The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made; In the net which they hid, their own foot is caught.
Parallel translations
- WEB The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made. In the net which they hid, their own foot is taken.
- KJV The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
- BSB The nations have fallen into a pit of their making; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.
- NASB The nations have sunk down into the pit which they have made; In the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.
- NLT The nations have fallen into the pit they dug for others. Their own feet have been caught in the trap they set.
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 nations have sunk into the pit they dug and are caught in their own hidden net. Evil schemes recoil upon those who devise them.
Overview
David celebrates the just reversal by which the wicked are ensnared by their own traps. This recurring biblical theme shows that sin carries the seeds of its own undoing under God's moral order. It assures the faithful that God need not always intervene visibly, for evil often destroys itself by His design.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Ps 57:6They have prepared a net for my steps. My soul is bowed down. They dig a pit before me. They fall into the middle of it themselves. Selah.
- Ps 7:15–16He has dug a hole, and has fallen into the pit which he made.
- Prov 5:22The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him. The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
- Ps 35:8Let destruction come on him unawares. Let his net that he has hidden catch himself. Let him fall into that destruction.
- Prov 22:8He who sows wickedness reaps trouble, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
- Ps 94:23He has brought on them their own iniquity, and will cut them off in their own wickedness. Yahweh, our God, will cut them off.
- Ps 37:15Their sword shall enter into their own heart. Their bows shall be broken.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 9:15 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.