Psalms 38 · Verse 12

Psalms 38:12

They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.
Psalms 38:12, King James Version

Psalms 38:12 in other translations

BSBThose who seek my life lay snares; those who wish me harm speak destruction, plotting deceit all day long.
WEBThey also who seek after my life lay snares. Those who seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and meditate deceits all day long.
ASVThey also that seek after my life lay snares for me; And they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, And meditate deceits all the day long.
YLTAnd those seeking my soul lay a snare, And those seeking my evil Have spoken mischievous things, And they do deceits meditate all the day.
DARBYAnd they that seek after my life lay snares for me; and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and meditate deceits all the day long.
BBEThose who have a desire to take my life put nets for me; those who are designing my destruction say evil things against me, all the day their minds are full of deceit.
WebsterThey also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.

What does Psalms 38:12 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 38:11-12

11-12. Friends desert, but foes increase in malignity.

Read the full comment on Psalms 38:11-12 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 12 They also that seek after my life - They act towards me as huntsmen after their prey; they lay snares to take away my life. Perhaps this means only that they wished for his death, and would have been glad to have had it in their power to end his days. Others spoke all manner of evil of him, and told falsities against him all the day long.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 38:12-22
Wicked men hate goodness, even when they benefit by it. David, in the complaints he makes of his enemies, seems to refer to Christ. But our enemies do us real mischief only when they drive us from God and our duty. The true believer's trouble will be made useful; he will learn to wait for his God, and will not seek relief from the world or himself. The less we notice the unkindness and injuries that are done us, the more we consult the quiet of our own minds. David's troubles were the chastisement and the consequence of his transgressions, whilst Christ suffered for our sins and ours only. What right can a sinner have to yield to impatience or anger, when mercifully corrected for his sins? David was very sensible of the present workings of corruption in him. Good men, by setting their sorrow continually before them, have been ready to fall; but by setting God always before them, they have kept their standing. If we are truly penitent for sin, that will make us patient under affliction. Nothing goes nearer to the heart of a believer when in affliction, than to be under the apprehension of God's deserting him; nor does any thing come more feelingly from his heart than this prayer, "Be not far from me." The Lord will hasten to help those who trust in him as their salvation.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Psalms 38:12 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיְנַקְשׁ֤וּ\׀vay.nak.Shuand they set trapsH5367
מְבַקְשֵׁ֬יme.vak.Shei[those who] seekH1245
נַפְשִׁ֗יnaf.Shi<of> life myH5315
וְדֹרְשֵׁ֣יve.do.re.Sheiand [those who] seekH1875
רָ֭עָתִיRa.'a.ti<of> harm myH7451
דִּבְּר֣וּdi.be.Ruthey have spokenH1696
הַוּ֑וֹתha.Votdestruction<s>H1942
וּ֝מִרְמ֗וֹתu.mir.Motand deceit<s>H4820
כָּל\־kol-allH3605
הַיּ֥וֹםhai.Yomthe dayH3117
יֶהְגּֽוּ\׃yeh.Guthey deviseH1897

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Psalms 38:12

  • Psalms 35:20

    For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.

  • 2 Samuel 17:1-3

    Moreover Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Let me now choose out twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night: And I will come upon him while he is weary and weak handed, and will make him afraid: and all the people that are with him shall flee; and I will smite the king only: And I will bring back all the people unto thee: the man whom thou seekest is as if all returned: so all the people shall be in peace.

  • Psalms 140:5

    The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside; they have set gins for me. Selah.

  • Psalms 54:3

    For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.

  • Psalms 141:9

    Keep me from the snares which they have laid for me, and the gins of the workers of iniquity.

  • Psalms 64:2-5

    Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity: Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words: That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not. They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them?

  • Luke 20:19-22

    And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them. And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor. And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly: Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Cesar, or no?

  • Psalms 35:4

    Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.

  • 2 Samuel 16:7-8

    And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial: The Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man.

  • Psalms 119:110

    The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts.

  • Psalms 10:9

    He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.

  • Psalms 62:3-4

    How long will ye imagine mischief against a man? ye shall be slain all of you: as a bowing wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence. They only consult to cast him down from his excellency: they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. Selah.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
lay snares.
10:9; 64:2-5; 119:110; 140:5; 141:9; 2Sa 17:1-3; Lu 20:19,20
speak.
35:20; 62:3,4; 2Sa 16:7,8; Lu 20:21,22

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Psalms 38:11

    My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off.

  • Psalms 38:12

    They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long.

  • Psalms 38:13

    But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.

Read all of Psalms 38

Psalms 38:12 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Y los que buscaban mi alma armaron lazos; y los que procuraban mi mal hablaban iniquidades, y meditaban fraudes todo el día.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Ceux qui m’aiment, et mes compagnons, se tiennent loin de ma plaie, et mes proches se tiennent à distance,
German
Elberfelder 1871
Und die nach meinem Leben trachten, legen mir Schlingen; und die mein Unglück suchen, reden von Schadentun und sinnen auf Trug den ganzen Tag.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
A fortitudine manus tuæ ego defeci in increpationibus: propter iniquitatem corripuisti hominem. Et tabescere fecisti sicut araneam animam ejus: verumtamen vane conturbatur omnis homo.