Psa 37:12-17 | NETfull | STEP | Evil men plot against the godly and viciously attack them.

Psalms 37:12-17

12 Evil men plot against the godly ^{▼▼ Or “innocent.” The singular is used here in a representative sense; the typical evildoer and the typical godly individual are in view.}
and viciously attack them. ^{▼▼ Heb “and gnashes at him with his teeth” (see Ps 35:16). The language may picture the evil men as wild animals. The active participles in v. 12 are used for purposes of dramatic description.}
13 The Lord laughs in disgust ^{▼▼ Heb “laughs.” As the next line indicates, this refers to derisive laughter (see 2:4). The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes the action from the perspective of an eye-witness who is watching the divine response as it unfolds before his eyes.} at them,
for he knows that their day is coming. ^{▼▼ Heb “for he sees that his day is coming.” As the following context makes clear (vv. 15, 17, 19–20), “his day” refers to the time when God will destroy evildoers.}
14 Evil men draw their swords
and prepare their bows,
to bring down ^{▼▼ Heb “to cause to fall.”} the oppressed and needy,
and to slaughter those who are godly. ^{▼▼ Heb “the upright in way,” i.e., those who lead godly lives.}
15 Their swords will pierce ^{▼▼ Heb “enter into.”} their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 The little bit that a godly man owns is better than
the wealth of many evil men, ^{▼▼ Heb “Better [is] a little to the godly one than the wealth of many evil ones.” The following verses explain why this is true. Though a godly individual may seem to have only meager possessions, he always has what he needs and will eventually possess the land. The wicked may prosper for a brief time, but will eventually be destroyed by divine judgment and lose everything.}
17 for evil men will lose their power, ^{▼▼ Heb “for the arms of the evil ones will be broken.”}
but the Lord sustains ^{▼▼ The active participle here indicates this is characteristically true.} the godly.