Psalms 37:8
Refrain from anger and abandon wrath; do not fret—it can only bring harm.
BSB
ASV
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: Fret not thyself, it tendeth only to evil-doing.
KJV
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
Anger destroys not just the ordinary run of people, but even the wise. David warns the wise, saying to them, "Cease from anger," for once that fire is set alight it will not cease until its flames have consumed you. "Leave aside," he says, "your rage." Here is his meaning: nature catches hold of you, it stirs up your feelings, you get excited about some fault, some slight that has offended you, you begin to rage but not to the point where you cannot stop. Drop it. Put an end to it, or it will drag you into sin.
Cease from anger and forsake wrath. Especially anger against the arrangements of Providence, and jealousies of the temporary pleasures of those who are so soon to be banished from all comfort. Anger anywhere is madness, here it is aggravate insanity. Yet since anger will try to keep us company, we must resolvedly forsake it. Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. By no reasonings and under no circumstances be led into such a course. Fretfulness lies upon the verge of great sin.
Written to them
topics/angerCease from anger, and forsake wrath
MannaFest topical index (legacy import; verified against ASV text 2026-07-21; founder-approved batch)
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Proverbs 16:32He who is slow to anger is better than a warrior, and he who controls his temper is greater than one who captures a city.
leads to
My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
Reached by 3 independent paths from here.
A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger calms dispute.
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
A man’s insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense.
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who does not control his temper.
A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man promotes folly.
Through
Ephesians 4:31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.
leads to
Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool.
Reached by 3 independent paths from here.
But now you must put aside all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
to malign no one, and to be peaceable and gentle, showing full consideration to everyone.
