So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away.
Parallel translations
- WEB Their own tongues shall ruin them. All who see them will shake their heads.
- BSB They will be made to stumble, their own tongues turned against them. All who see will shake their heads.
- NKJV So He will make them stumble over their own tongue; All who see them shall flee away.
- NASB So they will make him stumble; Their own tongue is against them; All who see them will shake their heads.
- NLT Their own tongues will ruin them, and all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.
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 schemers are undone by their own words, and onlookers recoil. It shows that evil ultimately recoils upon those who practice it.
Overview
The very tongues used to wound others become the cause of the wicked's downfall, and witnesses shake their heads in dismay. God brings their malice back on their own heads. This poetic justice points to the moral order God upholds, fully vindicated at the last judgment.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Prov 18:7A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.
- Prov 12:13The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall come out of trouble.
- Ps 140:9As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.
- Jer 18:16To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
- Matt 21:41They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
- Ps 31:11I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.
- Luke 19:22And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:
- Ps 22:7All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
- Job 15:6Thine own mouth condemneth thee, and not I: yea, thine own lips testify against thee.
- Jer 48:27For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy.
- Nah 3:7And it shall come to pass, that all they that look upon thee shall flee from thee, and say, Nineveh is laid waste: who will bemoan her? whence shall I seek comforters for thee?
- Rev 18:4And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
- Ps 59:12For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak.
- Ps 9:3When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.
- 1 Sam 31:3–7And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.
- Num 16:34And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.
- Ps 52:6The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him:
- Rev 18:10Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
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 64:8 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.