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Thursday, July 17th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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THE MESSAGE

Psalms 18:26

This verse is not available in the MSG!

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - God;   God Continued...;   Wicked (People);   The Topic Concordance - Frowardness;   Purity;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Fire;   Psalms, the Book of;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Balaam;   David;   Josiah;   Parable;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Apocalyptic Literature;   David;   English Versions;   Greek Versions of Ot;   Jonah;   Psalms;   Purity;   Salvation, Saviour;   Sin;   Text, Versions, and Languages of Ot;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Psalms (2);   People's Dictionary of the Bible - David;   Psalms the book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- The Jewish Encyclopedia - James, General Epistle of;  

Devotionals:

- My Utmost for His Highest - Devotion for April 26;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
with the pureyou prove yourself pure;but with the crookedyou prove yourself shrewd.
Hebrew Names Version
With the pure, you will show yourself pure. With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd.
King James Version
With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.
English Standard Version
with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
New Century Version
You are pure to those who are pure, but you are against those who are bad.
New English Translation
You prove to be reliable to one who is blameless, but you prove to be deceptive to one who is perverse.
Amplified Bible
With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.
New American Standard Bible
With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.
World English Bible
With the pure, you will show yourself pure. With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd.
Geneva Bible (1587)
With the pure thou wilt shewe thy selfe pure, and with the froward thou wilt shewe thy selfe froward.
Legacy Standard Bible
With the pure You show Yourself pure,And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.
Berean Standard Bible
to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd.
Contemporary English Version
With all who are sincere, you are sincere, but you treat the unfaithful as their deeds deserve.
Complete Jewish Bible
With the merciful, you are merciful; with a man who is sincere, you are sincere;
Darby Translation
With the pure thou dost shew thyself pure; and with the perverse thou dost shew thyself contrary.
Easy-to-Read Version
You never do wrong to those who have done no wrong. But you outsmart the wicked, no matter how clever they are.
George Lamsa Translation
With the clean thou shalt be clean; and from the crooked thou shalt turn aside.
Good News Translation
You are pure to those who are pure, but hostile to those who are wicked.
Lexham English Bible
To the pure you show yourself pure. but to the wicked you show yourself shrewd.
Literal Translation
with the pure You reveal Yourself as pure; and with the perverting ones You appear perverse;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
With the clene thou shalt be clene & with the frowarde thou shalt be frowarde.
American Standard Version
With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; And with the perverse thou wilt show thyself froward.
Bible in Basic English
He who is holy will see that you are holy; but to the man whose way is not straight you will be a hard judge.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
With the merciful Thou dost show Thyself merciful, with the upright man Thou dost show Thyself upright;
King James Version (1611)
With the pure thou wilt shewe thy selfe pure, and with the froward thou wilt shew thy selfe froward.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
With the cleane thou wylt be cleane: and with the frowarde thou wylt be frowarde.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And with the excellent man thou wilt be excellent; and with the perverse thou wilt shew frowardness.
English Revised Version
With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the perverse thou wilt shew thyself froward.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
With the hooli, thou schalt be hooli; and with `a man innocent, thou schalt be innocent.
Update Bible Version
With the pure you will show yourself pure; And with the perverse you will show yourself froward.
Webster's Bible Translation
With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt contend.
New King James Version
With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.
New Living Translation
To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.
New Life Bible
With the pure, You show Yourself pure. With the sinful You show Yourself to be against them.
New Revised Standard
with the pure you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you show yourself perverse.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
With the pure, thou didst show thyself pure, But, with the perverse, thou didst show thyself ready to contend.
Douay-Rheims Bible
(17-27) And withe the elect thou wilt be elect: and with the perverse thou wilt be perverted.
Revised Standard Version
with the pure thou dost show thyself pure; and with the crooked thou dost show thyself perverse.
Young's Literal Translation
With the pure Thou showest Thyself pure, And with the perverse showest Thyself a wrestler,
New American Standard Bible (1995)
With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.

