then hear in heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked, bringing his way on his head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.
Parallel translations
- WEB then hear in heaven, and act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
- KJV Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
- BSB then may You hear from heaven and act. May You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing down on his own head what he has done, and justifying the righteous man by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
- NASB then hear in heaven and act and judge Your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing his way on his own head, and acquitting the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.
- NLT then hear from heaven and judge between your servants—the accuser and the accused. Punish the guilty as they deserve. Acquit the innocent because of their innocence.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Solomon asks God to judge rightly, condemning the guilty and vindicating the innocent. It appeals to God as the righteous Judge.
Overview
Solomon prays that God would act as the true judge, repaying the wicked and justifying the righteous according to their conduct. God's justice undergirds human courts. Ultimately, the righteous Judge displays both justice and mercy at the cross, where the guilty are justified through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Deut 25:1If there is a controversy between men, and they come to judgment, and the judges judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.
- Exod 34:7keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children’s children, on the third and on the fourth generation.”
- Rom 2:6–10who “will pay back to everyone according to their works:”
- Isa 3:10–11Tell the righteous “Good!” For they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
- Ezek 18:13has lent on interest, and has taken increase; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations. He shall surely die. His blood shall be on him.
- Ezek 18:20The soul who sins, he shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be on him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be on him.
- Rom 7:9I was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
- Rom 2:13For it isn’t the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified
- Num 5:27When he has made her drink the water, then it shall happen, if she is defiled, and has committed a trespass against her husband, that the water that causes the curse will enter into her and become bitter, and her body will swell, and her thigh will fall away: and the woman will be a curse among her people.
- Ezek 18:30“Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone according to his ways,” says the Lord Yahweh. “Return, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
- Exod 23:7“Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous: for I will not justify the wicked.
- Prov 17:15He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh.
- Prov 1:31Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 8:32 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.