His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.
Parallel translations
- WEB The trouble he causes shall return to his own head. His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.
- KJV His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.
- NKJV His trouble shall return upon his own head, And his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown.
- NASB His harm will return on his own head, And his violence will descend on the top of his own head.
- NLT The trouble they make for others backfires on them. The violence they plan falls on their own heads.
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 mischief the wicked man devises recoils onto his own head. God's justice turns evil back upon the one who plots it.
Overview
David closes his appeal in Psalm 7 confident that the violence designed against the innocent will rebound on the aggressor. This is the principle of poetic justice woven into God's moral order: the pit-digger falls into his own pit. It anticipates the cross, where evil's ultimate assault on the righteous One became the means of its own defeat.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Esth 9:25But when it came before the king, he commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should come back upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.
- Ps 37:12–13The wicked scheme against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them,
- 1 Kgs 2:32The LORD will bring his bloodshed back upon his own head, for without the knowledge of my father David he struck down two men more righteous and better than he when he put to the sword Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army.
- Ps 36:12There the evildoers lie fallen, thrown down and unable to rise.
- 1 Sam 28:19Moreover, the LORD will deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. And the LORD will deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.”
- 1 Sam 24:12–13May the LORD judge between you and me, and may the LORD take vengeance on you, but my hand will never be against you.
- 1 Sam 26:10David added, “As surely as the LORD lives, the LORD Himself will strike him down; either his day will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish.
- 1 Sam 31:3–4When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him critically.
- Ps 36:4Even on his bed he plots wickedness; he sets himself on a path that is not good; he fails to reject evil.
- 1 Sam 23:9When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.”
- Mal 2:3–5Behold, I will rebuke your descendants, and I will spread dung on your faces, the waste from your feasts, and you will be carried off with it.
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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 7:16 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
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