All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
Parallel translations
- WEB All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can’t keep his soul alive.
- BSB All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before Him—even those unable to preserve their lives.
- NKJV All the prosperous of the earth Shall eat and worship; All those who go down to the dust Shall bow before Him, Even he who cannot keep himself alive.
- NASB All the prosperous of the earth will eat and worship, All those who go down to the dust will kneel before Him, Even he who cannot keep his soul alive.
- NLT Let the rich of the earth feast and worship. Bow before him, all who are mortal, all whose lives will end as 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
Both the prosperous and the dying will bow before God. Worship embraces all classes of humanity, even those who cannot preserve their own lives.
Overview
David envisions the rich and the dying alike bowing in worship, declaring that no human being, however powerful, can keep himself alive apart from God. All stand in dependence on the Lord of life. The verse points to the universal scope of Christ's lordship, before whom the living and the dead must ultimately acknowledge his reign.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Phil 2:10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
- Isa 26:19Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
- Ps 113:7He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill;
- Ps 45:12And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour.
- John 11:25–26Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
- Isa 45:23I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
- Rev 20:12–15And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
- Rom 14:10–12But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
- Isa 60:16Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings: and thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
- Isa 10:16Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire.
- Rev 21:24And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
- Hos 13:9O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.
- Ps 78:31The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.
- Ps 73:7Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish.
- Ps 72:10–11The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
- John 3:36He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
- Isa 29:4And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
- Isa 60:3–5And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
- Ps 49:6–9They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;
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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 22:29 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
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