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Psalm 44:12
You sell your people for nothing, and have gained nothing from their sale.
10You make us turn back from the adversary. Those who hate us take plunder for themselves.
11You have made us like sheep for food, and have scattered us among the nations.
12You sell your people for nothing, and have gained nothing from their sale.
13You make us a reproach to our neighbors, a scoffing and a derision to those who are around us.
14You make us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples.
Notice
The words “for nothing” make Israel’s defeat sound like a sale that gains God nothing, sharpening the grief of people who still belong to him.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What troubles you most about the claim that God gained nothing from his people’s sale?
Write on thisWhen have you struggled to call yourself God’s own while feeling discarded?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
11 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
Jeremiah 15:13I will give your substance and your treasures for a plunder without price, and that for all your sins, even in all your borders.Both describe loss without payment; Jeremiah names sins as the reason, while the psalm’s complaint here gives no reason.
Isaiah 52:3For the LORD says, “You were sold for nothing; and you will be redeemed without money.”Both speak of people sold for nothing; Isaiah adds a promise of redemption without money.
Deuteronomy 32:30How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had delivered them up?Both attribute the people’s defeat to God selling them into enemy power.
Judges 2:14The LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all …Both describe God selling his people amid defeat and plunder; Judges names his anger, while the psalm stresses the lack of gain.
Isaiah 50:1The LORD says, “Where is the bill of your mother’s divorce, with which I have put her away? Or to which of my creditors have I sold you? Behold, you were sold …Both use the language of God selling his people; Isaiah names iniquities as the cause, while this verse names no cause.
Judges 3:8Therefore the LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served …Both describe God selling Israel; Judges identifies the ruler they served, while the psalm laments that God gained nothing.
Judges 5:19“The kings came and fought, then the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo. They took no plunder of silver.Both mention conflict without gain: the psalm says God gains nothing from the sale, while the kings take no silver plunder.
Judges 10:7The LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the children of Ammon.Both speak of God selling Israel; Judges names the enemies receiving them, while the psalm focuses on the sale’s lack of profit.
Revelation 18:13and cinnamon, incense, perfume, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots, and people’s bodies and souls.The shared thread is people treated as goods; Revelation’s list does not echo the psalm’s complaint about God gaining nothing.
Nehemiah 5:8–12I said to them, “We, after our ability, have redeemed our brothers the Jews that were sold to the nations; and would you even sell your brothers, and should …Both describe God’s people being sold; Nehemiah confronts those selling their own brothers, while the psalm directs its complaint to God.
Isaiah 52:5“Now therefore, what do I do here,” says the LORD, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them mock,” says the LORD, “and my …Both describe God’s people being taken for nothing, with mockery surrounding their humiliation.
Where this verse fits
Feeling distant from God. injustice and anger. doubt.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Even in this accusation, the sufferers are called “your people.” Their defeat has left them bewildered, and their complaint still addresses the God to whom they belong.
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).