Contextual Overview

20 God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him. When I got my act together, he gave me a fresh start. Now I'm alert to God 's ways; I don't take God for granted. Every day I review the ways he works; I try not to miss a trick. I feel put back together, and I'm watching my step. God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes. 25The good people taste your goodness, The whole people taste your health, The true people taste your truth, The bad ones can't figure you out. You take the side of the down-and-out, But the stuck-up you take down a peg. 28Suddenly, God , you floodlight my life; I'm blazing with glory, God's glory! I smash the bands of marauders, I vault the highest fences.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

froward: Psalms 109:17-19, Leviticus 26:23, Leviticus 26:24, Leviticus 26:27, Leviticus 26:28, Proverbs 3:34, Romans 2:4-6, Romans 2:9, James 2:13

show thyself froward: or, wrestle

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 22:27 - show thyself unsavoury 2 Chronicles 19:11 - the Lord Job 5:13 - of the froward Psalms 25:10 - the paths Psalms 146:9 - the way Proverbs 3:32 - the froward Proverbs 11:20 - of Proverbs 17:20 - He that hath a froward heart Proverbs 22:5 - Thorns Matthew 5:8 - are Matthew 7:2 - General Luke 6:38 - with

Cross-References

Isaiah 19:24
On that Day, Israel will take its place alongside Egypt and Assyria, sharing the blessing from the center. God -of-the-Angel-Armies, who blessed Israel, will generously bless them all: "Blessed be Egypt, my people!... Blessed be Assyria, work of my hands!... Blessed be Israel, my heritage!"
Isaiah 65:8
God 's Message: "But just as one bad apple doesn't ruin the whole bushel, there are still plenty of good apples left. So I'll preserve those in Israel who obey me. I won't destroy the whole nation. I'll bring out my true children from Jacob and the heirs of my mountains from Judah. My chosen will inherit the land, my servants will move in. The lush valley of Sharon in the west will be a pasture for flocks, And in the east, the valley of Achor, a place for herds to graze. These will be for the people who bothered to reach out to me, who wanted me in their lives, who actually bothered to look for me.
Jeremiah 5:1
"Patrol Jerusalem's streets. Look around. Take note. Search the market squares. See if you can find one man, one woman, A single soul who does what is right and tries to live a true life. I want to forgive that person." God 's Decree. "But if all they do is say, ‘As sure as God lives...' they're nothing but a bunch of liars."
Ezekiel 22:30
"I looked for someone to stand up for me against all this, to repair the defenses of the city, to take a stand for me and stand in the gap to protect this land so I wouldn't have to destroy it. I couldn't find anyone. Not one. So I'll empty out my wrath on them, burn them to a crisp with my hot anger, serve them with the consequences of all they've done. Decree of God , the Master."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure,.... None of Adam's posterity are pure by nature; they are all defiled with sin; and though some are pure in their own eyes, they are far from being cleansed from their filthiness; such only are pure who are sanctified by the Spirit of God, have clean hearts created in them, and whose hearts are purified by faith in the blood of Christ; who are justified by Christ's righteousness, and are washed from their sins in his blood; and who, in consequence of such grace, love, pureness of heart, speak a pure language, hold the mystery of faith in a pure conscience, and with a pure conversation, and live soberly, righteously, and godly: and whereas God is a pure and holy Being, his perfections, works, and word, are pure; he shows himself to be so to such persons, by providing for the honour of his purity and holiness in their redemption, sanctification, and salvation; by making all things to be pure to them; by granting them his presence, and blessing them with the vision of himself here and hereafter; see Matthew 5:8; this may likewise be understood of Christ, who, in his human nature, is pure from all sin, both original and actual: he indeed took upon him the sins of his people, and bore them, and made satisfaction for them, and brought in everlasting righteousness; which being done, God has showed himself pure to him, by justifying, acquitting, and discharging him from all such sins; by accepting his righteousness, and imputing it to those for whom he wrought it;

and with the froward thou wilt show thyself froward; or "thou wrestlest" b, or wilt contend with them until they are destroyed: the same word is here used which Naphtali has his name from, Genesis 30:8. The froward are such as are of perverse dispositions, and of stubborn and obstinate tempers, and whose ways are crooked and distorted; and such were the people of the Jews in the times of Moses, and of Christ,

