May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let their eyes be darkened, so that they can’t see. Let their backs be continually bent.
- KJV Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.
- NKJV Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see; And make their loins shake continually.
- NASB May their eyes grow dim so that they cannot see, And make their hips shake continually.
- NLT Let their eyes go blind so they cannot see, and make their bodies shake continually.
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 his enemies be blinded and weakened under God's judgment. It invokes God to bring the wicked to ruin.
Overview
David asks that his persecutors' eyes be darkened and their strength broken, images of spiritual blindness and helplessness under judgment. Paul cites this in Romans 11 regarding Israel's partial hardening in rejecting Christ. Such severe prayers leave justice to God and warn of the real consequences of opposing his anointed one, while the gospel still offers mercy to all who turn.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Dan 5:6his face grew pale and his thoughts so alarmed him that his hips gave way and his knees knocked together.
- Rom 11:10May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.”
- Isa 6:9–10And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
- 2 Cor 3:14But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed.
- Acts 28:26–27‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”
- Jer 30:6Ask now, and see: Can a male give birth? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?
- Isa 21:3–4Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see.
- Deut 28:65–67Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.
- Isa 29:9–10Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink.
- Rom 11:25I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
- John 12:39–40For this reason they were unable to believe. For again, Isaiah says:
- Matt 13:14–15In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
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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 69:23 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.