Psalm 68:2
New International Version
May you blow them away like smoke— as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God.

New Living Translation
Blow them away like smoke. Melt them like wax in a fire. Let the wicked perish in the presence of God.

English Standard Version
As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away; as wax melts before fire, so the wicked shall perish before God!

Berean Standard Bible
As smoke is blown away, You will drive them out; as wax melts before the fire, the wicked will perish in the presence of God.

King James Bible
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

New King James Version
As smoke is driven away, So drive them away; As wax melts before the fire, So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

New American Standard Bible
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; As wax melts before a fire, So the wicked will perish before God.

NASB 1995
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; As wax melts before the fire, So let the wicked perish before God.

NASB 1977
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; As wax melts before the fire, So let the wicked perish before God.

Legacy Standard Bible
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; As wax melts before the fire, So let the wicked perish before God.

Amplified Bible
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; As wax melts before the fire, So let the wicked and guilty perish before [the presence of] God.

Christian Standard Bible
As smoke is blown away, so you blow them away. As wax melts before the fire, so the wicked are destroyed before God.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
As smoke is blown away, so You blow them away. As wax melts before the fire, so the wicked are destroyed before God.

American Standard Version
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: As wax melteth before the fire, So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

Contemporary English Version
Scatter them like smoke! When you come near, make them melt like wax in a fire.

English Revised Version
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Blow them away like smoke. Let wicked people melt in God's presence like wax next to a fire.

Good News Translation
As smoke is blown away, so he drives them off; as wax melts in front of the fire, so do the wicked perish in God's presence.

International Standard Version
As smoke is driven away, so you drive them away. As wax melts in the presence of fire, so the wicked die in the presence of God.

Majority Standard Bible
As smoke is blown away, You will drive them out; as wax melts before the fire, the wicked will perish in the presence of God.

NET Bible
As smoke is driven away by the wind, so you drive them away. As wax melts before fire, so the wicked are destroyed before God.

New Heart English Bible
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

Webster's Bible Translation
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

World English Bible
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
You drive them away as the driving away of smoke, "" As the melting of wax before fire, "" The wicked perish at the presence of God.

Young's Literal Translation
As the driving away of smoke Thou drivest away, As the melting of wax before fire, The wicked perish at the presence of God.

Smith's Literal Translation
As smoke being dispersed thou wilt disperse: as wax melting from the face of fire, the unjust shall perish from the face of God.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
As smoke vanisheth, so let them vanish away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Just as smoke vanishes, so may they vanish. Just as wax flows away before the face of fire, so may sinners pass away before the face of God.

New American Bible
As the smoke is dispersed, disperse them; as wax is melted by fire, so may the wicked perish before God.

New Revised Standard Version
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, let the wicked perish before God.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
As smoke is driven away, so let them vanish; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And they will vanish like smoke vanishes, and as wax is melted before fire, the wicked shall be destroyed from before God.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; As wax melteth before the fire, So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
As smoke vanishes, let them vanish: as wax melts before the fire, so let the sinners perish from before God.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
God's Enemies Are Scattered
1For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A song. God arises. His enemies are scattered, and those who hate Him flee His presence. 2As smoke is blown away, You will drive them out; as wax melts before the fire, the wicked will perish in the presence of God. 3But the righteous will be glad and rejoice before God; they will celebrate with joy.…

Cross References
Isaiah 64:2
as fire kindles the brushwood and causes the water to boil, to make Your name known to Your enemies, so that the nations will tremble at Your presence!

Nahum 1:5-6
The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles at His presence—the world and all its dwellers. / Who can withstand His indignation? Who can endure His burning anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; even rocks are shattered before Him.

Malachi 4:1
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”

Psalm 37:20
But the wicked and enemies of the LORD will perish like the glory of the fields. They will vanish; like smoke they will fade away.

Psalm 37:38
But the transgressors will all be destroyed; the future of the wicked will be cut off.

Psalm 1:4
Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.

Job 21:18
Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?

Hosea 13:3
Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that vanishes, like chaff blown from a threshing floor, like smoke through an open window.

Isaiah 41:11-12
Behold, all who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced; those who contend with you will be reduced to nothing and will perish. / You will seek them but will not find them. Those who wage war against you will come to nothing.

Isaiah 17:13
The nations rage like the rush of many waters. He rebukes them, and they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweeds before a gale.

Matthew 3:12
His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Matthew 13:40-42
As the weeds are collected and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of the age. / The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom every cause of sin and all who practice lawlessness. / And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Luke 3:17
His winnowing fork is in His hand to clear His threshing floor and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

2 Thessalonians 1:7-9
and to grant relief to you who are oppressed and to us as well. This will take place when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels / in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. / They will suffer the penalty of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might,

Hebrews 10:27
but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.


