His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything 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.
- BSB They will come and proclaim His righteousness to a people yet unborn—all that He has done.
- 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.
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 generation to come might know, even the children who should be born; who should arise and tell their children,
- Ps 86:9All nations you have made will come and worship before you, Lord. They shall glorify your name.
- Rom 1:17For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”
- Isa 44:3–5For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring:
- Ps 102:18This will be written for the generation to come. A people which will be created will praise Yah.
- Ps 40:9I have proclaimed glad news of righteousness in the great assembly. Behold, I will not seal my lips, Yahweh, you know.
- Ps 145:4–7One generation will commend your works to another, and will declare your mighty acts.
- 2 Cor 5:21For him who knew no sin he made 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, a righteousness of God has been revealed, being testified by the law and the prophets;
- Isa 60:4“Lift up your eyes all around, and see: they all gather themselves together. They come to you. Your sons will come from far away, and your daughters will be carried in arms.
- Isa 54:1“Sing, barren, you who didn’t give birth; break out into singing, and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife,” says Yahweh.
- Rom 5:19–21For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous.
- Isa 66:7–9“Before she travailed, she gave birth. Before her pain came, she delivered a son.
- Isa 49:21–23Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who has conceived these for me, since I have been bereaved of my children, and am solitary, an exile, and wandering back and forth? Who has brought these up? Behold, I was left alone. Where were these?’”
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 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.