Psalms 50:16

Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

But to the wicked God says: 'What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips?

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְלָ֤רָשָׁ֨ע ׀ אָ֘מַ֤ר אֱלֹהִ֗ים מַה־לְּ֭ךָ לְסַפֵּ֣ר חֻקָּ֑י וַתִּשָּׂ֖א בְרִיתִ֣י עֲלֵי־פִֽיךָ׃

Transliteration

And-to-the-rasha amar Elohim what-to-you to-sapper chuqqai and-tissa beriti upon-picha

Grammar Details

• *rasha*: adjective, masculine, singular - wicked
• *amar*: verb, Qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular - he said
• *Elohim*: noun, masculine, plural - God/gods
• *sapper*: verb, Piel infinitive construct - to declare/tell
• *chuqqai*: noun, masculine, plural with 1st person singular suffix - my statutes
• *tissa*: verb, Qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular - you take up
• *beriti*: noun, feminine, singular with 1st person singular suffix - my covenant
• *picha*: noun, masculine, singular with 2nd person masculine singular suffix - your mouth

Word Meanings

• *sapper*: declare/recount/tell
• *tissa*: take up/lift up/bear
• *beriti alei-picha*: my covenant on your mouth/mention my covenant

Other Translations

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?

• KJV1611 – Modern English

  But to the wicked God says, What right do you have to declare My statutes, or to take My covenant in your mouth?

• King James Version 1611 (Original)

  But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, And that thou hast taken my covenant in thy mouth,

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  But unto the wicked God saith{H8804)}, What hast thou to do to declare{H8763)} my statutes, or that thou shouldest take{H8799)} my covenant in thy mouth?

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  But vnto the vngodly sayeth God: Why doest thou preach my lawes, and takest my couenaunt in thy mouth?

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  But vnto the wicked said God, What hast thou to doe to declare mine ordinances, that thou shouldest take my couenant in thy mouth,

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  But the Lorde sayd vnto the vngodly: why doest thou preache my lawes, and takest my couenaunt in thy mouth?

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  ¶ But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or [that] thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  But to the wicked God says, "What right do you have to declare my statutes, That you have taken my covenant on your lips,

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  And to the wicked hath God said: What to thee -- to recount My statutes? That thou liftest up My covenant on thy mouth?

• American Standard Version (1901)

  But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, And that thou hast taken my covenant in thy mouth,

• American Standard Version (1901)

  But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, And that thou hast taken my covenant in thy mouth,

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  But to the sinner, God says, What are you doing, talking of my laws, or taking the words of my agreement in your mouth?

• World English Bible (2000)

  But to the wicked God says, "What right do you have to declare my statutes, that you have taken my covenant on your lips,

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  God says this to the evildoer:“How can you declare my commands, and talk about my covenant?

Referenced Verses

• Ps 78:36-38 : 36 But they deceived Him with their mouths and lied to Him with their tongues. 37 Their hearts were not faithful to Him, nor were they loyal to His covenant. 38 Yet He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. Time and again, He restrained His anger and did not stir up His full wrath.
• Prov 26:7 : 7 Like the legs of a lame person that hang limp, so is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
• Isa 1:11-15 : 11 "What is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?" says the LORD. "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed animals; I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. 12 When you come to appear before Me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of My courts? 13 Do not bring any more meaningless offerings; your incense is detestable to Me. New Moons, Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—I cannot endure iniquity combined with solemn assembly. 14 Your New Moons and appointed festivals My soul hates. They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you. Even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood.
• Isa 29:13 : 13 The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their reverence for me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.'
• Isa 48:1-2 : 1 Hear this, house of Jacob, those who are called by the name of Israel and who have come out of Judah's lineage, who swear by the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel, but not in truth or righteousness. 2 For they are called from the holy city and rely on the God of Israel; the LORD of Hosts is His name.
• Isa 48:22 : 22 'There is no peace for the wicked,' says the LORD.
• Isa 55:6-7 : 6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the LORD, so that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
• Isa 58:1-7 : 1 Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a trumpet; announce to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the justice of their God. They ask me for righteous judgments and delight in drawing near to God. 3 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?' Yet on the day of your fasting, you pursue your own desires and oppress all your workers. 4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? 6 Is this not the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loosen the chains of injustice, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and to bring the homeless poor into your house? When you see the naked, clothe them, and do not hide yourself from your own flesh and blood.
• Jer 7:4-7 : 4 Do not trust deceitful words, saying: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’ 5 For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice between a person and their neighbor, 6 if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or follow other gods, bringing harm upon yourselves, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors forever and ever.
• Ezek 18:27 : 27 But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed and does what is just and right, they will save their life.
• Ezek 20:37-38 : 37 I will cause you to pass under the rod and will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 38 I will purge you of those who rebel and transgress against me. Even though I bring them out from the land where they are living, they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
• Matt 7:3-5 : 3 Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not notice the beam in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye,' while there is a beam in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
• Matt 7:22-23 : 22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and perform many miracles in Your name?' 23 Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'
• John 4:24 : 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.
• Acts 19:13-16 : 13 Some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those possessed by evil spirits, saying, "I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches." 14 There were seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?" 16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded.
• Rom 2:17-24 : 17 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew, and rely on the law and boast in God, 18 and know His will and approve things that are excellent, being instructed from the law, 19 and are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the form of knowledge and truth— 21 You then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 For as it is written, 'The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.'
• 1 Cor 9:27 : 27 Rather, I discipline my body and bring it under control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
• Heb 8:9 : 9 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and so I turned away from them, declares the Lord.
• 2 Pet 2:15 : 15 They have abandoned the straight way and gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness.
• Ps 25:14 : 14 The secret counsel of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes his covenant known to them.