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Psalm 37:38

As for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together. The future of the wicked shall be cut off.

36But he passed away, and behold, he was not. Yes, I sought him, but he could not be found.
37Mark the perfect man, and see the upright, for there is a future for the man of peace.
38As for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together. The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
39But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD. He is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
40The LORD helps them and rescues them. He rescues them from the wicked and saves them, because they have taken refuge in him.
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← Psalm 37:37Psalm 37:39 →
Notice

“The future of the wicked” ends in destruction here, a stark warning in a psalm that also speaks of peace and refuge.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What response does the phrase “destroyed together” draw from you as you read today?

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How does the nearby promise of a future for the person of peace shape your reading?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

10 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 92:7though the wicked spring up as the grass, and all the evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever.Both announce the destruction of the wicked; Psalm 92 makes clear that their flourishing does not prevent that end.
Psalm 104:35Let sinners be consumed out of the earth. Let the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, my soul. Praise the LORD!Psalm 37 declares the destruction of transgressors, while Psalm 104 prays for sinners to be consumed from the earth.
Proverbs 14:32The wicked is brought down in his calamity, but in death, the righteous has a refuge.The wicked face destruction in the psalm and calamity in Proverbs, which also speaks of refuge for the righteous in death.
Psalm 52:5God will likewise destroy you forever. He will take you up, and pluck you out of your tent, and root you out of the land of the living. Selah.Both describe destruction, with Psalm 52 naming God as the one who removes a person from the land of the living.
Matthew 13:49–50So it will be in the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked from among the righteous,Both speak about the wicked facing judgment; Matthew describes their separation from the righteous at the end of the world.
Psalm 9:17The wicked shall be turned back to Sheol, even all the nations that forget God.Both announce judgment on the wicked, with Psalm 9 describing their end as being turned back to Sheol.
2 Thessalonians 1:8–9punishing those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus,Both passages speak of punishment, with the psalm naming transgressors and Paul naming those who disobey the Good News.
Matthew 13:30Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the harvest time I will tell the reapers, “First, gather up the darnel weeds, and bind them in bundles to burn …Destruction together appears in both texts: transgressors in the psalm, and weeds gathered into bundles for burning in the parable.
Matthew 25:46These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”Both speak of judgment, with Matthew naming eternal punishment and contrasting it with eternal life for the righteous.
Isaiah 1:28But the destruction of transgressors and sinners shall be together, and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed.Both declare that transgressors will be destroyed together, and Isaiah also names those who forsake the LORD.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger. envy and comparison.

What the Bible says about anger →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read verses 37–40 and contrast the two futures

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Encouragement

This warning gives you no warrant for revenge. The surrounding verses describe the righteous in trouble too, with YHWH as their stronghold and rescuer.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 37:38. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 37 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

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).