For my enemies talk about me. Those who watch for my soul conspire together,
Parallel translations
- KJV For mine enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together,
- BSB For my enemies speak against me, and those who lie in wait for my life conspire,
- NKJV For my enemies speak against me; And those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together,
- NASB For my enemies have spoken against me; And those who watch for my life have consulted together,
- NLT For my enemies are whispering against me. They are plotting together to kill me.
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 psalmist's enemies talk against him and conspire together to take his life. It laments the plotting of those who seek his harm.
Overview
The psalmist reports that his foes speak against him and those who watch for his life take counsel together. Even in old age he faces conspiring enemies. This experience of being plotted against connects with the suffering righteous one throughout Scripture, ultimately Christ, against whom his enemies conspired, yet whom God vindicated.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 31:13For I have heard the slander of many, terror on every side, while they conspire together against me, they plot to take away my life.
- Ps 83:3They conspire with cunning against your people. They plot against your cherished ones.
- Ps 56:6They conspire and lurk, watching my steps, they are eager to take my life.
- Jer 20:10For I have heard the defaming of many, “Terror on every side! Denounce, and we will denounce him!” say all my familiar friends, those who watch for my fall. “Perhaps he will be persuaded, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.”
- Ps 37:32–33The wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to kill him.
- Matt 26:3–4Then the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas.
- 1 Sam 19:11Saul sent messengers to David’s house, to watch him, and to kill him in the morning. Michal, David’s wife, told him, saying, “If you don’t save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.”
- 2 Sam 17:1–14Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me now choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David tonight.
- Matt 27:1Now when morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:
- Ps 2:2The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh, and against his Anointed, saying,
- Prov 1:11If they say, “Come with us. Let’s lay in wait for blood. Let’s lurk secretly for the innocent without cause.
- Ps 10:9He lurks in secret as a lion in his ambush. He lies in wait to catch the helpless. He catches the helpless, when he draws him in his net.
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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 71:10 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.