Psalms · 6 verses
Psalms 53
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
The workers of iniquity are seized by dread precisely where there is nothing to fear—a remarkably inconvenient location for terror.
A heavenward search and an earth gone crookedvv. 1–5
The heading arrives with three labels, including the unexplained “According to Mahalath,” and then the fool speaks in his heart. God looks down from heaven for anyone who understands or seeks him, but the search finds a universal turning away. The workers of iniquity devour God’s people like bread and refuse to call upon him; then, in the psalm’s strangest little scene, dread overtakes them where there was nothing to fear. Their bones are scattered, and shame does the rest.
Salvation awaited from Zionv. 6
The final turn is a longing rather than a report: salvation for Israel is desired from Zion. When God restores his captive people, Jacob is to rejoice and Israel to be glad; the psalm leaves the restoration in that future tense, with the gladness waiting just beyond the line.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Ps 53:1For the choirmaster. According to Mahalath. A Maskil of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their ways are vile. There is no one who does good.
Ps 53:2God looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if any understand, if any seek God.
Ps 53:3All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Ps 53:4Will the workers of iniquity never learn? They devour my people like bread; they refuse to call upon God.
Ps 53:5There they are, overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to fear. For God has scattered the bones of those who besieged you. You put them to shame, for God has despised them.
Ps 53:6Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come from Zion! When God restores His captive people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad!
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 91 passages were voted onto 6 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 2Isaiah 55:6Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
- 22 Chronicles 15:2So he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin. The LORD is with you when you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
- 3Romans 3:12All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
- 1Psalms 10:4In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him; in all his schemes there is no God.
- 2Psalms 27:8My heart said, “Seek His face.” Your face, O LORD, I will seek.
- 2Jeremiah 16:17For My eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from My face, and their guilt is not concealed from My eyes.
- 4Jeremiah 4:22“For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”
- 5Proverbs 28:1The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
- 1Psalms 14:1–7For the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good.
- 2Jeremiah 23:24“Can a man hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD.
- 2Psalms 111:10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts gain rich understanding. His praise endures forever!
- 3Isaiah 64:6Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
- 5Leviticus 26:36As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. And they will flee as one flees the sword, and fall when no one pursues them.
- 2Psalms 33:13–14The LORD looks down from heaven; He sees all the sons of men.
- 22 Chronicles 19:3However, some good is found in you, for you have removed the Asherah poles from the land and have set your heart on seeking God.”
- 3Psalms 14:3All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
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