Psalms 14:4

Psalms 14:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the Lord.
• New International Version (NIV)Do all these evildoers know nothing? They devour my people as though eating bread; they never call on the Lord.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the Lord?
• New King James Version (NKJV)Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And do not call on the Lord?

Context of Psalms 14:4

2The Lord is looking down from heaven. He looks at the people of the world, to see if there are any wise people among them. He looks to see if anyone wants to know God. 3But everyone has turned away from God. They have all become evil. Not even one person does things that are right! Will those evil people never learn? They destroy my people, as if they are eating a meal. They never pray to the Lord. 5Look at them! Now they are very afraid! They see that God is with the people who obey him. 6You wicked people tried to bring shame to poor people. But the Lord keeps poor people safe.

Psalms 14:4 word by word

הֲלֹ֥א יָדְעוּ֮ כָּל־פֹּ֪עֲלֵ֫י אָ֥וֶן אֹכְלֵ֣י עַ֭מִּי אָ֣כְלוּ לֶ֑חֶם יְ֝הוָ֗ה לֹ֣א קָרָֽאוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Have all the workersפָּעַלpâ‛al · to workH6466
• of iniquityאָ֫וֶן'âven · evil: wickednessH205
• no knowledgeיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• who eat upאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• my peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• breadלֶ֫חֶםlechem · food: breadH3899
• and callקָרָאqârâ' · to call: call toH7121
• not upon the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068

Cross-references for Psalms 14:4

• Psalms 94:8Think again, all you fools among the people! Stupid people, become wise!
• Isaiah 5:13Because of that, my people will go into exile in countries far away. They do not know God. Their leaders will die because they have nothing to eat. All the other people will have nothing to drink.
• Isaiah 27:11When the branches become dry, they break off the tree. Women will take the sticks and they will make fires with them. That is what these people are like. They do not understand anything. So their Maker will not help them or be kind to them.
• Isaiah 29:14So now I will surprise these people again. I will surprise them with great miracles! Wise people will not seem wise any more. Clever people will no longer seem to be clever.’
• Isaiah 44:19None of them think carefully about what they are doing. They do not say to themselves, ‘I burned half of the wood in the fire. I even baked bread and I cooked meat on it. It gave me food to eat. Then I used the rest of the wood to make a useless idol! I took a piece of wood and I worshipped it! Why did I do that?’
• Isaiah 45:20So come, you people of the nations, you who have escaped from war. Bring yourselves in front of me together! People who carry wooden idols are fools! They pray to gods who cannot rescue them.
• Romans 1:21Those people really knew about God. But they did not respect him as a great God, and they did not thank him. They did not even think clearly any more. Their minds became confused and they did not understand God's message.
• 2 Corinthians 4:3Some people may not understand the good news that we speak. They are only the people who are losing their lives with God.
• Ephesians 4:17So I say this to you. I am sure that I have the Lord's authority to say it. You must not live any longer like the Gentile people who do not know God. They do whatever their silly ideas teach them to do.
• Jeremiah 10:25Instead, be angry with the nations that do not respect you. Be angry with the people who do not worship you. Those are the people who have destroyed Jacob's descendants. They have killed our people. They have destroyed our land and our homes.’
• Amos 8:4So listen to me, you who are cruel to helpless people. You try to destroy people who are poor and weak.
• Micah 3:2But you hate what is good. And you love what is bad. You would like to tear the skin off my people, and pull the meat from their bones.
• Galatians 5:15So you must not live like wild animals. Wild animals fight and they eat each other. If you live like that, be very careful! You may destroy one another completely.
• Psalms 79:6Please punish those nations that do not respect you. Be angry with the kingdoms that do not pray to you.
• Job 21:15We do not need to serve the Almighty God. If we pray to him, there is nothing he can do to help us.”
• Job 27:10People like that are not happy that Almighty God is their friend. They do not like to pray to him all the time.

Commentaries on Psalms 14:4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? - Is there not one of them who takes this dreadful subject into consideration? To their deeply fallen state they add cruelty; they oppress and destroy the poor, without either interest or reason. Who eat up my people as they eat bread - Ye make them an easy and unresisting prey. They have no power to oppose you, and therefore you destroy them. That this is the meaning of the expression, is plain from the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? - literally, “Do they not know, all the workers of iniquity, eating my people, they eat bread; Jehovah they call not.” The several statements in this verse in confirmation of the fact of their depravity are: (a) that they have no knowledge of God; (b) that they find pleasure in the errors and imperfections of the people of God - sustaining themselves in their own wickedness by the fact that the professed…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4The evil live at the expense of others (Psalms 27:2; 44:11; 53:4; see Isaiah 5:8) and have no reverence or knowledge of God (Psalm 79:6).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 4-64-6. Their conduct evinces indifference rather than ignorance of God; for when He appears in judgment, they are stricken with great fear. who eat up my people--to express their beastly fury (Pr 30:14; Ha 3:14). To "call on the Lord" is to worship Him.Read the comment

Topics related to Psalms 14:4

• Blindness
• Prayerlessness

In the dictionaries

• Aside
• Corrupt
• Eat
• Fool
• None
• Shame
• Belly
• Justification
• Papyrus
• Psalms, Book of

Commentaries on Psalms 14

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• The Treasury of David
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings