As for the deeds of men, by the word of your lips, I have kept myself from the ways of the violent.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    As for the deeds of men, by the word of your lips, I have kept myself from the ways of the violent.

  • KJV King James Version

    Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer.

  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    As for the doings of men, by the word of Thy lips I have kept me from the ways of the violent.

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Cross-references (18)

Passages linked to Psalms 17:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • Psalms 119:9-11 How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. With my whole heart, I have sought you. Don’t let me wander from your commandments. I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
  • 1 Corinthians 3:3 for you are still fleshly. For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren’t you fleshly, and don’t you walk in the ways of men?
  • 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
  • Matthew 4:7 Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’ ”
  • Matthew 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’ ”
  • Ephesians 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
  • Revelation 12:11 They overcame him because of the Lamb’s blood, and because of the word of their testimony. They didn’t love their life, even to death.
  • Psalms 14:1-3 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt. They have done abominable deeds. There is no one who does good. Yahweh looked down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who understood, who sought after God. They have all gone aside. They have together become corrupt. There is no one who does good, no, not one.
  • Proverbs 2:10-15 For wisdom will enter into your heart. Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will watch over you. Understanding will keep you, to deliver you from the way of evil, from the men who speak perverse things, who forsake the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of evil, who are crooked in their ways, and wayward in their paths,
  • Matthew 4:4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of God’s mouth.’ ”
  • John 17:17 Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth.
  • James 1:18 Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
  • Genesis 6:11 The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
  • Job 15:16 how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, a man who drinks iniquity like water!
  • Job 31:33 if like Adam I have covered my transgressions, by hiding my iniquity in my heart,
  • 1 Peter 4:2-3 that you no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past time doing the desire of the Gentiles, and having walked in lewdness, lusts, drunken binges, orgies, carousings, and abominable idolatries.
  • Revelation 9:11 They have over them as king the angel of the abyss. His name in Hebrew is “Abaddon”, but in Greek, he has the name “Apollyon”.
  • Genesis 6:5 Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil.

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

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Explain this verse (17 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 4. As for the works of men, by the…

4. As for the works of men, by the word of thy lips. Interpreters explain this verse in different senses. Some thinking that the letter ב, beth, which commonly signifies in or by, is taken for against, render it thus: As for the works of men which they practice against thy word. But I rather incline to the opinion of others who consider that there is here commended a right judgment of the actions of men which is formed according to the rule of the word of God. There are some shrewd and ingenious persons who carefully mark the works of men, but they do not judge of them according to the word of God. What we have as yet said does not, however, fully give us the sense of the passage. We must still consider what the Psalmist means when he speaks of the paths of the destroyer. Or, the paths of the violent. Literally of him who, by violent means, makes a breach in, or breaks down a wall or fence, the word פריף, pharits, being derived from פרף, pharats, to break down, or break through. It is referred by Calvin to the violent and wicked conduct of his enemies towards him.

“De troubler le repos et la tranquillite des autres.” — Fr.

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“Afin de n’estre point corrompu par mauvals exemples.” — Fr.

“or have kept me from the paths, etc. or observed the paths, viz., so as to avoid them.” — Poole’s Annotations.

“Car mesme ceux qui sont de nature enclins a debonnairete.” — Fr.

“De real faire a nos prochains.” — Fr.

“Qu’il prendra en main la vengence contre ceux qui nous outragent.” — Fr.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Though the wicked provoked me to do evil for…
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Psa 17:4 Concerning the works of men, by the…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Concerning the works of men: concerning my care and…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Concerning the works of men,.... Of wicked men, as…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Concerning - Observing the works of the men of…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. The paths of the destroyer.] Some render,…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Psa 17:4. Concerning the works of men — That…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Concerning the works of men - In respect to…
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain works of men--sinful practices.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. There is an historic background to the allusions…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4. As for the works of men, by the…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (4) Concerning the works of men—i.e., as regards the…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Concerning the works of man; i.e. "with respect to…
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain Ver. 4. Concerning the works of men. While we…
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Concerning the works of men, by the word of…
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 it is at the word of your lips that…

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