Psalms 75:8

For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the dregs.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The psalmist (Asaph) names God's judgment on the wicked as the ground for the praise that follows in verse 9. It sits between the declaration that God alone brings down and exalts (v. 7) and the vow to praise forever (v. 9).

The words — כּוֹס (Khos), "cup," is the vessel of divine judgment; חָמַ֨ר (cha.Mar), "foaming," marks the wine as overflowing, beyond containment.

The thread — Jeremiah 25:15 has Yahweh handing the cup of wrath to the nations to drink; Job 21:20 says the wicked will drink the Almighty's wrath for himself.

Why it lands — The image is total: the wicked drink "down to the dregs," leaving nothing. It asks the reader to hold that God's judgment is not a warning shot but a completed act, and that this is the ground on which praise stands.

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

כִּ֤יkifor כ֪וֹסKhosa cup בְּֽיַד־be./yad-[is] in/ [the] hand of יְהוָ֡הYah.wehYahweh וְיַ֤יִןve./Ya.yinand/ wine חָמַ֨ר׀cha.Marit is foaming מָ֥לֵאMa.le'full מֶסֶךְ֮me.seKhspiced drink וַיַּגֵּ֪רva/i.ya.Gerand/ he has poured out מִ֫זֶּ֥הmi./Zehsome of/ this אַךְ־'a.khoSh-surely שְׁ֭מָרֶיהָShe.ma.rei./hadregs/ its יִמְצ֣וּyim.Tzuthey will drain יִשְׁתּ֑וּyish.Tuthey will drink כֹּ֝֗לKolall רִשְׁעֵי־rish.'ei-[the] wicked [people] of אָֽרֶץ׃'A.retz[the] earth

King James Version

For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.

Cross-references

Job 21:20 Let his eyes see his own destruction; let him drink for himself the wrath of the Almighty.
Jeremiah 25:15 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it.
Psalms 11:6 On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.
Revelation 16:19 The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations collapsed. And God remembered Babylon the great and gave her the cup of the wine of the fury of His wrath.
Revelation 14:9 And a third angel followed them, calling out in a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on his forehead or on his hand,
Jeremiah 25:17 So I took the cup from the LORD’s hand and made all the nations drink from it, each one to whom the LORD had sent me,
Psalms 60:3 You have shown Your people hardship; we are staggered from the wine You made us drink.
Isaiah 5:22 Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and champions in mixing strong drink,
Proverbs 23:30 Those who linger over wine, who go to taste mixed drinks.
Isaiah 51:22 Thus says your Lord, the LORD, even your God, who defends His people: “See, I have removed from your hand the cup of staggering. From that goblet, the cup of My fury, you will never drink again.