Psalms 50:16

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?

📖 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

• 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?

• 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?

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  But unto the wicked{H7563} God{H430} saith,{H559} What hast thou to do to declare{H5608} my statutes,{H2706} And that thou hast taken{H5375} my covenant{H1285} in thy mouth,{H6310}

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  But unto the wicked{H7563} God{H430} saith{H559}{H8804)}, What hast thou to do to declare{H5608}{H8763)} my statutes{H2706}, or that thou shouldest take{H5375}{H8799)} my covenant{H1285} in thy mouth{H6310}?

• 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 Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues. 37 For their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant. 38 But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them: yes, many a time he turned away his anger, and did not stir up all his wrath.
• Prov 26:7 : 7 The legs of the lame are uneven: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
• Isa 1:11-15 : 11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? says the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed animals; and I delight not in the blood of oxen, or of lambs, or of goats. 12 When you come to appear before me, who has required this at your hand, to trample my courts? 13 Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot endure; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates: they are a trouble to me; I am weary to bear them. 15 And when you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you: indeed, when you make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
• Isa 29:13 : 13 Therefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near to me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
• Isa 48:1-2 : 1 Listen to this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and have come out of the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD, and mention the God of Israel, but not in truth or in righteousness. 2 For they call themselves citizens of 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, says the LORD, for the wicked.
• 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, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
• Isa 58:1-7 : 1 Cry aloud, do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. 2 Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice and take delight in approaching God. 3 Why have we fasted, they say, and you do not see? Why have we afflicted our soul, and you take no notice? Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure and exact all your labors. 4 Behold, you fast for strife and debate and to strike with the fist of wickedness. You shall not fast as you do this day, to make your voice heard on high. 5 Is this the fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? 6 Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you do not hide yourself from your own flesh?
• Jer 7:4-7 : 4 Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these. 5 For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your deeds; if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; 6 If you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your harm; 7 Then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever.
• Ezek 18:27 : 27 Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does what is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.
• Ezek 20:37-38 : 37 And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: 38 And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who transgress against me: I will bring them out of the country where they stay, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and you shall know that I am the LORD.
• Matt 7:3-5 : 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and behold, a plank is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first remove the plank 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 in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, and cast out devils in your name, and done many wonderful works in your name?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice iniquity.'
• John 4:24 : 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
• Acts 19:13-16 : 13 Then certain of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call on those who had evil spirits in the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We command you by Jesus whom Paul preaches. 14 There were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you? 16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
• Rom 2:17-24 : 17 Behold, you are called a Jew, and rest in the law, and make your boast of God, 18 And know His will, and approve the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; 19 And are confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, who have the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. 21 You therefore who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say a man should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you commit sacrilege? 23 You who make your boast of the law, through breaking the law do you dishonor God? 24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, as it is written.
• 1 Cor 9:27 : 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest when I have preached to others, I myself should be disqualified.
• Heb 8:9 : 9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in my covenant, and I did not regard them, says the Lord.
• 2 Pet 2:15 : 15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
• Ps 25:14 : 14 The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.