Bible Strands
Psalms 26:10
in whose hands are wicked schemes, whose right hands are full of bribes.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God directly, describing the corrupt men he refuses to join and contrasting them with his own pledge of integrity. This occurs at the turning point of a prayer for deliverance from the company of violent and dishonest individuals.
The words — The Hebrew זִמָּה (zimmah) translates literally to "wickedness" or "wicked schemes," while שֹׁחַד (shokhad) means "a bribe." These terms specify the corrupt actions filling the hands of the men the psalmist rejects.
The thread — The biblical prohibition against bribes appears in Exodus 23:8 and Deuteronomy 16:19, where they are identified as agents that blind perception and twist justice. First Samuel 8:3 lists the acceptance of bribes as a defining failure of corrupt leadership.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize how illicit gain distorts judgment and to actively separate from those who practice it. It demands a concrete commitment to integrity rather than passive avoidance of sin.
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
In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.
Cross-references
- Exodus 23:8 Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.
- Deuteronomy 16:19 Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.
- 1 Samuel 8:3 But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside toward dishonest gain, accepting bribes and perverting justice.
- Psalms 52:2 Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit.
- Micah 7:3 Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.
- Psalms 10:14 But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.
- Psalms 11:2 For behold, the wicked bend their bows. They set their arrow on the string to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.
- Psalms 36:4 Even on his bed he plots wickedness; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he fails to reject evil.
- Psalms 55:9 O Lord, confuse and confound their speech, for I see violence and strife in the city.
- Proverbs 1:16 For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood.