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He will rain down blazing coals and burning sulfur on the wicked, punishing them with scorching winds.
Psalms 11:6 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB On the wicked he will rain blazing coals; fire, sulfur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
  • KJV Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
  • BSB On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.
  • NKJV Upon the wicked He will rain coals; Fire and brimstone and a burning wind Shall be the portion of their cup.
  • NASB He will rain coals of fire upon the wicked, And brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.

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

On the wicked God will rain fire, sulfur, and scorching wind as their portion. Judgment is the appointed cup of those who love violence.

Overview

David pictures the wicked's destiny in imagery recalling the judgment of Sodom (Genesis 19:24). Their 'cup' is the measured portion God assigns to the unrepentant. This sober warning underscores that God's justice is certain, while it implicitly magnifies the mercy by which Christ drank the cup of judgment for sinners.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 21

  • Ezek 38:22With pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him, and on his hordes, and on the many peoples who are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and sulfur.
  • Gen 19:24Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of the sky.
  • Ezek 13:13“‘Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “I will even tear it with a stormy wind in my wrath. There shall be an overflowing shower in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to consume it.
  • Luke 17:29but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from the sky, and destroyed them all.
  • Ps 75:8For in Yahweh’s hand there is a cup, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours it out. Indeed the wicked of the earth drink and drink it to its very dregs.
  • Job 18:15There shall dwell in his tent that which is none of his. Sulfur shall be scattered on his habitation.
  • Job 20:23When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath on him. It will rain on him while he is eating.
  • Job 27:13–23“This is the portion of a wicked man with God, the heritage of oppressors, which they receive from the Almighty.
  • John 18:11Jesus therefore said to Peter, “Put the sword into its sheath. The cup which the Father has given me, shall I not surely drink it?”
  • Jer 25:15–17For Yahweh, the God of Israel, says to me: “take this cup of the wine of wrath at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it.
  • Hab 2:16You are filled with shame, and not glory. You will also drink, and be exposed! The cup of Yahweh’s right hand will come around to you, and disgrace will cover your glory.
  • Ps 105:32He gave them hail for rain, with lightning in their land.
  • Jer 4:11–12At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem, “A hot wind from the bare heights in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to winnow, nor to cleanse;
  • Isa 24:17–18Fear, the pit, and the snare, are on you who inhabitant the earth.
  • Isa 51:17Awake, awake! Stand up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from Yahweh’s hand the cup of his wrath. You have drunken the bowl of the cup of staggering, and drained it.
  • Ps 16:5Yahweh assigned my portion and my cup. You made my lot secure.
  • Exod 9:23–24Moses stretched out his rod toward the heavens, and Yahweh sent thunder, hail, and lightning flashed down to the earth. Yahweh rained hail on the land of Egypt.
  • Isa 51:22Thus says your Lord Yahweh, your God who pleads the cause of his people, “Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of staggering, even the bowl of the cup of my wrath. You will not drink it any more:
  • Gen 43:34He sent portions to them from before him, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. They drank, and were merry with him.
  • 1 Sam 9:23Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion which I gave you, of which I said to you, ‘Set it aside.’”
  • 1 Sam 1:4When the day came that Elkanah sacrificed, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

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 11:6YouTube · 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 11:6 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.