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Psalm 7:16

ESV His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends.
NIV The trouble they cause recoils on them; their violence comes down on their own heads.
NASB His harm will return on his own head, And his violence will descend on the top of his own head.
CSB His trouble comes back on his own head; his own violence comes down on top of his head.
NLT The trouble they make for others backfires on them. The violence they plan falls on their own heads.
KJV His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.

What does Psalm 7:16 mean?

Scripture indicates that those who plan to do evil, eventually, see their schemes coming back to harm them (Proverbs 6:12–15; 11:17). The prior verse was another example, with David stating that those who lay traps for others can expect to be caught in their own plots. In that sense, their own efforts will come back in what is often called "poetic justice."

Scripture gives examples of people who were warned against evil and eventually done in by their own schemes. Queen Jezebel imported Baal worship into Israel and murdered prophets of the Lord (1 Kings 18:4). But in the end, Elijah was instrumental in killing the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:40). Both Jezebel and her evil husband, Ahab, met violent deaths. Ahab was killed in battle (1 Kings 22:29–35), and Jezebel was thrown from a widow, trampled by horses, and eaten by dogs (2 Kings 9:30–35). At the end of the tribulation period the Devil's two wicked henchmen—the beast and the false prophet— will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:19–20). After 1,000 years of imprisonment, Satan will join the beast and the false prophet in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10). Wickedness pays dreadful wages!
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