Psalms 38:20

Amplified Bible

They repay evil for good, they attack and try to kill me, Because I follow what is good.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Those who repay evil for goodattack me for pursuing good.

Hebrew Names Version
They who also render evil for good are adversaries to me, Because I follow what is good.

King James Version
They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.

English Standard Version
Those who render me evil for good accuse me because I follow after good.

New Century Version
They repay me with evil for the good I did. They lie about me because I try to do good.

New English Translation
They repay me evil for the good I have done; though I have tried to do good to them, they hurl accusations at me.

New American Standard Bible
And those who repay evil for good, They become my enemies, because I follow what is good.

World English Bible
They who also render evil for good are adversaries to me, Because I follow what is good.

Geneva Bible (1587)
They also, that rewarde euill for good, are mine aduersaries, because I followe goodnesse.

Legacy Standard Bible
And those who repay evil for good,They accuse me, for I pursue what is good.

Berean Standard Bible
Those who repay my good with evil attack me for pursuing the good.

Contemporary English Version
and they repay evil for good because I try to do right.

Complete Jewish Bible
But my enemies are alive and well, those who wrongfully hate me increase their numbers;

Darby Translation
And they that render evil for good are adversaries unto me; because I pursue what is good.

Easy-to-Read Version
I did nothing but good, and they paid me back with evil. I try to do what is right, but that only makes them turn against me.

George Lamsa Translation
They reward me evil for good; they reproach me because I seek after good things.

Good News Translation
Those who pay back evil for good are against me because I try to do right.

Lexham English Bible
And those who repay evil in return for good accuse me in return for my pursuing good.

Literal Translation
And those who repay evil for good, they attack me, because the good follows me.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
They that rewarde me euell for good, speake euell of me, because I folowe the thinge that good is.

American Standard Version
They also that render evil for good Are adversaries unto me, because I follow the thing that is good.

Bible in Basic English
They give me back evil for good; they are my haters because I go after the thing which is right.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
But mine enemies are strong in health; and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.

King James Version (1611)
They also that render euill for good, are mine aduersaries: because I follow the thing that good is.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
They also that rewarde euyl for good are agaynst me: because I folowe the thyng that is good.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
They that reward evil for good slandered me; because I followed righteousness.

English Revised Version
They also that render evil for good are adversaries unto me, because I follow the thing that is good.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Thei that yelden yuels for goodis, backbitiden me; for Y suede goodnesse.

Update Bible Version
They also that render evil for good Are adversaries to me, because I follow the thing that is good.

Webster's Bible Translation
They also that render evil for good are my adversaries; because I follow [the thing that is] good.

New King James Version
Those also who render evil for good, They are my adversaries, because I follow what is good.

New Living Translation
They repay me evil for good and oppose me for pursuing good.

New Life Bible
They pay what is bad for what is good. They are against me because I follow what is good.

New Revised Standard
Those who render me evil for good are my adversaries because I follow after good.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Even they who are repaying evil for good, accuse me because I pursue the good.

Douay-Rheims Bible
(37-21) They that render evil for good, have detracted me, because I followed goodness.

Revised Standard Version
Those who render me evil for good are my adversaries because I follow after good.

Young's Literal Translation
And those paying evil for good accuse me, Because of my pursuing good.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
And those who repay evil for good, They oppose me, because I follow what is good.

Contextual Overview

¹²Those who seek my life lay snares for me, And those who seek to injure me threaten mischievous things and destruction; They devise treachery all the day long. ¹³But I, like a deaf man, do not hear; I am like a mute man who does not open his mouth. ¹⁴Yes, I am like a man who does not hear, In whose mouth are no arguments. ¹⁵For in You, O LORD, I hope; You will answer, O Lord my God. ¹⁶For I pray, "May they not rejoice over me, Who, when my foot slips, would boast against me." ¹⁷For I am ready to fall; My sorrow is continually before me. ¹⁸For I do confess my guilt and iniquity; I am filled with anxiety because of my sin. ¹⁹But my [numerous] enemies are vigorous and strong, And those who hate me without cause are many. ²⁰They repay evil for good, they attack and try to kill me, Because I follow what is good.²¹Do not abandon me, O LORD; O my God, do not be far from me.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

