Psalms 140:9
May the heads of those who surround me be covered in the trouble their lips have caused.
BSB
ASV
As for the head of those that compass me about, Let the mischief of their own lips cover them.
KJV
As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.
The head of their compassing about, the labor of their own lips shall cover them. Just as a serpent, when it sees someone coming to strike it, makes a coil of its whole body and hides its head in the middle, where it knows its life resides: so too these heretics, by the discourse of the philosophers and of Aristotle and the rest, seem to hide themselves, and as it were to shield and defend themselves. But the man of the Church, as it were with a rod — that is, with the cross — unwinds the coil, and finds the hidden head, and strikes it there; that is, he brings forth a testimony from the Scriptures.
As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them. To the Lord who had covered his head amid the din of arms the Psalmist appeals against his foes, that their heads may be covered in quite another sense—covered with the reward of their own malice. David's foes were so many that they hemmed him in, encircling him as hunters do their prey. It is little wonder that he turns to the Lord in his dire need.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Proverbs 12:13An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.
leads to
They will be made to stumble, their own tongues turned against them. All who see will shake their heads.
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress.
Through
Proverbs 18:7A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
leads to
He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.
The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool invites destruction.
An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.
Through
Psalms 94:23He will bring upon them their own iniquity and destroy them for their wickedness. The LORD our God will destroy them.
leads to
His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.
Through
Proverbs 10:6Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
leads to
And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the voice of the LORD your God:
Through
Psalms 7:16His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.
leads to
But when it came before the king, he commanded by letter that the wicked scheme which Haman had devised against the Jews should come back upon his own head, and that he and his…