'Wicked' in the Bible

BOOK I(Psalms 1–41)How happy is the manwho does not follow the advice of the wickedor take the path of sinnersor join a group of mockers!

The wicked are not like this;instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked will not survive the judgment,and sinners will not be in the community of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,but the way of the wicked leads to ruin.

Rise up, Lord!Save me, my God!You strike all my enemies on the cheek;You break the teeth of the wicked.

Let the evil of the wicked come to an end,but establish the righteous.The One who examines the thoughts and emotionsis a righteous God.

You have rebuked the nations:You have destroyed the wicked;You have erased their name forever and ever.

The Lord has revealed Himself;He has executed justice,striking down the wickedby the work of their hands.Higgaion. Selah

The wicked will return to Sheol—all the nations that forget God.

In arrogance the wicked relentlessly pursue the afflicted;let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.

For the wicked one boasts about his own cravings;the one who is greedy curses and despises the Lord.

In all his scheming,the wicked arrogantly thinks:“There is no accountability,since God does not exist.”

Why has the wicked person despised God?He says to himself, “You will not demand an account.”

Break the arm of the wicked and evil person;call his wickedness into accountuntil nothing remains of it.

For look, the wicked string the bow;they put the arrow on the bowstringto shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.

The Lord examines the righteous and the wicked.He hates the lover of violence.

He will rain burning coals and sulfur on the wicked;a scorching wind will be their portion.

The wicked wander everywhere,and what is worthless is exalted by the human race.

from the wicked who treat me violently,my deadly enemies who surround me.

Rise up, Lord!Confront him; bring him down.With Your sword, save me from the wicked.

Though they intend to harm youand devise a wicked plan, they will not prevail.

I hate a crowd of evildoers,and I do not sit with the wicked.

Do not drag me away with the wicked,with the evildoers,who speak in friendly ways with their neighborswhile malice is in their hearts.

Lord, do not let me be disgraced when I call on You.Let the wicked be disgraced;let them be silent in Sheol.

Many pains come to the wicked,but the one who trusts in the Lordwill have faithful love surrounding him.

For the choir director. A psalm of David, the Lord’s servant.An oracle within my heartconcerning the transgression of the wicked person:There is no dread of God before his eyes,

Do not let the foot of the arrogant man come near meor the hand of the wicked one drive me away.

A little while, and the wicked person will be no more;though you look for him, he will not be there.

The wicked person schemes against the righteousand gnashes his teeth at him.

The wicked have drawn the sword and strung the bowto bring down the afflicted and needyand to slaughter those whose way is upright.

The little that the righteous man has is betterthan the abundance of many wicked people.

For the arms of the wicked will be broken,but the Lord supports the righteous.

But the wicked will perish;the Lord’s enemies, like the glory of the pastures,will fade away—they will fade away like smoke.

The wicked man borrows and does not repay,but the righteous one is gracious and giving.

For the Lord loves justiceand will not abandon His faithful ones.They are kept safe forever,but the children of the wicked will be destroyed.

The wicked one lies in wait for the righteousand seeks to kill him;

Wait for the Lord and keep His way,and He will exalt you to inherit the land.You will watch when the wicked are destroyed.

I have seen a wicked, violent manwell-rooted like a flourishing native tree.

But transgressors will all be eliminated;the future of the wicked will be destroyed.

The Lord helps and delivers them;He will deliver them from the wicked and will save thembecause they take refuge in Him.

For the choir director, for Jeduthun. A Davidic psalm.I said, “I will guard my waysso that I may not sin with my tongue;I will guard my mouth with a muzzleas long as the wicked are in my presence.”

But God says to the wicked:“What right do you have to recite My statutesand to take My covenant on your lips?

because of the enemy’s voice,because of the pressure of the wicked.For they bring down disaster on meand harass me in anger.

The wicked go astray from the womb;liars err from birth.

The righteous one will rejoicewhen he sees the retribution;he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.

Lord God of Hosts, You are the God of Israel,rise up to punish all the nations;do not show grace to any wicked traitors.Selah

Hide me from the scheming of wicked people,from the mob of evildoers,

As smoke is blown away,so You blow them away.As wax melts before the fire,so the wicked are destroyed before God.

Deliver me, my God, from the power of the wicked,from the grasp of the unjust and oppressive.

For I envied the arrogant;I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Look at them—the wicked!They are always at ease,and they increase their wealth.

I say to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’and to the wicked, ‘Do not lift up your horn.

For there is a cup in the Lord’s hand,full of wine blended with spices, and He pours from it.All the wicked of the earth will drink,draining it to the dregs.

“I will cut off all the horns of the wicked,but the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.”

“How long will you judge unjustlyand show partiality to the wicked?Selah

Rescue the poor and needy;save them from the power of the wicked.”

Better a day in Your courtsthan a thousand anywhere else.I would rather be at the door of the house of my Godthan to live in the tents of wicked people.

The enemy will not afflict him;no wicked man will oppress him.

You will only see it with your eyesand witness the punishment of the wicked.

though the wicked sprout like grassand all evildoers flourish,they will be eternally destroyed.

Lord, how long will the wicked—how long will the wicked gloat?

to give him relief from troubled timesuntil a pit is dug for the wicked.

Who stands up for me against the wicked?Who takes a stand for me against evildoers?

You who love the Lord, hate evil!He protects the lives of His godly ones;He rescues them from the power of the wicked.

Every morning I will destroyall the wicked of the land,eliminating all evildoers from the Lord’s city.

May sinners vanish from the earthand wicked people be no more.My soul, praise Yahweh!Hallelujah!

Fire blazed throughout their assembly;flames consumed the wicked.

For wicked and deceitful mouths open against me;they speak against me with lying tongues.

Set a wicked person over him;let an accuser stand at his right hand.

The wicked man will see it and be angry;he will gnash his teeth in despair.The desire of the wicked man will come to nothing.

Rage seizes me because of the wickedwho reject Your instruction.

Though the ropes of the wickedwere wrapped around me,I did not forget Your instruction.

The wicked hope to destroy me,but I contemplate Your decrees.

The wicked have set a trap for me,but I have not wandered from Your precepts.

You remove all the wicked on earthas if they were dross;therefore, I love Your decrees.

Salvation is far from the wickedbecause they do not seek Your statutes.

The scepter of the wicked will not remainover the land allotted to the righteous,so that the righteous will not apply their hands to injustice.

The Lord is righteous;He has cut the ropes of the wicked.

God, if only You would kill the wicked—you bloodthirsty men, stay away from me—

Protect me, Lord,from the clutches of the wicked.Keep me safe from violent menwho plan to make me stumble.

Lord, do not grant the desires of the wicked;do not let them achieve their goals.Otherwise, they will become proud.Selah

Let the righteous one strike me—it is an act of faithful love;let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head;let me not refuse it.Even now my prayer is againstthe evil acts of the wicked.

Let the wicked fall into their own nets,while I pass by safely.

The Lord guards all those who love Him,but He destroys all the wicked.

The Lord protects foreignersand helps the fatherless and the widow,but He frustrates the ways of the wicked.

The Lord helps the afflictedbut brings the wicked to the ground.