In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the needy; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
Parallel translations
- WEB In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak. They are caught in the schemes that they devise.
- KJV The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.
- BSB In pride the wicked pursue the needy; let them be caught in the schemes they devise.
- NKJV The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor; 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 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 be caught in their pride, for the curses and lies which they utter.
- Ps 36:11Don’t let the foot of pride come against me. Don’t let the hand of the wicked drive me away.
- Ps 7:16The trouble he causes shall return to his own head. His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.
- Prov 5:22The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
- Ps 31:18Let the lying lips be mute, which speak against the righteous insolently, with pride and contempt.
- Ps 119:122Ensure your servant’s well-being. Don’t let the proud oppress me.
- Isa 10:12–13Therefore it will happen that, when the Lord has performed his whole work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the willful proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the insolence of his haughty looks.
- Ps 140:5The proud have hidden a snare for me, they have spread the cords of a net by the path. They have set traps for me. Selah.
- Ps 119:85The proud have dug pits for me, contrary to your law.
- Ps 119:69The proud have smeared a lie upon me. With my whole heart, I will keep your precepts.
- Ps 9:15–16The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made. In the net which they hid, their own foot is taken.
- Ps 119:5Oh that my ways were steadfast to obey your statutes!
- Isa 14:16Those who see you will stare at you. They will ponder you, saying, “Is this the man who made the earth to tremble, who shook kingdoms;
- Jer 43:2then Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely. Yahweh our God has not sent you to say, ‘You shall not go into Egypt to live there;’
- Isa 14:13You said in your heart, “I will ascend into heaven! I will exalt my throne above the stars of God! I will sit on the mountain of assembly, in the far north!
- Exod 18:11Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all gods because of the thing in which they dealt arrogantly against them.”
- Exod 9:17as you still exalt yourself against my people, that you won’t let them go.
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
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.