They dig a deep pit to trap others, then fall into it themselves.
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.
- BSB He has dug a hole and hollowed it out; he has fallen into a pit of his own making.
- 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.
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 4:8According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity, and sow trouble, reap the same.
- Ps 141:10Let the wicked fall together into their own nets, while I pass by.
- Prov 26:27Whoever digs a pit shall fall into it. Whoever rolls a stone, it will come back on him.
- Ps 35:7–8For without cause they have hidden their net in a pit for me. Without cause they have dug a pit for my soul.
- Ps 10:2In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak. They are caught in the schemes that they devise.
- Eccl 10:8–9He who digs a pit may fall into it; and whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.
- Ps 57:6They have prepared a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They dig a pit before me. They fall into the middle of it themselves. Selah.
- Ps 9:15–16The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made. In the net which they hid, their own foot is taken.
- Esth 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.
- Ps 140:9–10As for the head of those who surround me, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.
- Prov 5:22The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
- Jer 18:20Shall evil be recompensed for good? For they have dug a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them.
- Ps 119:85The proud have dug pits for me, contrary to your law.
- Ps 94:13that you may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit is dug for the wicked.
- Job 6:27Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless, and make merchandise of 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.