Treasury of Scripture

As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

As smoke

Psalm 37:20
But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.

Isaiah 9:18
For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.

Hosea 13:3
Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.

as wax

Psalm 97:5
The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

Isaiah 64:2
As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence!

Micah 1:4
And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.

in the presence

Psalm 76:7
Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?

Psalm 80:16
It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.

Nahum 1:5,6
The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein…

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Psalm 68
1. A prayer at the removing of the ark
4. An exhortation to praise God for his mercies
7. for his care of the church
19. for his great works














As smoke is blown away
The imagery of smoke being blown away is vivid and powerful. In Hebrew, the word for smoke is "עָשָׁן" (ashan), which conveys something transient and insubstantial. Smoke is easily dispersed by the wind, symbolizing the ease with which God can remove the wicked from His presence. This imagery is consistent with the biblical theme of the impermanence of evil and the ultimate triumph of God's righteousness. Historically, smoke was often associated with destruction and judgment, as seen in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:28). The phrase suggests that just as smoke cannot withstand the wind, so the wicked cannot withstand the presence of God.

so You will banish them
The act of banishing implies a forceful removal or expulsion. The Hebrew root "נָדַף" (nadaph) means to drive away or scatter. This reflects God's sovereign power to remove those who oppose Him. In the biblical narrative, God often acts to protect His people by removing their enemies, as seen in the Exodus account where He drives the Egyptians into the sea (Exodus 14:27). The phrase reassures believers of God's active role in delivering them from evil and underscores His authority over all creation.

as wax melts before the fire
Wax melting before fire is another powerful image of transformation and dissolution. The Hebrew word for wax, "דּוֹנָג" (donag), emphasizes something that is solid yet easily transformed by heat. Fire, often a symbol of God's presence and holiness, consumes and purifies. This imagery suggests that in the presence of God's holiness, the wicked will be utterly transformed and undone, much like wax losing its form and substance. The historical context of sacrificial offerings, where fire was used to consume offerings, further underscores the purifying and consuming nature of God's judgment.

so the wicked will perish in the presence of God
The phrase "the wicked will perish" is a direct statement of the ultimate fate of those who oppose God. The Hebrew word for perish, "אָבַד" (avad), means to be destroyed or to vanish. This is a common theme throughout the Psalms, where the fate of the wicked is contrasted with the enduring presence of the righteous. The presence of God, "פָּנִים" (panim), signifies His face or countenance, representing His immediate and powerful presence. In the biblical narrative, being in the presence of God is both a place of blessing for the righteous and a place of judgment for the wicked. This phrase serves as a sobering reminder of the reality of divine justice and the ultimate accountability all people have before God.

(2) Smoke.--The figure of the vanishing smoke has occurred before (see Psalm 37:20); for that of the melting wax see Psalm 97:5. Both figures are too obvious to need reference to the cloud and fire of the ancient encampment.

Verse 2. - As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As clouds of smoke are dispersed and driven away by the wind, and totally disappear, so let God, whenever his enemies congregate, scatter and disperse them, and reduce them to nothingness. As wax melteth before the firs, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. As smoke vanishes, so wax entirely melts away and disappears before a hot fire (comp. Psalm 22:14; Psalm 97:5).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
As smoke
עָשָׁ֗ן (‘ā·šān)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6227: Smoke

is blown away,
כְּהִנְדֹּ֥ף (kə·hin·dōp̄)
Preposition-k | Verb - Nifal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 5086: To shove asunder, disperse

You will drive [them] out;
תִּ֫נְדֹּ֥ף (tin·dōp̄)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 5086: To shove asunder, disperse

as wax
דּ֭וֹנַג (dō·w·naḡ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1749: Wax (as melting)

melts
כְּהִמֵּ֣ס (kə·him·mês)
Preposition-k | Verb - Nifal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 4549: To liquefy, to waste, to faint

before
מִפְּנֵי־ (mip·pə·nê-)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 6440: The face

the fire,
אֵ֑שׁ (’êš)
Noun - common singular
Strong's 784: A fire

the wicked
רְ֝שָׁעִ֗ים (rə·šā·‘îm)
Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 7563: Wrong, an, bad person

will perish
יֹאבְד֥וּ (yō·ḇə·ḏū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 6: To wander away, lose oneself, to perish

in the presence
מִפְּנֵ֥י (mip·pə·nê)
Preposition-m | Noun - common plural construct
Strong's 6440: The face

of God.
אֱלֹהִֽים׃ (’ĕ·lō·hîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 430: gods -- the supreme God, magistrates, a superlative


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OT Poetry: Psalm 68:2 As smoke is driven away so drive (Psalm Ps Psa.)
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