The Folly and Wickedness of Men

531 [1][2][3]The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good.

Other Translations of Psalm 53:1

King James Version

The Folly and Wickedness of Men

531 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.

English Standard Version

The Folly and Wickedness of Men

531 The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.

The Message

The Folly and Wickedness of Men

531 Bilious and bloated, they gas, "God is gone." It's poison gas - they foul themselves, they poison Rivers and skies; thistles are their cash crop.

New King James Version

The Folly and Wickedness of Men

531 To the Chief Musician. Set to 'Mahalath.' A Contemplation of David. The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; There is none who does good.

New Living Translation

The Folly and Wickedness of Men

531 Only fools say in their hearts, "There is no God." They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good!

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 53:1

Chapter Contents

The corruption of man by nature.

This psalm is almost the same as the 14th. The scope of it is to convince us of our sins. God, by the psalmist, here shows us how bad we are, and proves this by his own certain knowledge. He speaks terror to persecutors, the worst of sinners. He speaks encouragement to God's persecuted people. How comes it that men are so bad? Because there is no fear of God before their eyes. Men's bad practices flow from their bad principles; if they profess to know God, yet in works, because in thoughts, they deny him. See the folly of sin; he is a fool, in the account of God, whose judgment we are sure is right, that harbours such corrupt thoughts. And see the fruit of sin; to what it brings men, when their hearts are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. See also the faith of the saints, and their hope and power as to the cure of this great evil. There will come a Saviour, a great salvation, a salvation from sin. God will save his church from its enemies. He will save all believers from their own sins, that they may not be led captive by them, which will be everlasting joy to them. From this work the Redeemer had his name JESUS, for he shall save his people from their sins, Matthew 1:21.