There the workers of iniquity have fallen; They have been cast down and are not able to rise.
Parallel translations
- WEB There the workers of iniquity are fallen. They are thrust down, and shall not be able to rise.
- KJV There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.
- BSB There the evildoers lie fallen, thrown down and unable to rise.
- NASB Those who do injustice have fallen there; They have been thrust down and cannot rise.
- NLT Look! Those who do evil have fallen! They are thrown down, never to rise again.
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 sees by faith the workers of iniquity already fallen, thrust down and unable to rise. Evil's final defeat is certain.
Overview
The psalm ends with a confident vision of the wicked cast down for good, 'not able to rise.' Though wickedness seems strong now, David speaks of its downfall as accomplished, resting in God's sure justice. This anticipates the gospel's assurance that sin, death, and evil are decisively defeated through the cross and resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 1:5Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
- 2 Th 1:8–9giving vengeance to those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus,
- Ps 55:23But you, God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in you.
- Rev 19:1–6After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation, power, and glory belong to our God:
- Ps 64:7–9But God will shoot at them. They will be suddenly struck down with an arrow.
- Rev 15:4Who wouldn’t fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you only are holy. For all the nations will come and worship before you. For your righteous acts have been revealed.”
- Jer 51:64Then you shall say, ‘Thus will Babylon sink, and will not rise again because of the evil that I will bring on her; and they shall be weary.’” Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
- Ps 9:16Yahweh has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah.
- Judg 5:31“So let all your enemies perish, Yahweh, but let those who love him be as the sun when it rises in its strength.” Then the land had rest forty years.
- Ps 18:38I will strike them through, so that they will not be able to rise. They shall fall under my feet.
- Ps 58:10–11The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked;
- Ps 140:10Let burning coals fall on them. Let them be thrown into the fire, into miry pits, from where they never rise.
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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 36:12 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.