His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.
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.
- BSB His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.
- 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 Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.
- Ps 37:12–13The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
- 1 Kgs 2:32And the LORD shall return his blood upon his own head, who fell upon two men more righteous and better than he, and slew them with the sword, my father David not knowing thereof, to wit, Abner the son of Ner, captain of the host of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, captain of the host of Judah.
- Ps 36:12There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.
- 1 Sam 28:19Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.
- 1 Sam 24:12–13The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.
- 1 Sam 26:10David said furthermore, As the LORD liveth, the LORD shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish.
- 1 Sam 31:3–4And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.
- Ps 36:4He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil.
- 1 Sam 23:9And David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod.
- Mal 2:3–5Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away 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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