He has dug a hole and hollowed it out; he has fallen into a pit of his own making.
Parallel translations
- WEB He has dug a hole, and has fallen into the pit which he made.
- KJV He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.
- NKJV He made a pit and dug it out, And has fallen into the ditch which he made.
- NASB He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, And has fallen into the hole which he made.
- NLT They dig a deep pit to trap others, then fall into it themselves.
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 man digs a pit but falls into it himself. Evil schemes ultimately recoil upon those who devise them.
Overview
David describes the just irony of providence: the trap set for others becomes the trapper's own ruin. This principle of evil rebounding on its author runs throughout Scripture as a mark of God's righteous government. It assures the faithful that, in God's justice, wickedness is finally self-defeating, and supremely so at the cross, where evil's greatest scheme became its own undoing.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Job 4:8As I have observed, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble reap the same.
- Ps 141:10Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety.
- Prov 26:27He who digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.
- Ps 35:7–8For without cause they laid their net for me; without reason they dug a pit for my soul.
- Ps 10:2In pride the wicked pursue the needy; let them be caught in the schemes they devise.
- Eccl 10:8–9He who digs a pit may fall into it, and he who breaches a wall may be bitten by a snake.
- Ps 57:6They spread a net for my feet; my soul was despondent. They dug a pit before me, but they themselves have fallen into it! Selah
- Ps 9:15–16The nations have fallen into a pit of their making; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
- Esth 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.
- Ps 140:9–10May the heads of those who surround me be covered in the trouble their lips have caused.
- Prov 5:22The iniquities of a wicked man entrap him; the cords of his sin entangle him.
- Jer 18:20Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You to speak good on their behalf, to turn Your wrath from them.
- Ps 119:85The arrogant have dug pits for me in violation of Your law.
- Ps 94:13to grant him relief from days of trouble, until a pit is dug for the wicked.
- Job 6:27You would even cast lots for an orphan and barter away your friend.
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 7:15 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.