Bible Strands
Psalms 9:17
The wicked will return to Sheol—all the nations who forget God.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist declares the fate of the wicked as part of a testimony to God's justice, bracketed by the image of the wicked ensnared by their own hands (v. 16) and the promise that the needy will not be forgotten (v. 18).
The words — שָׁכַח (shakach, H7913) "to forget" carries the sense of deliberate abandonment of a relationship, not mere lapse of memory. The verb שׁוּב (shuv, H7725) "to return" frames Sheol not as a new destination but as a reversion to a prior state of separation.
The thread — The same "forgetting God" language appears in Psalms 50:22 as a direct warning. The eschatological judgment on the wicked continues in Romans 2:8 and reaches its final form in Revelation 21:8.
Why it lands — The verse names the root cause as relational forgetfulness rather than mere ethical failure, which forces the reader to ask whether their own distance from God is the mechanism by which they are being ensnared.
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
The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.
Cross-references
- Psalms 50:22 Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:
- Romans 2:8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger.
- Revelation 21:8 But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
- 2 Thessalonians 1:7 and to grant relief to you who are oppressed and to us as well. This will take place when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels
- Job 8:13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so the hope of the godless will perish.
- Isaiah 3:11 Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.
- Jeremiah 2:32 Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.
- Jeremiah 13:25 This is your lot, the portion I have measured to you,” declares the LORD, “because you have forgotten Me and trusted in falsehood.
- Jeremiah 18:15 Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to worthless idols that make them stumble in their ways, leaving the ancient roads to walk on rutted bypaths instead of on the highway.
- Revelation 20:15 And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.