Bible Strands
Psalms 28:3
Do not drag me away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors while malice is in their hearts.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses Yahweh, pleading for deliverance immediately after lifting hands toward the holy sanctuary for mercy.
The words — The opening plea uses אַל־ ('al-) "may not" with תִּמְשְׁכֵ֣נִי (tim.shə.khe./ni) "you drag me away" to form a direct negative command against being pulled into the company of the wicked.
The thread — The description of hypocritical speech echoes Psalms 55:21, Psalms 12:2, and Jeremiah 9:8, where outward words of peace mask inner hostility or deception.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that proximity to the wicked requires divine intervention, while the following verse commands God to repay their deceptive actions according to their works.
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
Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts.
Cross-references
- Psalms 55:21 His speech is smooth as butter, but war is in his heart. His words are softer than oil, yet they are swords unsheathed.
- Psalms 12:2 They lie to one another; they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.
- Jeremiah 9:8 Their tongues are deadly arrows; they speak deception. With his mouth a man speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him.
- Psalms 26:9 Do not take my soul away with sinners, or my life with men of bloodshed,
- Micah 3:5 This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their mouths:
- Psalms 62:4 They fully intend to cast him down from his lofty perch; they delight in lies; with their mouths they bless, but inwardly they curse. Selah
- Proverbs 26:23 Like glaze covering an earthen vessel are burning lips and a wicked heart.
- Matthew 25:41 Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
- Psalms 7:14 Behold, the wicked man travails with evil; he conceives trouble and births falsehood.
- 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.