The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.
Parallel translations
- WEB In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak. They are caught in the schemes that they devise.
- BSB In pride the wicked pursue the needy; let them be caught in the schemes they devise.
- ESV In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.
- NKJV The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
- NASB In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the needy; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
- NLT The wicked arrogantly hunt down the poor. Let them be caught in the evil they plan for others.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
In arrogance the wicked hunt the weak, who are caught in the schemes devised. The proud oppress the vulnerable, yet their plots will trap themselves.
Overview
The psalmist describes the wicked preying on the poor through prideful cunning. The final clause hints at the just reversal whereby evil schemes ensnare their makers. This portrait of arrogant oppression sets up the prayer for God to defend the helpless that closes the psalm.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Ps 59:12For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak.
- Ps 36:11Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me.
- Ps 7:16His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.
- Prov 5:22His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
- Ps 31:18Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
- Ps 119:122Be surety for thy servant for good: let not the proud oppress me.
- Isa 10:12–13Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
- Ps 140:5The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. Selah.
- Ps 119:85The proud have digged pits for me, which are not after thy law.
- Ps 119:69The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.
- Ps 9:15–16The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
- Ps 119:5O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
- Isa 14:16They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
- Jer 43:2Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the LORD our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there:
- Isa 14:13For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
- Exod 18:11Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods: for in the thing wherein they dealt proudly he was above them.
- Exod 9:17As yet exaltest thou thyself against my people, that thou wilt not let them go?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 10:2 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.