Psalms 35:8

Let destruction take them by surprise! ¹  Let the net they hid catch them! Let them fall into destruction! ² 

may ruin overtake them by surprise—may the net they hid entangle them, may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.

Let destruction come upon him unawares, And let the net which he hid catch himself; Into that very destruction let him fall.

So let sudden ruin overtake them! Let them be caught in the snare they set for me! Let them fall to destruction in the pit they dug for me.

Surprise them with your ambush--catch them in the very trap they set, the disaster they planned for me.

Let destruction come on them without their knowledge; let them be taken themselves in their secret nets, falling into the same destruction.

Let ruin come on them unawares. And let the net that they hid ensnare them; let them fall in it—to their ruin.

Let destruction come upon him unexpectedly, And let his net that he has hidden catch himself; Into that very destruction let him fall.

Let destruction take them by surprise! ¹  Let the net they hid catch them! Let them fall into destruction! ² 

¹ tn Heb “let destruction [which] he does not know come to him.” The singular is used of the enemy in v. 8, probably in a representative or collective sense. The psalmist has more than one enemy, as vv. 1-7 make clear.

² tn The psalmist’s prayer for his enemies’ demise continues. See vv. 4-6.