New King James Version
Psalms 7:12
12If he does not turn back, He will sharpen His sword; He bends His bow and makes it ready.
Psalms 7:12 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready.
- New International Version (NIV)If he does not relent, he will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow.
- English Standard Version (ESV)If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow;
- New Living Translation (NLT)If a person does not repent, God will sharpen his sword; he will bend and string his bow.
Context of Psalms 7:12
10My defense is of God, Who saves the upright in heart. 11God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day. If he does not turn back, He will sharpen His sword; He bends His bow and makes it ready. 13He also prepares for Himself instruments of death; He makes His arrows into fiery shafts. 14Behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity; Yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood.
Read all of Psalms 7Psalms 7:12 word by word
אִם־לֹ֣א יָ֭שׁוּב חַרְבּ֣וֹ יִלְט֑וֹשׁ קַשְׁתּ֥וֹ דָ֝רַ֗ךְ וַֽיְכוֹנְנֶֽהָ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 7:12
- Psalms 85:4Restore us, O God of our salvation, And cause Your anger toward us to cease.
- Isaiah 55:6Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.
- Jeremiah 31:18“I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself: ‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised, Like an untrained bull; Restore me, and I will return, For You are the Lord my God.
- Ezekiel 18:30“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord God. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin.
- Ezekiel 33:11Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
- Matthew 3:10And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
- Acts 3:19Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
- Deuteronomy 32:41If I whet My glittering sword, And My hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to My enemies, And repay those who hate Me.
- Isaiah 27:1In that day the Lord with His severe sword, great and strong, Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan that twisted serpent; And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.
- Isaiah 34:5“For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; Indeed it shall come down on Edom, And on the people of My curse, for judgment.
- Ezekiel 21:9“Son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord!’ Say: ‘A sword, a sword is sharpened And also polished!
Commentaries on Psalms 7:12
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12If he turn not - This clause the Syriac adds to the preceding verse. Most of the versions read, "If ye return not." Some contend, and not without a great show of probability, that the two verses should be read in connection, thus: "God is a just Judge; a God who is provoked every day. If (the sinner) turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready." This, no doubt, gives the sense of both.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 12If he turn not - If the wicked person does not repent. in the previous verse the psalmist had said that God is angry with the wicked every day; he here states what must be the consequence to the wicked if they persevere in the course which they are pursuing; that is, if they do not repent. God, he says, cannot be indifferent to the course which they pursue, but he is preparing for them the instruments of punishment, and he will certainly bring destruction…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 10-17Verses 10-17 David is confident that he shall find God his powerful Saviour. The destruction of sinners may be prevented by their conversion; for it is threatened, If he turn not from his evil way, let him expect it will be his ruin. But amidst the threatenings of wrath, we have a gracious offer of mercy. God gives sinners warning of their danger, and space to repent, and prevent it. He is slow to punish, and long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12-13sword … bow … deadly weapons … arrows with fire: As the Divine Warrior, God attacks to defend himself and his people.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 12-1312-13. They are here distinctly pointed out, though by changing the person, a very common mode of speech, one is selected as a representative of wicked men generally. The military figures are of obvious meaning.Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 7:12
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 7
- 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries