Psalm verses on evil from outside and evil within, with the full text and a printable sheet.
When the psalms talk about evil, they usually mean people or harm: liars, the violent, those who set traps, and disaster itself. They also mean something closer to home. Several psalms ask God to keep the writer's own heart from turning to evil, and to wash out what is already there. This page covers both. The psalms say little about evil spirits, and they offer no rituals. They are prayers and songs, most of them spoken to God.
The first three sections cover evil from outside: people, plans and harm. The last covers cleansing, for anyone whose search is about their own heart. Tick the verses you want and print them as one sheet.
Prayers against people who mean harm, from the violent to the smooth talkers.
Deliver me, LORD, from evil men.Preserve me from violent men:
Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;
Deliver me from evil men, preserve me from violent men. The psalm opens with its request and spends the next verses describing these men, their sharpened tongues and hidden snares.
Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked,from the noisy crowd of the ones doing evil;
Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:
Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked. The evil here is organised: a crowd, a plan, and people doing it together.
Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me,from the traps of the workers of iniquity.
Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity.
Snares and traps laid by the workers of iniquity. The prayer is to be kept from them, and the next verse asks that the wicked fall into their own nets.
You who love the LORD, hate evil!He preserves the souls of his saints.He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
Those who love the LORD are told to hate evil, and in the same breath told that God preserves their souls and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
For searches about destroying evil plans. These verses speak of plans that fail.
LORD, don’t grant the desires of the wicked.Don’t let their evil plans succeed, or they will become proud. Selah.
Grant not, O LORD, the desires of the wicked: further not his wicked device; lest they exalt themselves. Selah.
Don't let their evil plans succeed. The reason given is that success would make the wicked proud.
The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing.He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect.
The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.
The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. The next verse sets his own counsel against it: it stands fast forever.
For they intended evil against you.They plotted evil against you which cannot succeed.
For they intended evil against thee: they imagined a mischievous device, which they are not able to perform.
The plotting is called evil that cannot succeed. The psalm is about a king, and it places his safety in the loving kindness of the Most High.
Evil in the psalms also means harm itself, the things that happen to people.
The LORD will keep you from all evil.He will keep your soul.
The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
Two short sentences. The first speaks of all evil and the second of the soul, so the keeping reaches the person as well as their circumstances.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil, for you are with me.Your rod and your staff,they comfort me.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
I will fear no evil, said inside the valley of the shadow of death, not after leaving it. The reason given is company: you are with me.
He will not be afraid of evil news.His heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.
He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.
Not afraid of evil news, because the heart is steadfast and trusting. The verse deals with the dread of what might come, not only with the thing itself.
In the psalms, cleansing means being washed of your own wrongdoing and given a new heart.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity.Cleanse me from my sin.
Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Wash me thoroughly, cleanse me from my sin. The heading places the psalm after Nathan confronted David over Bathsheba, so the cleansing asked for is from a specific wrong.
Create in me a clean heart, O God.Renew a right spirit within me.
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Create in me a clean heart. The request is for something new, a heart and a right spirit, not only for the stain to be removed.
See if there is any wicked way in me,and lead me in the everlasting way.
And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
See if there is any wicked way in me. At the end of a psalm about being fully known, the writer asks God to look for evil inside him, not only outside.
Don’t incline my heart to any evil thing,to practice deeds of wickedness with men who work iniquity.Don’t let me eat of their delicacies.
Incline not my heart to any evil thing, to practise wicked works with men that work iniquity: and let me not eat of their dainties.
Don't incline my heart to any evil thing. This asks for protection from joining in with evil, even from wanting its delicacies.
The psalms do not use the phrase evil spirits. The evil they pray against is people, plans, harm and the writer's own wrongdoing. Psalm 78:49 speaks of a band of angels of evil sent in judgment, and Psalm 106:37 of sacrifices to demons, but neither is a prayer for protection. Psalm 91 names the terror by night and the pestilence that walks in darkness. What the psalms offer for any of these is prayer: they ask God for shelter and leave the outcome with him. None of them gives a ritual, a number of repetitions or a formula.
Psalm 140 opens with deliver me, LORD, from evil men. Psalm 121:7 says the LORD will keep you from all evil and will keep your soul.
The phrase evil spirits does not appear. Psalm 78:49 speaks of a band of angels of evil sent in judgment, and Psalm 106:37 of sacrifices to demons, but no psalm is a prayer for protection from spirits.
Psalm 51 asks God to wash, cleanse and purify the writer and to create a clean heart. Psalm 139:23 and 139:24 ask God to search the heart for any wicked way.
Psalm 140:8 asks God not to let the plans of the wicked succeed. Psalm 33:10 says the LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing.
Psalm 141 does both. Verse 4 asks that the heart not turn to any evil thing, and verse 9 asks to be kept from the traps of the workers of iniquity.
Psalm Verses for ProtectionPsalms for Spiritual WarfarePsalms for Enemies and People Who Are Against YouPsalms for Forgiveness and RepentancePsalms of Deliverance