Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let the creditor seize all that he has. Let strangers plunder the fruit of his labor.
- BSB May the creditor seize all he owns, and strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.
- ESV May the creditor seize all that he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
- NKJV Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder his labor.
- NASB May the creditor seize everything that he has, And may strangers plunder the product of his labor.
- NLT May creditors seize his entire estate, and strangers take all he has earned.
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
David asks that creditors seize everything the wicked man owns and strangers plunder his earnings. The oppressor who robbed others is repaid in kind.
Overview
Because this enemy 'persecuted the poor and needy' (v. 16), the prayer asks that he be stripped of his gains by the same forces he showed no mercy. It reflects the biblical principle that the unjust reap what they sow (Galatians 6:7). God's justice ensures that ill-gotten wealth provides no lasting security.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Job 5:5Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance.
- Deut 28:50–51A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young:
- Deut 28:29And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.
- Deut 28:33–34The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:
- Job 20:18That which he laboured for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down: according to his substance shall the restitution be, and he shall not rejoice therein.
- Job 18:9–19The gin shall take him by the heel, and the robber shall prevail against him.
- Judg 6:3–6And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;
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 109:11 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.