Psalms 37:32

THE MESSAGE

Wicked sets a watch for Righteous, he's out for the kill. God , alert, is also on watch— Wicked won't hurt a hair of his head.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The wicked one lies in wait for the righteousand intends to kill him;

Hebrew Names Version
The wicked watches the righteous, And seeks to kill him.

King James Version
The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.

English Standard Version
The wicked watches for the righteous and seeks to put him to death.

New Century Version
The wicked watch for good people so that they may kill them.

New English Translation
Evil men set an ambush for the godly and try to kill them.

Amplified Bible
The wicked lies in wait for the righteous And seeks to kill him.

New American Standard Bible
The wicked spies upon the righteous And seeks to kill him.

World English Bible
The wicked watches the righteous, And seeks to kill him.

Geneva Bible (1587)
The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.

Legacy Standard Bible
The wicked spies upon the righteousAnd seeks to put him to death.

Berean Standard Bible
Though the wicked lie in wait for the righteous, and seek to slay them,

Contemporary English Version
The wicked try to trap and kill good people,

Complete Jewish Bible
The wicked keeps his eye on the righteous, seeking a chance to kill him.

Darby Translation
The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him:

Easy-to-Read Version
The wicked are always looking for ways to kill good people.

George Lamsa Translation
The wicked lies in wait for the righteous, and seeks to slay him.

Good News Translation
Wicked people watch good people and try to kill them;

Lexham English Bible
The wicked watches for the righteous and seeks to kill him.

Literal Translation
The wicked spies on the righteous and seeks to kill him.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The lawe of his God is in his hert, therfore shal not his fotesteppes slyde.

American Standard Version
The wicked watcheth the righteous, And seeketh to slay him.

Bible in Basic English
The sinners are watching the upright man, desiring to put him to death.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.

King James Version (1611)
The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
The vngodly spyeth the righteous: and seeketh [occasion] to slay hym.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
The sinner watches the righteous, and seeks to slay him.

English Revised Version
The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
A synnere biholdith a iust man; and sekith to sle hym.

Update Bible Version
The wicked watches the righteous, And seeks to slay him.

Webster's Bible Translation
The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him.

New King James Version
The wicked watches the righteous, And seeks to slay him.

New Living Translation
The wicked wait in ambush for the godly, looking for an excuse to kill them.

New Life Bible
The sinful lie in wait for the man who is right with God, and want to kill him.

New Revised Standard
The wicked watch for the righteous, and seek to kill them.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
The lawless man, lieth in wait, for the just, and seeketh to put him to death:

Douay-Rheims Bible
(36-32) The wicked watcheth the just man, and seeketh to put him to death,

Revised Standard Version
The wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to slay him.

Young's Literal Translation
The wicked is watching for the righteous, And is seeking to put him to death.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The wicked spies upon the righteous And seeks to kill him.

