Let not the floodwater overflow me, Nor let the deep swallow me up; And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.
Parallel translations
- WEB Don’t let the flood waters overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up. Don’t let the pit shut its mouth on me.
- KJV Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
- BSB Do not let the floods engulf me or the depths swallow me up; let not the Pit close its mouth over me.
- NASB May the flood of water not overflow me Nor the deep swallow me up, Nor the pit close its mouth on me.
- NLT Don’t let the floods overwhelm me, or the deep waters swallow me, or the pit of death devour me.
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 prays that the floods, the deep, and the pit would not swallow him up. It pleads for rescue from overwhelming, deadly danger.
Overview
David asks that the surging waters not overwhelm him, the deep not consume him, and the grave-like pit not close over him. The layered images convey the threat of being utterly lost. The deliverance sought here anticipates Christ's rescue from death itself, for the grave could not hold the one whom God raised, securing hope for all who trust him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Rev 12:15–16The serpent spewed water out of his mouth after the woman like a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream.
- Ps 16:10For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption.
- Isa 43:1–2But now Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel says: “Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by your name. You are mine.
- Acts 2:24whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.
- Jonah 2:2–7He said, “I called because of my affliction to Yahweh. He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice.
- Ps 124:4–5then the waters would have overwhelmed us, the stream would have gone over our soul;
- Ps 88:4–6I am counted among those who go down into the pit. I am like a man who has no help,
- Num 16:33–34So they, and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol. The earth closed on them, and they perished from among the assembly.
- Acts 2:31he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was his soul left in Hades, nor did his flesh see decay.
- Matt 12:40For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
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 69:15 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.