They will come and proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn—all that He has done.
Parallel translations
- WEB They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, for he has done it.
- KJV They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
- NKJV They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, That He has done this.
- NASB They will come and will declare His righteousness To a people who will be born, that He has performed it.
- NLT His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done.
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
They will declare God's righteousness to a people yet unborn, announcing 'he has done it.' The finished work of God is the message handed down.
Overview
The psalm closes by proclaiming God's righteousness to a people not yet born, summed up in the declaration that he has accomplished it. Many see in 'he has done it' an anticipation of Christ's cry, 'It is finished' (John 19:30). The verse roots all future faith in the completed, gracious work of God in saving his people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ps 78:6that the coming generation would know them—even children yet to be born—to arise and tell their own children
- Ps 86:9All the nations You have made will come and bow before You, O Lord, and they will glorify Your name.
- Rom 1:17For the gospel reveals the righteousness of God that comes by faith from start to finish, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
- Isa 44:3–5For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and currents on the dry ground. I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring.
- Ps 102:18Let this be written for the generation to come, so that a people not yet created may praise the LORD.
- Ps 40:9I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; behold, I do not seal my lips, as You, O LORD, do know.
- Ps 145:4–7One generation will commend Your works to the next, and will proclaim Your mighty acts—
- 2 Cor 5:21God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
- Rom 3:21–25But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, as attested by the Law and the Prophets.
- Isa 60:4Lift up your eyes and look around: They all gather and come to you; your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried on the arm.
- Isa 54:1“Shout for joy, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth in song and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD.
- Rom 5:19–21For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
- Isa 66:7–9“Before she was in labor, she gave birth; before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.
- Isa 49:21–23Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten these for me? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. So who has reared them? Look, I was left all alone, so where did they come from?’”
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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 22:31 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.