To Him who laid out the earth above the waters, For His mercy endures forever;
Parallel translations
- WEB To him who spread out the earth above the waters; for his loving kindness endures forever:
- KJV To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.
- BSB He spread out the earth upon the waters. His loving devotion endures forever.
- NASB To Him who spread out the earth above the waters, For His faithfulness is everlasting;
- NLT Give thanks to him who placed the earth among the waters. His faithful love endures forever.
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 spread out the earth above the waters, and His love endures forever.
Overview
Echoing Genesis, the psalmist celebrates God establishing dry land amid the waters, making the earth habitable for His creatures. This ordering of creation reflects His care and design. The Creator who prepared the earth for life is the same Lord who prepares an eternal home for His people through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 24:2For he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the floods.
- Jer 10:12He has made the earth by his power. he has established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding has he stretched out the heavens.
- Gen 1:9God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
- Isa 44:24Yahweh, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb says: “I am Yahweh, who makes all things; who alone stretches out the heavens; who spreads out the earth by myself;
- Job 26:7He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth on nothing.
- Ps 104:2–3He covers himself with light as with a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain.
- Isa 42:5Thus says God Yahweh, he who created the heavens and stretched them out, he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it, he who gives breath to its people and spirit to those who walk in it.
- Zech 12:1A revelation, Yahweh’s word concerning Israel. Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him says:
- 2 Pet 3:5–7For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water, by the word of God;
- Job 37:18Can you, with him, spread out the sky, which is strong as a cast metal mirror?
- Isa 40:22It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in;
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 136:6 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.