May they be ever ashamed and terrified; may they perish in disgrace.
Parallel translations
- WEB Let them be disappointed and dismayed forever. Yes, let them be confounded and perish;
- KJV Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:
- NKJV Let them be confounded and dismayed forever; Yes, let them be put to shame and perish,
- NASB May they be ashamed and dismayed forever, And may they be humiliated and perish,
- NLT Let them be ashamed and terrified forever. Let them die in disgrace.
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
Yet the psalmist also prays that the persistently defiant be dismayed and perish. Those who refuse to turn must face God's judgment.
Overview
Alongside the hope of v. 16, this verse asks that those who remain hardened be brought to ruin. The two outcomes, repentance or perishing, reflect the alternatives every opponent of God faces. The prayer leaves the enemies' fate to God's righteous judgment, which is always just.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Ps 35:4May those who seek my life be disgraced and put to shame; may those who plan to harm me be driven back and confounded.
- Ps 35:26May those who gloat in my distress be ashamed and confounded; may those who exalt themselves over me be clothed in shame and reproach.
- Ps 109:29May my accusers be clothed with disgrace; may they wear their shame like a robe.
- Ps 40:14–15May those who seek my life be ashamed and confounded; may those who wish me harm be repelled and humiliated.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 83:17 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.