Bible Strands
Psalms 56:6
They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps while they wait to take my life.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks directly to God while describing a coordinated campaign by enemies who have spent the day twisting his words and plotting his death.
The words — The Hebrew יִצְפּ֗וֹנוּ (yitz.Po.nu) means they lie hidden, and יִשְׁמֹ֑רוּ (yish.Mo.ru) means they watch for, together depicting adversaries who conceal themselves to track the psalmist’s movements.
The thread — This motif of concealed watchers and conspirators against the righteous runs through Psalms 59:3, Psalms 71:10, and Psalms 140:2, where similar groups lie in wait or devise evil.
Why it lands — The text records the concrete reality of calculated opposition and directs the reader to observe the certainty of divine judgment rather than human evasion.
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
King James Version
They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul.
Cross-references
- Psalms 59:3 See how they lie in wait for me. Fierce men conspire against me for no transgression or sin of my own, O LORD.
- Psalms 71:10 For my enemies speak against me, and those who lie in wait for my life conspire,
- Psalms 140:2 who devise evil in their hearts and stir up war all day long.
- Luke 20:20 So they watched Him closely and sent spies who pretended to be sincere. They were hoping to catch Him in His words in order to hand Him over to the rule and authority of the governor.
- Acts 23:12 When daylight came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
- Job 14:16 For then You would count my steps, but would not keep track of my sin.
- Job 31:4 Does He not see my ways and count my every step?
- Psalms 2:1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
- Psalms 10:8 He lies in wait near the villages; in ambush he slays the innocent; his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless.
- Psalms 37:32 Though the wicked lie in wait for the righteous, and seek to slay them,