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Psalm 31:13

For I have heard the slander of many, terror on every side, while they conspire together against me, they plot to take away my life.

11Because of all my adversaries I have become utterly contemptible to my neighbors, a horror to my acquaintances. Those who saw me on the street fled from me.
12I am forgotten from their hearts like a dead man. I am like broken pottery.
13For I have heard the slander of many, terror on every side, while they conspire together against me, they plot to take away my life.
14But I trust in you, LORD. I said, “You are my God.”
15My times are in your hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.
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← Psalm 31:12Psalm 31:14 →
Notice

Slander becomes a threat to life here, and the words “terror on every side” convey the fear of having no clear place of safety.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What changes in your reading when the slander becomes a plot to kill?

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What would you want a trusted person to understand about feeling surrounded by threats?

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How does the next verse’s declaration of trust sound after this account of terror?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 21:11For they intended evil against you. They plotted evil against you which cannot succeed.Both psalms describe people plotting evil against someone; Psalm 21 adds that their plot cannot succeed.
Acts 23:12When it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.Both passages describe people joining together with the intent to kill one person.
Jeremiah 20:10For I have heard the defaming of many: “Terror on every side! Denounce, and we will denounce him!” say all my familiar friends, those who watch for my fall. …Both speakers hear many people defaming them and describe terror on every side as others plan their downfall.
Matthew 27:1Now when morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.Both passages describe a group taking counsel against someone with the aim of putting him to death.
Lamentations 2:22“You have called, as in the day of a solemn assembly, my terrors on every side. There was no one that escaped or remained in the day of the LORD’s anger. My …Both describe terrors on every side; Lamentations mourns lives already lost, while the psalm’s speaker reports a plot against his life.
Jeremiah 11:19But I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter. I didn’t know that they had devised plans against me, saying, “Let’s destroy the tree with its …Both speakers face plans to end their lives, though Jeremiah says he had not known about the plans.
Psalm 37:12The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth.Both psalms describe hostile plotting against a person; Psalm 37 names the target as just.
Genesis 37:18They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.Both passages describe several people conspiring to kill one person.
1 Samuel 20:33Saul cast his spear at him to strike him. By this Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death.Both passages concern an intent to kill; Saul’s spear attack makes his determination to kill David clear to Jonathan.
Psalm 71:10For my enemies talk about me. Those who watch for my soul conspire together,Both speakers report enemies talking about them and conspiring together against them.
Psalm 109:2for they have opened the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit against me. They have spoken to me with a lying tongue.Both speakers suffer hostile speech: Psalm 31 names slander, and Psalm 109 describes deceit and a lying tongue.
Jeremiah 20:3On the next day, Pashhur released Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, “The LORD has not called your name Pashhur, but Magormissabib.The shared thread is hostility: Jeremiah has been held in stocks, while the psalm’s speaker faces slander and a death plot.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger. anxiety or panic. fear for the future.

What the Bible says about anger →What the Bible says about anxiety →What the Bible says about fear →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Pray this verse for someone facing threats

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Encouragement

You do not have to soften danger when you pray. The speaker names a plot against his life, then declares trust in God while still asking for rescue.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 31:13. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 31 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).