Bible Strands
Psalms 69:25
May their place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God directly, following a request for wrath to overtake adversaries who persecute the one God has struck and recount the pain of His wounded (Psalms 69:24, 26). This curse functions as the immediate conclusion to that plea for divine judgment.
The words — The verse employs תְּהִי (te.hi), meaning "may it be," and נְשַׁמָּה (ne.shammah), meaning "made desolate," to declare "May it be made desolate" (Psalms 69:25). It couples this with אַל יְהִי יֹשֵׁב ('al yehi yoshev), literally "may not anyone be dwelling," to specify the permanent absence of inhabitants in their tents.
The thread — The identical phrasing appears in Acts 1:20 applied to Judas, while the broader desolation theme runs through Matthew 23:38 and Jeremiah 7:12 regarding abandoned houses and the ruined sanctuary at Shiloh.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to accept that persistent opposition to God’s afflicted provokes a direct demand for the complete removal of the oppressors’ presence and power. It asks for recognition that divine justice operates through the stripping of habitation and influence from those who actively oppose His purposes.
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
Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.
Cross-references
- Acts 1:20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms: ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, ‘May another take his position.’
- Matthew 23:38 Look, your house is left to you desolate.
- Jeremiah 7:12 But go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for My Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.
- Isaiah 6:11 Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupied and the land is desolate and ravaged,
- Luke 13:35 Look, your house is left to you desolate. And I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
- 1 Kings 9:8 And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’
- Matthew 24:1 As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, His disciples came up to Him to point out its buildings.
- Isaiah 5:1 I will sing for my beloved a song of his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.