God’s Word Translation
Psalms 55:15
15Let death suddenly take ⌞wicked people⌟! Let them go into the grave while they are still alive, because evil lives in their homes as well as in their hearts.
Psalms 55:15 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.
- New International Version (NIV)Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to the realm of the dead, for evil finds lodging among them.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Let death steal over them; let them go down to Sheol alive; for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Let death seize them; Let them go down alive into hell, For wickedness is in their dwellings and among them.
Context of Psalms 55:15
13But it is you, my equal, my best friend, one I knew so well! 14We used to talk to each other in complete confidence and walk into God’s house with the festival crowds. Let death suddenly take ⌞wicked people⌟! Let them go into the grave while they are still alive, because evil lives in their homes as well as in their hearts. 16But I call on God, and the Lord saves me. 17Morning, noon, and night I complain and groan, and he listens to my voice.
Read all of Psalms 55Psalms 55:15 word by word
יַשִּׁ֤י מָ֨וֶת׀ עָלֵ֗ימוֹ יֵרְד֣וּ שְׁא֣וֹל חַיִּ֑ים כִּֽי־רָע֖וֹת בִּמְגוּרָ֣ם בְּקִרְבָּֽם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Let deathמָ֫וֶתmâveth · deathH4194
- seizeיְשִׁימָהyeshîymâh · desolationH3451
- seizeנָשָׁאnâshâ' · to deceiveH5377
- let them go downיָרַדyârad · to go downH3381
- quickחַיchay · aliveH2416
- into hellשְׁאוֹלshe'ôl she'ôl · hell: SheolH7585
- for wickednessרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: evilH7451
- in their dwellingsמָגוֹרmâgûr mâgûr · sojourningH4033
- amongקֶ֫רֶבqereb · entrails: inner partsH7130
Cross-references for Psalms 55:15
- Psalms 59:13Destroy them in your rage. Destroy them until not one of them is left. Then they will know that God rules Jacob to the ends of the earth. Selah
- Psalms 69:22Let the table set for them become a trap and a snare for their friends.
- Psalms 109:6⌞I said,⌟ “Appoint the evil one to oppose him. Let Satan stand beside him.
- 2 Samuel 17:23When Ahithophel saw that his advice hadn’t been followed, he saddled his donkey, left, and went home to his own city. He gave instructions to his family. Then he hanged himself, died, and was buried in his father’s tomb.
- 2 Samuel 18:9Absalom happened to come face to face with some of David’s men. He was riding on a mule, and the mule went under the tangled branches of a large tree. Absalom’s head became caught in the tree. So he was left hanging in midair when the mule that was under him ran away.
- Matthew 27:5So he threw the money into the temple, went away, and hanged himself.
- Acts 1:18With the money he received from the wrong he had done, he bought a piece of land where he fell headfirst to his death. His body split open, and all his internal organs came out.
- Numbers 16:30But if the Lord does something totally new—if the ground opens up, swallows them and everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive to their graves—then you’ll know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt.”
- Matthew 26:24The Son of Man is going to die as the Scriptures say he will. But how horrible it will be for that person who betrays the Son of Man. It would have been better for that person if he had never been born.”
- Acts 1:25Show us who is to take the place of Judas as an apostle, since Judas abandoned his position to go to the place where he belongs.”
- Psalms 9:17Wicked people, all the nations who forget God, will return to the grave.
Commentaries on Psalms 55:15
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15Let death seize upon them - This is a prediction of the sudden destruction which should fall on the ringleaders in this rebellion. And it was so. Ahithophel, seeing his counsel rejected, hanged himself. Absalom was defeated; and, fleeing away, he was suspended by the hair in a tree, under which his mule had passed; and being found thus by Joab, he was despatched with three darts; and the people who espoused his interests were almost all cut off. They fell…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15Let death seize upon them - This would be more correctly rendered, “Desolations (are) upon them!” That is, Desolation, or destruction will certainly come upon them. There is in the original no necessary expression of a wish or prayer that this might be, but it is rather the language of certain assurance - the expression of a fact - that such base conduct - such wickedness - would make their destruction certain; that as God is just, they must be…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-15Verses 9-15 No wickedness so distresses the believer, as that which he witnesses in those who profess to be of the church of God. Let us not be surprised at the corruptions and disorders of the church on earth, but long to see the New Jerusalem. He complains of one that had been very industrious against him. God often destroys the enemies of the church by dividing them. And an interest divided against itself cannot long stand. The true Christian must…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 12-20The psalmist's enemy used to be a friend. Remembering their close relationship causes him pain (see Psalm 31:11).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. Let death, &c.--or, "Desolations are on them." let them go--literally, "they will go." quick--or, living in the midst of life, death will come (compare Nu 16:33). among them--or, "within them," in their hearts (Psa 5:9; 49:11).Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 55:15
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 55
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- The Treasury of David
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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