Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.
Parallel translations
- WEB He laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever.
- BSB He set the earth on its foundations, never to be moved.
- NKJV You who laid the foundations of the earth, So that it should not be moved forever,
- NASB ¶He established the earth upon its foundations, So that it will not totter forever and ever.
- NLT You placed the world on its foundation so it would never be moved.
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
God set the earth on its foundations so that it should never be moved. The created order rests securely on His sustaining power.
Overview
Using the poetic image of foundations, the psalmist affirms the stability God gives the earth. This is the language of praise for God's faithful upholding of creation, not a treatise on physics. The world's order and permanence depend on Christ, who upholds all things by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Job 26:7He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
- Ps 24:2For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
- Ps 33:9For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
- Ps 96:10Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.
- Rev 20:11And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
- Ps 136:6To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.
- 2 Pet 3:10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
- Ps 93:1The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.
- Eccl 1:4One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
- Rev 6:14And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
- Job 38:4–7Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 104:5 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.