Psalms 141:10

Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The psalmist addresses God directly, extending the plea from the previous verse to be delivered from the traps set by evildoers. The speaker is a righteous individual seeking preservation while surrounded by active persecution.

The words — The Hebrew יִפְּלוּ (yi.pe.Lu) means "let them fall," paired with בְּמַכְמֹרָיו (be.makh.mo.Rav) meaning "in his own nets." These terms highlight that the destruction comes from the wicked's own prepared traps.

The thread — This pattern of self-ensnarement appears in Psalms 35:8, where ruin strikes the wicked through their hidden net, and in Esther 7:10, where Haman dies on the gallows he built for Mordecai. The texts record divine justice executing through the very schemes the wicked devise.

Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to accept preservation without taking personal vengeance, trusting that God will allow the wicked to be destroyed by their own plots. It demands a posture of patient reliance on divine justice rather than self-defense.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

יִפְּל֣וּyi.pe.Lulet them fall בְמַכְמֹרָ֣יוve./makh.mo.Ra/vin/ own nets/ his רְשָׁעִ֑יםre.sha.'Imwicked [people]יַ֥חַדYa.chadtogether אָ֝נֹכִ֗י'a.no.KhiI עַֽד־'ad-until אֶעֱבֽוֹר׃'e.'e.VorI will pass by

King James Version

Let the wicked fall into their own nets, whilst that I withal escape.

Cross-references

Psalms 35:8 May ruin befall them by surprise; may the net they hid ensnare them; may they fall into the hazard they created.
Psalms 140:9 May the heads of those who surround me be covered in the trouble their lips have caused.
Esther 7:10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.
Psalms 7:15 He has dug a hole and hollowed it out; he has fallen into a pit of his own making.
Psalms 64:7 But God will shoot them with arrows; suddenly they will be wounded.
Proverbs 11:8 The righteous man is delivered from trouble; in his place the wicked man goes in.
Psalms 37:14 The wicked have drawn the sword and bent the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright.