May burning coals fall on them; may they be thrown into the fire, into the miry pits, never to rise again.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let burning coals fall on them. Let them be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, from where they never rise.
- KJV Let burning coals fall upon them: let them be cast into the fire; into deep pits, that they rise not up again.
- NKJV Let burning coals fall upon them; Let them be cast into the fire, Into deep pits, that they rise not up again.
- NASB “May burning coals fall upon them; May they be cast into the fire, Into bottomless pits from which they cannot rise.
- NLT Let burning coals fall down on their heads. Let them be thrown into the fire or into watery pits from which they can’t escape.
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 burning coals and fire fall on the wicked, casting them into pits from which they never rise. It calls for decisive divine judgment on persistent evildoers.
Overview
The vivid images of coals, fire, and pits depict thorough and final judgment, echoing God's judgment on Sodom. David prays for God to act as the righteous Judge rather than taking matters into his own hands. Such warnings of judgment make the offer of mercy in Christ all the more urgent (2 Corinthians 5:11).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ps 11:6On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur; a scorching wind will be their portion.
- Ps 21:9You will place them in a fiery furnace at the time of Your appearing. In His wrath the LORD will engulf them, and the fire will consume them.
- Rev 21:8But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
- Rev 20:15And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
- Rev 16:8–9Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was given power to scorch the people with fire.
- Prov 28:10He who leads the upright along the path of evil will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will inherit what is good.
- Ps 55:23But You, O God, will bring them down to the Pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.
- Gen 19:24Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
- Exod 9:23–24So Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. So the LORD rained down hail upon the land of Egypt.
- Matt 13:50and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
- Prov 28:17A man burdened by bloodguilt will flee into the Pit; let no one support him.
- Matt 13:42And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
- Ps 18:13–14The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded—hailstones and coals of fire.
- Ps 120:4Sharp arrows will come from the warrior, with burning coals of the broom tree!
- Dan 3:20–25and he commanded some mighty men of valor in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing fiery furnace.
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 140:10 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.