any wise to doe euill. 9 For euil doers shall be cut off: but those that waite vpon the Lord, they shall inherite the earth. 10 For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not bee: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. 11 But the meeke shall inherite the earth: and shall delight themselues in the abundance of peace. 12 The wicked plotteth against the iust, and gnasheth vpon him with his teeth. 13 The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is comming. 14 The wicked haue drawen out the sword, and haue bent their bow to cast downe the poore and needy, and to slay such as be of vpright conuersation. 15 Their sword shall enter into their owne heart, and their bowes shall be broken. 16 A little that a righteous man hath, is better then the riches of many wicked.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Cease: Job 5:2, Job 18:4, Proverbs 14:29, Proverbs 16:32, Ephesians 4:26, Ephesians 4:31, James 1:19, James 1:20, James 3:14-18

fret: Psalms 31:22, Psalms 73:15, Psalms 116:11, 1 Samuel 25:21-23, Jeremiah 20:14, Jeremiah 20:15, Jonah 4:1, Jonah 4:9, Luke 9:54, Luke 9:55

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 11:22 - let me go Matthew 5:22 - That Colossians 3:8 - anger

Cross-References

Genesis 37:3
Now Israel loued Ioseph more then all his children, because he was the sonne of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
Genesis 37:4
And when his brethren saw that their father loued him more then all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speake peaceably vnto him.
Genesis 37:6
And he said vnto them, Heare, I pray you, this dreame which I haue dreamed.
Genesis 37:27
Come, and let vs sell him to the Ishmeelites, and let not our hand bee vpon him: for he is our brother, and our flesh; and his brethren were content.
Genesis 37:28
Then there passed by Midianites merchant men, and they drew and lift vp Ioseph out of the pit, and sold Ioseph to the Ishmeelites for twentie pieces of siluer: and they brought Ioseph into Egypt.
Genesis 49:26
The blessings of thy father haue preuailed aboue the blessings of my progenitors: vnto the vtmost bound of the euerlasting hils, they shall bee on the head of Ioseph, and on the crowne of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
Exodus 2:14
And he said, Who made thee a Prince and a iudge ouer vs? intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is knowen.
1 Samuel 10:27
But the children of Belial sayd, Howe shall this man saue vs? and they despised him, and brought him no presents: but he held his peace.
1 Samuel 17:28
And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake vnto the men, and Eliabs anger was kindled against Dauid, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? And with whom hast thou left those few sheepe in the wildernesse? I know thy pride, and the naughtinesse of thine heart; for thou art come downe, that thou mightest see the battell.
Psalms 118:22
The stone which the builders refused: is become the head stone of the corner.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Cease from anger,.... Either at these wicked men who are so prosperous, or at God, who for the present suffers it; see Jonah 4:9

Proverbs 19:3;

and forsake wrath; which is anger wrought up to a greater degree; and the rather to be shunned and avoided, as being very disagreeable to the character of a good man;

fret not thyself in any wise to do evil; evil may be done by fretting at the prosperity of wicked men, or by imitating them, doing as they do, in hope of being prosperous as they are; from which the psalmist dissuades by reasons following.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Cease from anger - That is, in reference to the fact that there are wicked people, and that they are permitted to carry out their plans. Do not allow your mind to be excited with envious, fretful, wrathful, or murmuring feelings against God because he bears patiently with them, and because they are allowed a temporary prosperity and triumph. Be calm, whatever may be the wickedness of the world. The supreme direction belongs to God, and he will dispose of it in the best way.

And forsake wrath - That is, as above, in regard to the existence of evil, and to the conduct of wicked men.

Fret not thyself in any wise - See Psalms 37:1. Let the mind be entirely calm and composed.

To do evil - So as to lead you to do evil. Do not allow your mind to become so excited that you will indulge in harsh or malignant remarks; or so as to lead you to do wrong to any man, however wicked he may be. See always that you are right, whatever others may be, and do not allow their conduct to be the means of leading you into sin in any form. Look to your own character and conduct first.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile