Limitless Word
Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.
Psalms 109:29 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Let my adversaries be clothed with dishonor. Let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.
  • BSB May my accusers be clothed with disgrace; may they wear their shame like a robe.
  • ESV May my accusers be clothed with dishonor; may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!
  • NKJV Let my accusers be clothed with shame, And let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle.
  • NASB May my accusers be clothed with dishonor, And may they cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.
  • NLT May my accusers be clothed with disgrace; may their humiliation cover them like a cloak.

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 prays that his adversaries be clothed with disgrace and shame as with a robe. The dishonor they sought for him will cover them instead.

Overview

Echoing the clothing imagery used of the wicked man's cursing (vv. 18-19), David asks that shame visibly envelop his accusers. It is a plea for just reversal, that those who dishonored the righteous be themselves dishonored before God. The believer, by contrast, is clothed with Christ's righteousness rather than shame (Galatians 3:27).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Ps 35:26Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me.
  • Ps 132:18His enemies will I clothe with shame: but upon himself shall his crown flourish.
  • Job 8:22They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.
  • Jer 20:11But the LORD is with me as a mighty terrible one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail: they shall be greatly ashamed; for they shall not prosper: their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
  • Ps 109:17–19As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.
  • Ps 6:10Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.
  • Dan 12:2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
  • Ps 140:9As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.
  • Mic 7:10Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 109:29YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 109:29 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.