Psalms 32:9

7 You are my hiding place. You protect me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah

8 I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will give you counsel and watch over you.

Do not be like the horse or mule, which have no understanding; they must be controlled with bit and bridle to make them come to you.

10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but loving devotion surrounds him who trusts in the LORD.

11 Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous ones; shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
Do not be like the horse or mule, which have no understanding; they must be controlled with bit and bridle to make them come to you.
KJV
Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee.
WEB
Don’t be like the horse, or like the mule, which have no understanding, who are controlled by bit and bridle, or else they will not come near to you.
ASV
Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding; Whose trappings must be bit and bridle to hold them in, [Else] they will not come near unto thee.
DARBY
Be ye not as a horse, as a mule, which have no understanding: whose trappings must be bit and bridle, for restraint, or they will not come unto thee.
BLB
You⁺ should not be like a horse, like a mule without understanding, with bit and bridle to curb its ornaments, [that] there is no coming near to you.
ÅB
Vær ikke som hest og muldyr, som ikke har forstand!
Deres smykke er tømme og bissel til å tvinge dem med;
ellers kommer de ikke nær deg.»
OTB
Vær ikke som hest eller muldyr, som mangler forstand,
Hvis prydelse er tømme og bissel for å holde dem i tømme,
Ellers kommer de ikke nær til deg.
B1930
Vær ikke som hest og muldyr, som ikke har forstand! Deres smykke er tømme og bissel til å tvinge dem med; de vil ikke komme nær til dig.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Proverbs 26:3

    A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the backs of fools!

    Read in context
  • Jeremiah 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.”

    Read in context
  • Job 35:11

    who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the air?’

    Read in context
  • Jeremiah 8:6–7

    I have listened and heard; they do not speak what is right. No one repents of his wickedness, asking, ‘What have I done?’ Everyone has pursued his own course like a horse charging into battle.

    Read in context
  • James 4:7–10

    Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

    Read in context
  • James 3:3

    When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can guide the whole animal.

    Read in context
  • Jeremiah 31:18

    I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God.

    Read in context