They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them?
Parallel translations
- WEB They encourage themselves in evil plans. They talk about laying snares secretly. They say, “Who will see them?”
- BSB They hold fast to their evil purpose; they speak of hiding their snares. “Who will see them?” they say.
- NKJV They encourage themselves in an evil matter; They talk of laying snares secretly; They say, “Who will see them?”
- NASB They make firm for themselves an evil purpose; They talk of setting snares secretly; They say, “Who can see them?”
- NLT They encourage each other to do evil and plan how to set their traps in secret. “Who will ever notice?” they ask.
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
The wicked strengthen one another in evil and plot traps, confident no one sees them. It reveals the self-deceiving secrecy of sin.
Overview
Here the evildoers encourage each other in their plans and lay hidden snares, asking 'Who will see them?' Their question betrays a denial of God's all-seeing presence. Scripture insists nothing is hidden from God, before whom all hearts are exposed and to whom all must give account.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ps 140:5The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. Selah.
- Ps 10:11He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.
- Ezek 8:12Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.
- Job 22:13And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
- Ps 59:7Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth hear?
- Ps 94:7Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.
- Isa 41:6They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.
- 1 Sam 23:19–23Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?
- Ps 124:7Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.
- Exod 15:9The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.
- Num 22:6Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.
- Prov 1:11–14If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
- Matt 26:3–4Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,
- Rev 11:10And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
- Matt 23:15Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
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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 64:5 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
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