Bible Strands
Psalms 37:9
For the evildoers will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the community in a wisdom context, immediately following commands to abandon anger and refrain from fretting. The statement functions as the theological ground for the preceding ethical instructions.
The words — מְ֭רֵעִים (Me.re.'im) = evil-doers and יִֽירְשׁוּ (yi.re.shu) = they will possess. These terms frame the verse’s structural contrast between divine judgment and promised inheritance.
The thread — The inheritance motif recurs in Psalms 25:13 and Psalms 37:29, while Isaiah 60:21 extends the land promise to a righteous people. These references anchor the territorial inheritance in covenantal lineage and future fulfillment.
Why it lands — The text states that evildoers face destruction while those who hope in Yahweh receive the land. Readers must align their conduct with this reality by abandoning wrath and directing active trust toward God.
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
For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 60:21 Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified.
- Psalms 25:13 His soul will dwell in prosperity, and his descendants will inherit the land.
- Psalms 37:29 The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever.
- Proverbs 2:21 For the upright will inhabit the land, and the blameless will remain in it;
- Isaiah 57:13 When you cry out, let your companies of idols deliver you! Yet the wind will carry off all of them, a breath will take them away. But he who seeks refuge in Me will inherit the land and possess My holy mountain.”
- Psalms 37:11 But the meek will inherit the land and delight in abundant prosperity.
- Psalms 55:23 But You, O God, will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.
- Isaiah 58:14 then you will delight yourself in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the land and feed you with the heritage of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
- Revelation 5:10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”
- Job 20:23 When he has filled his stomach, God will vent His fury upon him, raining it down on him as he eats.