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Psalm 1:4
The wicked are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
2but his delight is in the LORD’s law. On his law he meditates day and night.
3He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that produces its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper.
4The wicked are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish.
Notice
Chaff has no root to keep it in place, and its fate challenges any confidence that the way of the wicked will endure.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What changes in your view of wickedness when you picture chaff carried off by wind?
Write on thisHow does the contrast between the planted tree and scattered chaff challenge what you count as security?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Job 21:18How often is it that they are as stubble before the wind, as chaff that the storm carries away?Both describe the wicked as windblown chaff, though Job asks how often this happens while the psalm declares their fate.
Matthew 3:12His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up …Both use chaff to portray judgment, with wind carrying it away in the psalm and unquenchable fire consuming it in Matthew.
Psalm 35:5Let them be as chaff before the wind, the LORD’s angel driving them on.Both picture people as chaff before the wind; Psalm 35 makes that image a prayer for the LORD’s angel to drive them on.
Isaiah 17:13The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far off, and will be chased like the chaff of the mountains …Both compare people to chaff driven before the wind, with Isaiah describing nations fleeing at God's rebuke.
Isaiah 29:5But the multitude of your foes will be like fine dust, and the multitude of the ruthless ones like chaff that blows away. Yes, it will be in an instant, …Both portray the downfall of those who do evil through chaff blowing away, with Isaiah naming ruthless foes.
Hosea 13:3Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the dew that passes away early, like the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the threshing floor, …Both depict people as chaff carried away by wind, while Hosea adds mist and smoke to portray their passing.
Zephaniah 2:2before the appointed time when the day passes as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD comes on you, before the day of the LORD’s anger comes on you.Both use passing chaff as an image, though Zephaniah applies it to a day passing before the LORD’s anger comes.
Luke 3:17His winnowing fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn; but he will burn up the chaff …Both use chaff to depict judgment, with Luke describing its destruction by unquenchable fire after wheat is gathered.
Psalm 104:35Let sinners be consumed out of the earth. Let the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, my soul. Praise the LORD!Both speak of the wicked coming to an end; Psalm 104 turns that prospect into a prayer.
Jeremiah 13:24“Therefore I will scatter them as the stubble that passes away by the wind of the wilderness.Both compare people to crop remnants swept away by wind, with Jeremiah naming God as the one who scatters them.
Jeremiah 17:6For he will be like a bush in the desert, and will not see when good comes, but will inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, an uninhabited salt land.Both use images from the land to portray a bleak condition, though Jeremiah's desert bush remains where the psalm's chaff is scattered.
Jeremiah 15:7I have winnowed them with a fan in the gates of the land. I have bereaved them of children. I have destroyed my people. They didn’t return from their ways.Both draw on grain processing to portray ruin, with Jeremiah naming God's destruction of people who did not return from their ways.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. temptation. sermon or Bible study notes.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
The chaff image is severe: wickedness has no secure future before God. The surrounding lines also say that YHWH knows the way of the righteous.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 1:4. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).