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Psalm 73:5

They are free from burdens of men, neither are they plagued like other men.

3For I was envious of the arrogant, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4For there are no struggles in their death, but their strength is firm.
5They are free from burdens of men, neither are they plagued like other men.
6Therefore pride is like a chain around their neck. Violence covers them like a garment.
7Their eyes bulge with fat. Their minds pass the limits of conceit.
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← Psalm 73:4Psalm 73:6 →
Notice

Freedom from ordinary burdens looks bitter when it belongs to the arrogant, and the surrounding lines name the envy that such ease can provoke.

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

Whose apparent freedom from ordinary burdens has been hard for you to watch?

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How does the arrogance described around this verse affect your response to these people's ease?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

8 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 21:9Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them.Both describe people spared hardship: freedom from common burdens in the psalm, and houses safe from fear in Job.
Psalm 73:12Behold, these are the wicked. Being always at ease, they increase in riches.Both describe the ease of the wicked, with verse 12 adding that their riches increase.
Revelation 3:19As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent.The connection is limited to hardship: Psalm 73 describes freedom from burdens, while Revelation speaks of reproof and chastening rooted in love.
Jeremiah 12:1–2You are righteous, LORD, when I contend with you; yet I would like to plead a case with you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are they all at ease …Both confront the ease of the wicked; Jeremiah turns that troubling observation into a plea before the righteous LORD.
Hebrews 12:8But if you are without discipline, of which all have been made partakers, then you are illegitimate, and not children.Freedom from burdens and absence of discipline form a limited contrast; the psalm does not identify these burdens as discipline.
Job 21:6When I remember, I am troubled. Horror takes hold of my flesh.The link is limited: Psalm 73 describes others escaping trouble, while Job describes the trouble that remembering brings him.
Proverbs 3:11–12My son, don’t despise the LORD’s discipline, neither be weary of his correction;Both touch on hardship, though Proverbs addresses the LORD’s correction and the psalm leaves the source of common burdens unnamed.
1 Corinthians 11:32But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.The passages offer a limited contrast between escaping burdens and receiving the Lord’s discipline; only Corinthians states a purpose for that discipline.
Where this verse fits

Envy and comparison. injustice and anger. doubt.

What the Bible says about anger →What the Bible says about doubt →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read Psalm 73:3–7 and mark the comparisons

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Encouragement

You do not have to pretend that burdens fall evenly. These lines describe the wicked living at ease, and their comfort does not make their conduct good.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 73:5. 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 73 · 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).