Bible Strands
Psalms 97:10
Hate evil, O you who love the LORD! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — A psalmist (or corporate voice) addresses those who love Yahweh, bracketed by declarations of His supremacy over all gods (v. 9) and the light that will fall on the righteous (v. 11). The imperative sits inside a larger portrait of divine judgment and vindication.
The words — שִׂנְא֫וּ (sin'u) is the imperative "hate," an emotional command, not a mere intellectual disapproval. חֲסִידָ֑י (chasidai) is "my faithful ones," a possessive that marks the saints as Yahweh's own before promising their preservation.
The thread — Proverbs 8:13 equates fearing the LORD with hating evil; Romans 12:9 pairs detesting evil with clinging to good; Psalms 34:14 commands turning away from evil and doing good.
Why it lands — The verse makes love for God operational: it demands a felt, active rejection of evil, not passive avoidance. The promise of deliverance is attached to that hatred as its condition, not as a separate blessing.
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
Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 8:13 To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.
- Romans 12:9 Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.
- Psalms 34:14 Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
- Jeremiah 15:21 I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.”
- Psalms 145:20 The LORD preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.
- Daniel 3:28 Nebuchadnezzar declared, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him. They violated the king’s command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
- Amos 5:15 Hate evil and love good; establish justice in the gate. Perhaps the LORD, the God of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”
- Psalms 31:23 Love the LORD, all His saints. The LORD preserves the faithful, but fully repays the arrogant.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:2 And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men; for not everyone holds to the faith.
- Proverbs 2:8 to guard the paths of justice and protect the way of His saints.