He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.
Parallel translations
- WEB He lurks in secret as a lion in his ambush. He lies in wait to catch the helpless. He catches the helpless, when he draws him in his net.
- BSB He lies in wait like a lion in a thicket; he lurks to seize the oppressed; he catches the lowly in his net.
- ESV he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.
- NKJV He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den; He lies in wait to catch the poor; He catches the poor when he draws him into his net.
- NASB He lurks in secret like a lion in his lair; He lurks to catch the needy; He catches the needy when he pulls him into his net.
- NLT Like lions crouched in hiding, they wait to pounce on the helpless. Like hunters they capture the helpless and drag them away in nets.
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
He lurks like a lion to seize the helpless and drag them off in his net. Predatory evil hunts the weak with ruthless cunning.
Overview
The psalmist intensifies the lion-and-net imagery to portray the wicked's relentless exploitation of the poor. The repetition of 'helpless' underscores the defenselessness of the victims. This vivid picture of injustice fuels the urgent plea for God to arise and defend the oppressed.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 27
- Ps 17:12Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
- Ps 59:3For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O LORD.
- Mic 7:2The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.
- Ps 35:10All my bones shall say, LORD, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?
- 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.
- Prov 22:16He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.
- Prov 14:31He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.
- Amos 5:11–12Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.
- Zech 11:3There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled.
- Amos 3:4Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?
- Amos 2:6–7Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;
- Isa 32:7The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.
- Job 5:15–16But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.
- Prov 28:15As a roaring lion, and a ranging bear; so is a wicked ruler over the poor people.
- Lam 3:10He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places.
- John 10:12But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
- Nah 2:11–12Where is the dwelling of the lions, and the feedingplace of the young lions, where the lion, even the old lion, walked, and the lion’s whelp, and none made them afraid?
- Ps 12:5For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.
- Isa 3:15What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord GOD of hosts.
- Hab 3:14Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his villages: they came out as a whirlwind to scatter me: their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly.
- Ezek 22:29The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
- Ps 37:14The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation.
- Hab 1:15They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.
- Ezek 19:3–6And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.
- Jer 5:26For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
- Acts 23:21But do not thou yield unto them: for there lie in wait for him of them more than forty men, which have bound themselves with an oath, that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him: and now are they ready, looking for a promise from thee.
- Ps 109:31For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, to save him from those that condemn his soul.
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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 10:9 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
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