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Psalm 35:20
For they don’t speak peace, but they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.
18I will give you thanks in the great assembly. I will praise you among many people.
19Don’t let those who are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me; neither let those who hate me without a cause wink their eyes.
20For they don’t speak peace, but they devise deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.
21Yes, they opened their mouth wide against me. They said, “Aha! Aha! Our eye has seen it!”
22You have seen it, LORD. Don’t keep silent. Lord, don’t be far from me.
Notice
Deceitful words target people who are living in peace, exposing the hard fact that a quiet life offers no guarantee against false accusations.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What troubles you about deceit being planned against people who are quiet in the land?
Write on thisWhere have you seen words used to undermine someone who sought peace?
Write on thisConnect
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
Psalm 21:11For they intended evil against you. They plotted evil against you which cannot succeed.Both passages describe enemies planning harm, though Psalm 21 also states that their plot cannot succeed.
Matthew 26:4They took counsel together that they might take Jesus by deceit and kill him.Both passages describe planned deceit directed against others; Matthew names Jesus as the target of a plot to kill.
Psalm 38:12They also who seek after my life lay snares. Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and meditate deceits all day long.Both passages describe harmful speech and deliberate deceit used by people seeking another person's hurt.
Psalm 120:7I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war.Both passages describe hostility toward people who seek peace, showing that peaceful intent does not ensure a peaceful response.
1 Peter 2:22–23who didn’t sin, “neither was deceit found in his mouth.”Both texts address deceit in speech: Psalm 35 describes enemies using it, while Peter says it was absent from Jesus' mouth.
Jeremiah 11:19But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter. I didn’t know that they had devised plans against me, saying, “Let’s destroy the tree with its …Both passages describe plans devised against others, with Jeremiah portraying himself as a gentle lamb unaware of the threat.
Acts 25:3Both passages describe planned harm against another person; Acts specifies a request to move the target and a plot to kill him.
Psalm 52:2Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.Both passages portray deceitful speech as a deliberate means of harming others.
Matthew 12:24But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “This man does not cast out demons except by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons.”Both passages feature hostile speech against others; Matthew records an accusation that attributes Jesus' work to the prince of demons.
Matthew 12:19He will not strive, nor shout, neither will anyone hear his voice in the streets.Quietness is the limited shared thread: Psalm 35 describes quiet people under attack, while Matthew describes someone who neither strives nor shouts.
Daniel 6:5Then these men said, “We won’t find any occasion against this Daniel, unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”Both passages describe deliberate efforts to act against someone; Daniel's opponents seek grounds connected to his obedience to God's law.
Acts 23:15Now therefore, you with the council inform the commanding officer that he should bring him down to you tomorrow, as though you were going to judge his case …Both passages describe deceit devised against someone; Acts records a proposed hearing used as a cover for a planned killing.
Where this verse fits
Injustice and anger. work conflict. church hurt.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Quiet people can become targets of calculated lies. In the surrounding prayer, David takes that harm to YHWH, who has seen what his enemies are doing.
Now put it in your words.
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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).