Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish:
Parallel translations
- WEB Let them be disappointed and dismayed forever. Yes, let them be confounded and perish;
- BSB May they be ever ashamed and terrified; may they perish in disgrace.
- 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 35:4Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
- Ps 35:26Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me.
- Ps 109:29Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame, and let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a mantle.
- Ps 40:14–15Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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.