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Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways.
Psalms 128:1 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB A Song of Ascents. Blessed is everyone who fears Yahweh, who walks in his ways.
  • BSB A song of ascents. Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in His ways!
  • NKJV Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, Who walks in His ways.
  • NASB Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, Who walks in His ways.
  • NLT How joyful are those who fear the Lord— all who follow his ways!

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

Everyone who fears Yahweh and walks in His ways is blessed. It sets reverent obedience as the path to true blessedness.

Overview

This Song of Ascents opens with a beatitude: blessing belongs to all who fear the Lord and live according to His ways. The fear of God and a faithful walk are joined as the marks of the blessed life. Such reverence and obedience are made possible in Christ, who writes God's law on the hearts of His people.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 22

  • Ps 112:1Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.
  • Ps 119:1Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
  • Ps 103:13Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.
  • Luke 1:50And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
  • Ps 1:1–3Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
  • Acts 9:31Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.
  • Ps 147:11The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.
  • Ps 127:1Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
  • Ps 103:17But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;
  • Ps 115:13He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great.
  • Ps 120:1In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.
  • 1 Th 4:1Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
  • Luke 1:6And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
  • Ps 121:1I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
  • Ps 103:1Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
  • Ps 119:3They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
  • Ps 125:1They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.
  • Ps 126:1When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
  • Ps 124:1If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say;
  • Ps 81:13Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
  • Ps 123:1Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.
  • Ps 122:1I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 128:1YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 128:1 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.