EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Psalms 51:4
4It is you that I have done bad things against, only you! I have done things that are evil, as you know. And so you are fair when you speak against me. You are right when you say that I am guilty.
Psalms 51:4 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
- New International Version (NIV)Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.
Context of Psalms 51:4
2I have done bad things, so wash me to make me clean again. 3I know that I have not obeyed you. I cannot forget that I am guilty. It is you that I have done bad things against, only you! I have done things that are evil, as you know. And so you are fair when you speak against me. You are right when you say that I am guilty. 5Yes, even from the day I was born I have done bad things. I have always been guilty of sin. 6But you want me to be completely good and honest. You want to teach me to be wise in the way that I live.
Read all of Psalms 51Psalms 51:4 word by word
לְךָ֤ לְבַדְּךָ֨׀ חָטָאתִי֮ וְהָרַ֥ע בְּעֵינֶ֗יךָ עָ֫שִׂ֥יתִי לְ֭מַעַן תִּצְדַּ֥ק בְּדָבְרֶ֗ךָ תִּזְכֶּ֥ה בְשָׁפְטֶֽךָ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Against thee, thee only, have I sinnedחָטָאchâţâ' · to sinH2398
- and doneעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
- evilרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: evilH7451
- in thy sightעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eye: seeingH5869
- that thou mightest be justifiedצָדֵקtsâdaq · to justifyH6663
- when thou speakestדָבַרdâbar · to speak: promiseH1696
- be clearזָכָהzâkâh · to cleanH2135
- when thou judgestשָׁפַטshâphaţ · to judgeH8199
Cross-references for Psalms 51:4
- Genesis 9:6God made people so that they were like himself. So if anyone kills a human, another human must kill him.
- Genesis 20:6God spoke to Abimelech again in a dream. He said, ‘That is true. You did not think that you were doing something wrong. I know that. So I did not let you touch her. I stopped you from doing anything wrong against me.
- Genesis 39:9No one has more authority in this house than I do. My master keeps nothing from me, except you. That is because you are his wife. I could not do such a bad thing. I could not do a sin that is against God.’
- Leviticus 5:19The sheep is an offering because the person did not obey the Lord.’
- Leviticus 6:2‘A person may take something that is not his. Or he may find it and keep it. He may tell his friend that he has not taken it. He might not give him the correct price for something. But then he is not obeying the Lord.
- 2 Samuel 12:9But now you have not respected the Lord's command. You have done an evil thing. You caused Uriah the Hittite to die in a battle. You used the Ammonite soldiers to kill Uriah.
- James 2:9But if you are kind to some people and you are not kind to others, then you are doing a bad thing. God's Law shows that you are wrong.
- Genesis 38:7But the Lord saw that Er, Judah's firstborn son, was very bad. So the Lord caused him to die.
- 2 Kings 17:17They burned their sons and their daughters in fire as offerings to Baal. They used magic to find out what would happen in the future. They chose to do things that the Lord said were evil. That made him very angry.
- 2 Kings 21:6He burnt his own son with fire as a sacrifice. He used magic and false gods to find out what would happen in the future. He took advice from magicians and people who talked to the spirits of dead people. He did many things that the Lord said were very evil. This made the Lord very angry.
- Luke 15:21“Father,” the son said, “I have done bad things against God and against you. So I am not good enough for you to call me your son.”
- Psalms 50:4He calls to the skies above, and to the earth below. They must watch while he judges his people.
- Luke 7:29Many people heard what Jesus said. Even the men who took taxes from people agreed with his message. They had gone to John to baptize them. They all said, ‘What God says about us is right.’
- Romans 3:4No, certainly it does not mean that! God will always do what he says. He will always say what is true, even if everyone in the world should tell lies. This is what is written in the Bible: ‘Your message is true. It shows that you are right. People may say that you are wrong. But it will always be clear that you are right.’
- Acts 17:31God has already chosen one special day. On that day he will judge everyone in the world in a completely right way. He has chosen a man who will do this for him. He has shown clearly to everyone who that man is. He showed it like this: People killed that man. But God caused him to live again.’
- Romans 2:5But you refuse to change the way that you live. You are not sorry about the wrong things that you have done. As a result, you cause God to become even angrier with you. So he will punish you even more on the day when he will judge everyone. On that day, he will show how angry he is against people who do bad things. Everyone will know that he judges people in a right way.
Commentaries on Psalms 51:4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 4Against thee, thee only, have I sinned - This verse is supposed to show the impropriety of affixing the above title to this Psalm. It could not have been composed on account of the matter with Bath-sheba and the murder of Uriah; for, surely, these sins could not be said to have been committed against God Only, if we take the words of this verse in their common acceptation. That was a public sin, grievous, and against society at large, as well as against…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 4Against thee, thee only, have I sinned - That is, the sin, considered as an offence against God, now appeared to him so enormous and so aggravated, that, for the moment, he lost sight of it considered in any other of its bearings. It “was” a sin, as all other sins are, primarily and mainly against God; it derived its chief enormity from that fact. We are not to suppose that David did not believe and notice that he had done wrong to people, or that he had…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4Against You, You only: This is an exaggeration. The psalmist knows he also sinned against people (2 Samuel 11:2–4, 15–17), but his sin against God is more important. He expects God to rebuke him and will accept whatever verdict God gives (see Romans 3:4).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-191-4. A plea for mercy is a confession of guilt. blot out--as from a register. transgressions--literally, "rebellions" (Psa 19:13; 32:1).Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 51:4
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 51
- 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
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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