Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, And he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Whoever digs a pit shall fall into it. Whoever rolls a stone, it will come back on him.
- KJV Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him.
- BSB He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.
- NASB One who digs a pit will fall into it, And one who rolls a stone, it will come back on him.
- NLT If you set a trap for others, you will get caught in it yourself. If you roll a boulder down on others, it will crush you instead.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Whoever digs a pit or rolls a stone to harm others will be caught by it themselves. Malice rebounds on the one who plots it.
Overview
This proverb expresses the principle of retributive justice: schemes to harm others tend to recoil upon their authors (Ps 7:15-16). It reflects the moral order God has woven into the world. It assures believers that evil will not finally prosper but returns upon the wicked.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Prov 28:10Whoever causes the upright to go astray in an evil way, he will fall into his own trap; but the blameless will inherit good.
- Ps 9:15The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made. In the net which they hid, their own foot is taken.
- Ps 7:15–16He has dug a hole, and has fallen into the pit which he made.
- Ps 10:2In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak. They are caught in the schemes that they devise.
- Eccl 10:8He who digs a pit may fall into it; and whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.
- Ps 57:6They have prepared a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They dig a pit before me. They fall into the middle of it themselves. Selah.
- Esth 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 26:27 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.