render: Psalms 7:4, Psalms 35:12, Psalms 109:3-5, 1 Samuel 19:4-6, 1 Samuel 23:5, 1 Samuel 23:12, 1 Samuel 25:16, 1 Samuel 25:21, Jeremiah 18:20

because: Matthew 5:10, John 10:32, 1 Peter 3:13, 1 Peter 3:17, 1 Peter 3:18, 1 Peter 4:14-16, 1 John 3:12

Reciprocal: Psalms 69:4 - being Psalms 109:4 - For my Proverbs 17:13 - General Isaiah 66:5 - Your 1 Thessalonians 5:15 - ever 1 Timothy 6:11 - and Hebrews 12:14 - Follow

Cross-References

Genesis 20:9
Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? And how have I offended you that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me what ought not to be done [to anyone]."

Leviticus 19:17
'You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you may most certainly rebuke your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him.

Judges 14:20
But Samson's wife was given to his companion who had been his friend.

2 Samuel 13:3
But Amnon had a friend whose name was Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David's brother; and Jonadab was a very shrewd (cunning) man.

Luke 23:12
Now that very day Herod and Pilate became friends with each other—before this they had been enemies.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries,....

:-;

because I follow [the thing that] good [is]; or "follow good"; a good God, whom his soul followed hard after, Psalms 63:8; the good Shepherd of the sheep, who led him into green pastures, whither he followed him,

Psalms 23:1; the good Spirit of God his guide, whom he walked after, Romans 8:1; good and holy men of God, whom he took for examples and copied after; and every good work, which he pursued with eagerness and pleasure; and all this drew upon him the hatred of his adversaries.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

They also that render evil for good - They whose characteristic it is to return evil for good, are opposed to me. This implies that those who were now seeking his ruin had been formerly benefitted by him. They were persons who cherished no grateful recollection of favors bestowed on them, but who found a pleasure in persecuting and wronging their benefactor. Compare Psalms 35:12-16. “Are my adversaries.” Are now opposed to me; have become my enemies.

Because I follow the thing that good is - This properly means, Because I follow the good. The Hebrew word rendered “because” - תחת tachath - means properly the lower part; what is underneath; then, below; beneath. The idea here is, that the “underlying reason” of what they did was that he followed good, or that he was a righteous man; or, as we say, This was “at the bottom” of all their dealings with him. Sinner as he felt he was (and as he acknowledged he was) before God, and true as it was that his “sickness” was brought upon him by God for his sinfulness, yet the reason why “men” treated him as they did, was that he was a friend of God - a religious man; and their conduct, therefore, was sheer persecution. We may, with entire consistency, be very humble before God, and acknowledge that we deserve all that He brings upon us; and yet, at the same time, we may be sensible that we have not wronged men, and that their conduct toward us is wholly undeserved, is most ungrateful, is sheer malignity against us.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Psalms 38:20. Because l follow the thing that good is.] The translation is as bad as the sentence is awkward. תחת רדפי טוב tachath rodpi tob, because I follow goodness. There is a remarkable addition to this verse in the Arabic: "They have rejected me, the beloved one, as an abominable dead carcass; they have pierced my body with nails." I suppose the Arabic translator meant to refer this to Christ.

None of the other Versions have any thing like this addition; only the AEthiopic adds, "They rejected their brethren as an unclean carcass." St. Ambrose says this reading was found in some Greek and Latin copies in his time; and Theodoret has nearly the same reading with the Arabic: Και απερῥιψαν με τον αγαπητον, ῳς νεκρον εβδελυγμενον· "And they cast me, the beloved, out, as an abominable dead carcass." Whence this reading came I cannot conjecture.