Psalm 55:15
New International Version
Let death take my enemies by surprise; let them go down alive to the realm of the dead, for evil finds lodging among them.

New Living Translation
Let death stalk my enemies; let the grave swallow them alive, for evil makes its home within them.

English Standard Version
Let death steal over them; let them go down to Sheol alive; for evil is in their dwelling place and in their heart.

Berean Standard Bible
Let death seize them by surprise; let them go down to Sheol alive, for evil is with them in their homes.

King James Bible
Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.

New King James Version
Let death seize them; Let them go down alive into hell, For wickedness is in their dwellings and among them.

New American Standard Bible
May death come deceitfully upon them; May they go down alive to Sheol, For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.

NASB 1995
Let death come deceitfully upon them; Let them go down alive to Sheol, For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.

NASB 1977
Let death come deceitfully upon them; Let them go down alive to Sheol, For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.

Legacy Standard Bible
Let death come deceitfully upon them; Let them go down alive to Sheol, For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.

Amplified Bible
Let death come deceitfully upon them; Let them go down alive to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), For evil [of every kind] is in their dwelling and in their hearts, in their midst.

Christian Standard Bible
Let death take them by surprise; let them go down to Sheol alive, because evil is in their homes and within them.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Let death take them by surprise; let them go down to Sheol alive, because evil is in their homes and within them.

American Standard Version
Let death come suddenly upon them, Let them go down alive into Sheol; For wickedness is in their dwelling, in the midst of them.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Bring the plague upon them and they shall descend alive to Sheol because evil is within them.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Let death come upon them, and let them go down alive into Hades, for iniquity is in their dwellings, in the midst of them.

Contemporary English Version
All who hate me are controlled by the power of evil. Sentence them to death and send them down alive to the world of the dead.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Let death come upon them, and let them go down alive into hell. For there is wickedness in their dwellings: in the midst of them.

English Revised Version
Let death come suddenly upon them, let them go down alive into the pit: for wickedness is in their dwelling, in the midst of them.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
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.

Good News Translation
May my enemies die before their time; may they go down alive into the world of the dead! Evil is in their homes and in their hearts.

International Standard Version
Let death seize them! May they be plunged alive into the afterlife, for wicked things are in their homes and among them.

JPS Tanakh 1917
May He incite death against them, Let them go down alive into the nether-world; For evil is in their dwelling, and within them.

Literal Standard Version
Desolations [are] on them, | They go down [to] Sheol—alive, | For wickedness [is] in their dwelling, in their midst.

Majority Standard Bible
Let death seize them by surprise; let them go down to Sheol alive, for evil is with them in their homes.

New American Bible
Let death take them; let them go down alive to Sheol, for evil is in their homes and bellies.

NET Bible
May death destroy them! May they go down alive into Sheol! For evil is in their dwelling place and in their midst.

New Revised Standard Version
Let death come upon them; let them go down alive to Sheol; for evil is in their homes and in their hearts.

New Heart English Bible
Let death come suddenly on them. Let them go down alive into Sheol. For wickedness is in their dwelling, in the midst of them.

Webster's Bible Translation
Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.

World English Bible
Let death come suddenly on them. Let them go down alive into Sheol. For wickedness is among them, in their dwelling.

Young's Literal Translation
Desolations are upon them, They go down to Sheol -- alive, For wickedness is in their dwelling, in their midst.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Cast Your Burden upon the LORD
14We shared sweet fellowship together; we walked with the crowd into the house of God. 15Let death seize them by surprise; let them go down to Sheol alive, for evil is with them in their homes. 16But I call to God, and the LORD saves me.…

Cross References
1 Thessalonians 5:3
While people are saying, "Peace and security," destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

Numbers 16:30
But if the LORD brings about something unprecedented, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them and all that belongs to them so that they go down alive into Sheol, then you will know that these men have treated the LORD with contempt."

Numbers 16:33
They went down alive into Sheol with all they owned. The earth closed over them, and they vanished from the assembly.

Psalm 63:9
But those who seek my life to destroy it will go into the depths of the earth.

Psalm 64:7
But God will shoot them with arrows; suddenly they will be wounded.

Proverbs 6:15
Therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in an instant he will be shattered beyond recovery.

Isaiah 47:11
But disaster will come upon you; you will not know how to charm it away. A calamity will befall you that you will be unable to ward off. Devastation will happen to you suddenly and unexpectedly.


Treasury of Scripture

Let death seize on them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.

Let death.

Psalm 59:13
Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Selah.

Psalm 69:22-28
Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap…

Psalm 109:6-20
Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand…

them

Numbers 16:30-34
But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD…

Matthew 26:24
The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.

Acts 1:25
That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.

hell, or the grave

Psalm 9:17
The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

Jump to Previous
Alive Death Deceitfully Desolations Dwelling Dwellings Enemies Evil Finds Grave Graves Hand Hell Houses Incite Lodging Midst Nether-World Quick Seize Sheol Suddenly Surprise Terror Underworld Wickedness Within
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Alive Death Deceitfully Desolations Dwelling Dwellings Enemies Evil Finds Grave Graves Hand Hell Houses Incite Lodging Midst Nether-World Quick Seize Sheol Suddenly Surprise Terror Underworld Wickedness Within
Psalm 55
1. David in his prayer complains of his fearful case
9. He prays against his enemies, of whose wickedness and treachery he complains
16. He comforts himself in God's preservation oh him, and confusion of his enemies














(15) Let death.--According to the written text we should render desolations upon them. Here we have another sudden outburst of overmastering feeling.

Quick--i.e., alive, perhaps with reminiscence of the fate of Korah. (Comp. Proverbs 1:12.)

Hell.--Sheol. (See Note Psalm 6:5.)

And among them.--The conjunction is unnecessary. Render, in their dwellings, in their very midst.

Verse 15. - Let death seize upon them. As this strophe begins (ver. 9), so it ends, with an imprecation. The psalmist calls on God to bring destruction upon the whole mass of his enemies. Of the two readings in the original, the one adopted by our translators seems the best, "Let death come suddenly upon them." Let them go down quick (i.e. alive) into hell. There is an allusion to the fate of Korah and his company (Numbers 16:30-33), who "went down quick into the pit;" but probably the psalmist neither expected nor desired a literal fulfilment of his imprecation. The deaths of Ahithophel (2 Samuel 17:23) and Absalom (2 Samuel 18:14, 15), and of so many of Absalom's followers (2 Samuel 18:7, 8), were quite a sufficient fulfilment. For wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them. (comp. vers. 3, 9-11).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Let death
מָ֨וֶת ׀ (mā·weṯ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 3451: Let death seize

seize them by surprise;
עָלֵ֗ימוֹ (‘ā·lê·mōw)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

let them go down
יֵרְד֣וּ (yê·rə·ḏū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 3381: To come or go down, descend

to Sheol
שְׁא֣וֹל (šə·’ō·wl)
Noun - common singular
Strong's 7585: Underworld (place to which people descend at death)

alive,
חַיִּ֑ים (ḥay·yîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 2416: Alive, raw, fresh, strong, life

for
כִּֽי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

evil
רָע֖וֹת (rā·‘ō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 7451: Bad, evil

is with them
בְּקִרְבָּֽם׃ (bə·qir·bām)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 7130: The nearest part, the center

in their homes.
בִּמְגוּרָ֣ם (bim·ḡū·rām)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine plural construct | third person masculine plural
Strong's 4033: A sojourning place, dwelling place, a sojourning


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OT Poetry: Psalm 55:15 Let death come suddenly on them (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 55:14
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