Contextual Overview

²¹Wicked borrows and never returns; Righteous gives and gives. Generous gets it all in the end; Stingy is cut off at the pass. ²³Stalwart walks in step with God ; his path blazed by God , he's happy. If he stumbles, he's not down for long; God has a grip on his hand. ²⁵I once was young, now I'm a graybeard— not once have I seen an abandoned believer, or his kids out roaming the streets. Every day he's out giving and lending, his children making him proud. ²⁷Turn your back on evil, work for the good and don't quit. God loves this kind of thing, never turns away from his friends. Live this way and you've got it made, but bad eggs will be tossed out. The good get planted on good land and put down healthy roots. Righteous chews on wisdom like a dog on a bone, rolls virtue around on his tongue. His heart pumps God's Word like blood through his veins; his feet are as sure as a cat's. Wicked sets a watch for Righteous, he's out for the kill. God , alert, is also on watch— Wicked won't hurt a hair of his head. Wait passionately for God , don't leave the path. He'll give you your place in the sun while you watch the wicked lose it. I saw Wicked bloated like a toad, croaking pretentious nonsense. The next time I looked there was nothing— a punctured bladder, vapid and limp. Keep your eye on the healthy soul, scrutinize the straight life; There's a future in strenuous wholeness. But the willful will soon be discarded; insolent souls are on a dead-end street. The spacious, free life is from God , it's also protected and safe. God -strengthened, we're delivered from evil— when we run to him, he saves us. ²⁹class="psalm-title"> A David Psalm Don't bother your head with braggarts or wish you could succeed like the wicked. In no time they'll shrivel like grass clippings and wilt like cut flowers in the sun. Get insurance with God and do a good deed, settle down and stick to your last. Keep company with God , get in on the best. Open up before God , keep nothing back; he'll do whatever needs to be done: He'll validate your life in the clear light of day and stamp you with approval at high noon. Quiet down before God , be prayerful before him. Don't bother with those who climb the ladder, who elbow their way to the top. 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. Before you know it, the wicked will have had it; you'll stare at his once famous place and—nothing! Down-to-earth people will move in and take over, relishing a huge bonanza. Bad guys have it in for the good guys, obsessed with doing them in. But God isn't losing any sleep; to him they're a joke with no punch line. Bullies brandish their swords, pull back on their bows with a flourish. They're out to beat up on the harmless, or mug that nice man out walking his dog. A banana peel lands them flat on their faces— slapstick figures in a moral circus. Less is more and more is less. One righteous will outclass fifty wicked, For the wicked are moral weaklings but the righteous are God -strong. God keeps track of the decent folk; what they do won't soon be forgotten. In hard times, they'll hold their heads high; when the shelves are bare, they'll be full. God-despisers have had it; God 's enemies are finished— Stripped bare like vineyards at harvest time, vanished like smoke in thin air. Wicked borrows and never returns; Righteous gives and gives. Generous gets it all in the end; Stingy is cut off at the pass. Stalwart walks in step with God ; his path blazed by God , he's happy. If he stumbles, he's not down for long; God has a grip on his hand. I once was young, now I'm a graybeard— not once have I seen an abandoned believer, or his kids out roaming the streets. Every day he's out giving and lending, his children making him proud. Turn your back on evil, work for the good and don't quit. God loves this kind of thing, never turns away from his friends. Live this way and you've got it made, but bad eggs will be tossed out. The good get planted on good land and put down healthy roots. ³⁰Righteous chews on wisdom like a dog on a bone, rolls virtue around on his tongue. His heart pumps God's Word like blood through his veins; his feet are as sure as a cat's. ³²Wicked sets a watch for Righteous, he's out for the kill. God , alert, is also on watch— Wicked won't hurt a hair of his head.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

watcheth: Psalms 37:12, Psalms 10:8-10, Jeremiah 20:10, Luke 6:7, Luke 11:54, Luke 14:1, Luke 19:47, Luke 19:48, Luke 20:20, Acts 9:24

Reciprocal: Genesis 37:18 - conspired Genesis 39:16 - General 1 Samuel 18:11 - And David 1 Samuel 23:14 - but God 1 Samuel 24:2 - and went 2 Kings 6:13 - spy where Nehemiah 6:2 - they thought Esther 5:14 - he caused Psalms 41:2 - thou wilt not Psalms 56:6 - mark Psalms 59:3 - they Psalms 71:10 - lay wait for Psalms 116:15 - Precious Psalms 119:95 - wicked Psalms 124:2 - when men Psalms 140:4 - Keep me Proverbs 24:15 - Lay Jeremiah 11:19 - and I Jeremiah 18:23 - thou Daniel 6:4 - sought Daniel 6:11 - assembled Habakkuk 1:13 - the wicked Mark 3:2 - General Luke 4:29 - that John 8:40 - now Acts 5:33 - took Acts 12:7 - the angel Acts 12:19 - sought for him Acts 23:15 - that he Acts 25:3 - laying Acts 26:17 - Delivering

Cross-References

Genesis 37:3
Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he was the child of his old age. And he made him an elaborately embroidered coat. When his brothers realized that their father loved him more than them, they grew to hate him—they wouldn't even speak to him.

Genesis 37:23
When Joseph reached his brothers, they ripped off the fancy coat he was wearing, grabbed him, and threw him into a cistern. The cistern was dry; there wasn't any water in it.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The wicked watcheth the righteous,.... All his motions and steps, his works and actions; he watches for his halting, and to take all opportunities and advantages against him; see Jeremiah 20:10;

and seeketh to slay him; murder his reputation, destroy his substance, and take away his life: some understand it of the devil, who watches the saints, observes their failings, accuses then, before the throne, and seeks to devour them, 1 Peter 5:8.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The wicked watcheth the righteous ... - Observes closely; looks out for him; has his eye on him, seeking an opportunity to slay him. See the notes at Psalms 10:8-9. The sense is, that the wicked are the enemies of the righteous, and seek to do them wrong. It is a characteristic of the wicked that they seek to destroy the righteous. This was manifested in the case of the prophets; in the case of the apostles; in the case of the Saviour; and it has been so manifest in the deaths of the martyrs, and all the persecutions which the Church has suffered, as to justify the general declaration that it is one of the characteristics of a wicked world that it desires to do this.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 37:32. The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him. — Similar to what is said Psalms 37:8: "The wicked plotteth against the righteous." But it is added, Psalms 37:33: "The Lord will not leave him in his hands;" he will confound his devices, and save his own servants.