Bible Strands
Psalms 37:20
But the wicked and enemies of the LORD will perish like the glory of the fields. They will vanish; like smoke they will fade away.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the community of faith, contrasting the secure provision of the righteous during famine with the inevitable downfall of their opponents.
The words — רְשָׁעִים (re.sha.'Im) = wicked people and יֹאבֵדוּ (yo.Ve.du) = they will perish.
The thread — The imagery of fading like smoke or coming to an end runs through Psalms 68:2 and Psalms 102:3, while the warning to avoid perishing appears in Luke 13:3.
Why it lands — It requires a reader to acknowledge that moral opposition to God yields only temporary advantage and that divine justice ultimately consumes it.
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
But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.
Cross-references
- Psalms 68:2 As smoke is blown away, You will drive them out; as wax melts before the fire, the wicked will perish in the presence of God.
- Psalms 102:3 For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.
- Luke 13:3 No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.
- Deuteronomy 33:14 with the bountiful harvest from the sun and the abundant yield of the seasons,
- Judges 5:31 So may all Your enemies perish, O LORD! But may those who love You shine like the sun at its brightest.” And the land had rest for forty years.
- Genesis 19:28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw the smoke rising from the land like smoke from a furnace.
- Leviticus 3:3 From the peace offering he is to bring a food offering to the LORD: the fat that covers the entrails, all the fat that is on them,
- Psalms 92:9 For surely Your enemies, O LORD, surely Your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered.
- 2 Peter 2:12 These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed.
- Leviticus 3:16 Then the priest is to burn the food on the altar as a food offering, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the LORD’s.