Bible Strands
Psalms 12:8
The wicked wander freely, and vileness is exalted among men.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the Lord, contrasting divine protection with the current state of the generation where evildoers roam unrestricted and corruption is publicly honored.
The words — The Hebrew רְשָׁעִים (rĕšāʿîm, "wicked") and יִתְהַלְּכוּ (yithhallĕkû, "they walk about") describe the unrestricted movement of evildoers, while זֻלּוּת (zullûth, "vileness") and רָם (râm, "exalted") show how moral decay is publicly honored among בְּנֵי אָדָם (bĕnê ʾādām, "sons of men").
The thread — This pattern of widespread corruption appears in Psalms 55:10, where enemies encircle the walls while malice remains inside, and in Proverbs 29:12, where a ruler's acceptance of lies produces wicked officials.
Why it lands — The text states that moral decay flourishes when divine restraint is absent, requiring the reader to rely on God's guarding presence rather than trust in societal standards.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.
Cross-references
- Psalms 55:10 Day and night they encircle the walls, while malice and trouble lie within.
- Proverbs 29:12 If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials will be wicked.
- Mark 14:63 At this, the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “Why do we need any more witnesses?
- Isaiah 32:4 The mind of the rash will know and understand, and the stammering tongue will speak clearly and fluently.
- Hosea 5:11 Ephraim is oppressed, crushed in judgment, for he is determined to follow worthless idols.
- Judges 9:18 but you have risen up against my father’s house this day and killed his seventy sons on a single stone, and you have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the leaders of Shechem because he is your brother—
- Esther 3:6 And when he learned the identity of Mordecai’s people, he scorned the notion of laying hands on Mordecai alone. Instead, he sought to destroy all of Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the kingdom of Xerxes.
- Daniel 11:21 In his place a despicable person will arise; royal honors will not be given to him, but he will come in a time of peace and seize the kingdom by intrigue.
- Micah 6:16 You have kept the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab’s house; you have followed their counsel. Therefore I will make you a desolation, and your inhabitants an object of contempt; you will bear the scorn of the nations.”
- Job 30:8 A senseless and nameless brood, they were driven off the land.