God’s Word Translation
Psalms 139:20
20They say wicked things about you. Your enemies misuse your name.
Psalms 139:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
- New International Version (NIV)They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.
- English Standard Version (ESV)They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For they speak against You wickedly; Your enemies take Your name in vain.
Context of Psalms 139:20
18If I try to count them, there would be more of them than there are grains of sand. When I wake up, I am still with you. 19I wish that you would kill wicked people, O God, and that bloodthirsty people would leave me alone. They say wicked things about you. Your enemies misuse your name. 21Shouldn’t I hate those who hate you, O Lord? Shouldn’t I be disgusted with those who attack you? 22I hate them with all my heart. They have become my enemies.
Read all of Psalms 139Psalms 139:20 word by word
אֲשֶׁ֣ר יֹ֭אמְרֻךָ לִמְזִמָּ֑ה נָשֻׂ֖א לַשָּׁ֣וְא עָרֶֽיךָ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 139:20
- Psalms 73:8They ridicule. They speak maliciously. They speak arrogantly about oppression.
- Psalms 74:18Remember how the enemy insulted you, O Lord. Remember how an entire nation of godless fools despised your name.
- Job 21:14But they say to God, ‘Leave us alone. We don’t want to know your ways.
- Isaiah 37:23Whom are you defying and slandering? Against whom are you shouting? Who are you looking at so arrogantly? It is the Holy One of Israel!
- Jude 1:15He has come to judge all these people. He has come to convict all these ungodly sinners for all the ungodly things they have done and all the harsh things they have said about him.”
- Revelation 13:6It opened its mouth to insult God, to insult his name and his tent—those who are living in heaven.
- Psalms 2:1Why do the nations gather together? Why do their people devise useless plots?
- Exodus 20:7“Never use the name of the Lord your God carelessly. The Lord will make sure that anyone who carelessly uses his name will be punished.
Commentaries on Psalms 139:20
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20For they speak against thee wickedly - This is one form or manifestation of their character as wicked people, that they speak maliciously against God. The psalmist, therefore, desired to have nothing to do with them. It is always a sufficient reason for avoiding the society, the friendship, and the fellowship of others, when they profane, blaspheme, or calumniate the name of God. From such men we should at once withdraw. Piety shrinks from the society of…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-24Verses 17-24 God's counsels concerning us and our welfare are deep, such as cannot be known. We cannot think how many mercies we have received from him. It would help to keep us in the fear of the Lord all the day long, if, when we wake in the morning, our first thoughts were of him: and how shall we admire and bless our God for his precious salvation, when we awake in the world of glory! Surely we ought not to use our members and senses, which are so…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 19-24The psalmist’s sense of awe leads him to consider the wicked and to reflect on himself. The Lord, as the examiner of all people, judges the wicked for their destructive acts and speech. So, the psalmist prays that he will not be among them.Read the comment
- Rashi on Tanakh · v. 20Who mention You with wicked thought They mention Your name regarding all the thoughts of their evil and call their deities with Your name.Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 139:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 139
- 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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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