The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh upholds the humble. He brings the wicked down to the ground.
- BSB The LORD sustains the humble, but casts the wicked to the ground.
- NKJV The Lord lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.
- NASB The Lord supports the afflicted; He brings the wicked down to the ground.
- NLT The Lord supports the humble, but he brings the wicked down into the dust.
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 lifts up the humble and brings the wicked down to the ground. He reverses human fortunes according to His justice.
Overview
God's power serves His justice: He raises the lowly and casts down the wicked. This reversal is a recurring biblical theme of grace to the meek and resistance to the proud. Mary celebrated this same pattern in her song over the coming of Christ (Luke 1:52).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ps 25:9The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.
- Ps 146:8–9The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:
- 1 Pet 5:6Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
- Jas 4:10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
- Zeph 2:3Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.
- Ps 145:14The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.
- Ps 149:4For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
- Ps 73:18–19Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction.
- 1 Sam 2:8He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s, and he hath set the world upon them.
- Ps 55:23But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.
- Matt 5:5Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
- 2 Pet 2:4–9For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
- Ps 37:11But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
- 1 Pet 3:4But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
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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 147:6 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.