He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.
Parallel translations
- WEB He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
- KJV He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
- BSB He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
- NKJV He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
- NASB He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
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
The shepherd leads his sheep to green pastures and still waters, giving rest and refreshment. God provides peace and provision for the soul.
Overview
David pictures the Lord guiding him to lush pasture and calm water, images of complete provision and restful security. The shepherd's care meets both physical and spiritual needs, granting peace where the world offers turmoil. In Christ believers find this true rest, for he gives quiet for the soul and satisfies the deepest thirst.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Rev 7:17for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne shepherds them, and leads them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
- Rev 22:1He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,
- Ezek 34:13–14I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
- Ps 46:4There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad, the holy place of the tents of the Most High.
- Rev 21:6He said to me, “I have become the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life.
- Isa 49:9–10saying to those who are bound, ‘Come out!’; to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves!’ “They shall feed along the paths, and their pasture shall be on all treeless heights.
- Rev 22:17The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” He who hears, let him say, “Come!” He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely.
- Isa 30:23He will give the rain for your seed, with which you will sow the ground; and bread of the increase of the ground will be rich and plentiful. In that day, your livestock will feed in large pastures.
- Job 34:29When he gives quietness, who then can condemn? When he hides his face, who then can see him? Alike whether to a nation, or to a man,
- Isa 8:6“Because this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah’s son;
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 23:2 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.