For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture; and he poureth out of the same: but the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them.

PSALMS 75:8KJV
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Psalms 75:8 (KJV)

What does Psalms 75:8 mean?

Psalms 75:8 uses the image of a cup of wine in God’s hand to picture judgment: God pours out a strong, mixed wine, and the wicked of the earth must drink it down to the bitter dregs, meaning they will fully experience the consequences of their actions. The verse emphasizes that God is in control of judgment and that no one escapes His justice.

The psalm is attributed to Asaph and is directed to God’s people, likely in a time of uncertainty or injustice. The “cup” is a common biblical symbol for God’s wrath or judgment, and the “mixture” suggests the wine is especially potent or thorough. The verse’s vivid language highlights the seriousness and completeness of God’s judgment on those who do evil.

The Hebrew behind Psalms 75:8

  • כֹּוס (kos; “cup”): This word refers to a drinking cup, often used in the Hebrew Bible as a symbol for a person’s fate or destiny, especially in the context of judgment.
  • מֶסֶךְ (mesekh; “mixture”): This word means a mixed drink, often wine blended with spices or strong ingredients, making the “cup” more intense—emphasizing the thoroughness of God’s judgment.
  • שְׁמָרִים (shemarim; “dregs”): This refers to the sediment left at the bottom of wine, the bitter remains. The wicked are pictured as forced to drink even this, showing they must endure every last bit of judgment.
  • רְשָׁעִים (resha’im; “wicked”): This word points specifically to those who act unjustly or oppose God, clarifying who faces this judgment.

Why Psalms 75:8 matters

  • The verse clears up that God’s judgment is not partial or avoidable; the image of drinking the cup “to the dregs” means nothing is left out or skipped.
  • The strong, mixed wine highlights that God’s justice is not weak or diluted; it is complete and purposeful.
  • In the context of the psalm, this verse reassures the faithful that God sees injustice and will act, even if it seems delayed from a human perspective.

Where else these words appear

“dregs” Hebrew H8105 · used in 4 verses

  • Isaiah 25:6 And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.
  • Jeremiah 48:11 Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.
  • Zephaniah 1:12 And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.

“red” Hebrew H2560 · used in 6 verses

  • Exodus 2:3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.
  • Job 16:16 My face is foul with weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
  • Lamentations 1:20 Behold, O LORD; for I am in distress: my bowels are troubled; mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.

“out” Hebrew H4680 · used in 7 verses

  • Leviticus 1:15 And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off his head, and burn it on the altar; and the blood thereof shall be wrung out at the side of the altar:
  • Judges 6:38 And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.
  • Isaiah 51:17 Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cup of his fury; thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.

“out” Hebrew H5064 · used in 10 verses

  • 2 Samuel 14:14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person: yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.
  • Psalms 77:2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.
  • Ezekiel 35:5 Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end: