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The Lord is known for his justice. The wicked are trapped by their own deeds. Quiet Interlude
Psalms 9:16 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB Yahweh has made himself known. He has executed judgment. The wicked is snared by the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah.
  • KJV The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.
  • BSB The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah
  • NKJV The Lord is known by the judgment He executes; The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Meditation. Selah
  • NASB The Lord has made Himself known; He has executed judgment. A wicked one is ensnared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion Selah

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

God is known by the justice He executes, snaring the wicked in their own works. God reveals His character through righteous judgment.

Overview

David declares that Yahweh makes Himself known precisely by judging righteously, with the wicked trapped by their own deeds. The musical notations 'Higgaion' and 'Selah' invite reflective pause on this truth. God's self-revelation through justice culminates in the cross and final judgment, where His righteousness is fully displayed.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 23

  • Exod 7:5The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I stretch out my hand on Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.”
  • Prov 12:13An evil man is trapped by sinfulness of lips, but the righteous shall come out of trouble.
  • Ps 83:17–18Let them be disappointed and dismayed forever. Yes, let them be confounded and perish;
  • Exod 14:31Israel saw the great work which Yahweh did to the Egyptians, and the people feared Yahweh; and they believed in Yahweh, and in his servant Moses.
  • Exod 14:4I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will follow after them; and I will get honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies; and the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh.” They did so.
  • Judg 1:7Adoni-Bezek said, “Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their big toes cut off, scavenged under my table. As I have done, so God has done to me.” They brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.
  • Josh 2:10–11For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed.
  • Isa 8:15Many will stumble over it, fall, be broken, be snared, and be captured.”
  • Ps 5:1For the Chief Musician, with the flutes. A Psalm by David. Give ear to my words, Yahweh. Consider my meditation.
  • 1 Sam 6:19–20He struck of the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into Yahweh’s ark, he struck fifty thousand seventy of the men. Then the people mourned, because Yahweh had struck the people with a great slaughter.
  • Prov 6:2You are trapped by the words of your mouth. You are ensnared with the words of your mouth.
  • Exod 14:10When Pharaoh came near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were very afraid. The children of Israel cried out to Yahweh.
  • Deut 29:22–28The generation to come, your children who will rise up after you, and the foreigner who will come from a far land, will say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which Yahweh has made it sick;
  • 2 Kgs 19:34–35‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.’”
  • Ps 11:6On the wicked he will rain blazing coals; fire, sulfur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
  • Ps 48:11Let Mount Zion be glad! Let the daughters of Judah rejoice, Because of your judgments.
  • 1 Sam 17:46Today, Yahweh will deliver you into my hand. I will strike you, and take your head from off you. I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines today to the birds of the sky, and to the wild animals of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
  • Ps 58:10–11The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked;
  • 2 Kgs 19:19Now therefore, Yahweh our God, save us, I beg you, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Yahweh, are God alone.”
  • Ps 19:14Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Yahweh, my rock, and my redeemer.
  • Isa 28:13Therefore Yahweh’s word will be to them precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, fall backward, be broken, be snared, and be taken.
  • Ps 140:9As for the head of those who surround me, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.
  • Ps 92:3with the ten-stringed lute, with the harp, and with the melody of the lyre.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 9:16YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 9:16 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

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.