Deuteronomy 32:5; and who seem here to be designed; even the Jews in Christ's time, who were just the reverse of the above characters, were cruel and unmerciful, faithless and hypocritical, filthy and pure, disbelieved the Messiah, rejected and crucified him, were contrary to God, and to all men; and therefore God walked contrary to them, as he threatened, Leviticus 26:27; the same as showing himself froward to them; for God is not froward and perverse in himself, nor in his ways, which are all equal, just, and pure: and though there is one and the same word used in our version, yet there are two different words in the Hebrew text; the same word that is used of the froward is not used of God; that which is used of God, as before observed, signifies wrestling, and designs God's contending with the people of the Jews, in a way of wrath and fury, which came upon them to the uttermost, and issued in their entire ruin as a people and nation; the words here had their fulfilment in the destruction of Jerusalem.

b תתפתל "eluctaris", Junius Tremellius "colluctaris", Aben Ezra; "reluctaris", Gejerus; "certas", Schmidt.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

With the pure - Those who are pure in their thoughts, their motives, their conduct.

Thou wilt show thyself pure - They will find that they have to deal with a God who is himself pure; who loves purity, and who will accompany it with appropriate rewards wherever it is found.

And with the froward - The word used here - עקשׁ ‛iqqêsh - means properly perverse; a man of a perverse and wicked mind. It is derived from a verb - עקשׁ ‛âqash - which means, to turn the wrong way, to wrest, to pervert. It would be applicable to a man who perverts or wrests the words of others from their true meaning; who prevaricates or is deceitful in his own conduct; who is not straightforward in his dealings; who takes advantage of circumstances to impose on others, and to promote his own ends; who is sour, harsh, crabbed, unaccommodating, unyielding, unkind. It is rendered perverse in Deuteronomy 32:5; Proverbs 8:8; Proverbs 19:1; Proverbs 28:6; froward here, and in 2 Samuel 22:27; Psalms 101:4; Proverbs 11:20; Proverbs 17:20; Proverbs 22:5; and crooked in Proverbs 2:15. The word does not occur elsewhere in the Old Testament.

Thou wilt show thyself froward - Margin, wrestle. In the corresponding place in 2 Samuel 22:27 it is rendered, “Thou wilt show thyself unsavory;” though the same word is used in the original. In the margin in that place, as here, the word is wrestle. The original word in each place - פתל pâthal - means to twist, to twine, to spin; and then, to be twisted; to be crooked, crafty, deceitful. In the form of the word which occurs here (Hithpael), it means, to show oneself crooked, crafty, perverse. (Gesenius, Lexicon). It cannot mean here that God would assume such a character, or that he would be crooked, crafty, perverse in his dealings with men, for no one can suppose that the psalmist meant to ascribe such a character to God; but the meaning plainly is, that God would deal with the man referred to according to his real character: instead of finding that God would deal with them as if they were pure, and righteous, and merciful, such men would find that he deals with them as they are - as perverse, crooked, wicked.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 18:26. With the froward — עקש ikkesh, the perverse man; he that is crooked in his tempers and ways.

Thou wilt show thyself froward. — תתפתל tithpattal, thou wilt set thyself to twist, twine, and wrestle. If he contend, thou wilt contend with him. Thou wilt follow him through all his windings; thou wilt trace him through all his crooked ways; untwist him in all his cunning wiles; and defeat all his schemes of stubbornness, fraud, overreaching, and deceit.

My old Psalter has, With the wiked thow sal be wike. Here the term wicked is taken in its true original sense, crooked, or perverse. With the wiked, the perverse, thou wilt show thyself wike, i.e., perverse; from [Anglo-Saxon], to draw back, to slide. As he draws back from thee, thou wilt draw back from him. It may, as before intimated, come from [A.S.], to seek for enchantments; leaving God, and going to devils; to act like a witch: but here it must mean as above. The plain import is, "If thou perversely oppose thy Maker, he will oppose thee: no work or project shall prosper that is not begun in his name, and conducted in his fear."


 
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