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The moon and stars to rule by night, For His faithfulness is everlasting.
Psalms 136:9 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB The moon and stars to rule by night; for his loving kindness endures forever:
  • KJV The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever.
  • BSB the moon and stars to govern the night. His loving devotion endures forever.
  • NKJV The moon and stars to rule by night, For His mercy endures forever.
  • NLT and the moon and stars to rule the night. 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 set the moon and stars to rule the night, and His love endures forever.

Overview

The moon and stars, appointed to govern the night, complete the picture of an ordered creation under God's hand. Their faithful courses display His enduring covenant love. The Creator who fills the night sky with light promises His people a day when night and darkness will be no more in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 3

  • Job 31:26if I have seen the sun when it shined, or the moon moving in splendor,
  • Ps 89:36–37His offspring will endure forever, his throne like the sun before me.
  • Ps 8:3When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

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 136:9YouTube · 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 136:9 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.