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and the king will desire your beauty; bow to him, for he is your lord.
Psalms 45:11 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB So the king will desire your beauty, honor him, for he is your lord.
  • KJV So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.
  • NKJV So the King will greatly desire your beauty; Because He is your Lord, worship Him.
  • NASB Then the King will crave your beauty. Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him.
  • NLT For your royal husband delights in your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord.

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 king will desire her beauty; she is to honor him as her lord. It matters because it portrays love joined with reverent submission to the king.

Overview

The bride is loved by the king and called to honor him as her lord. Love and honor belong together in this royal union. The church likewise is cherished by Christ and called to honor Him as Lord, a relationship of both deep love and glad submission.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 25

  • Ps 95:6O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
  • Isa 54:5For your husband is your Maker—the LORD of Hosts is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.
  • Song 4:1–5How beautiful you are, my darling—how very beautiful! Your eyes are like doves behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats streaming down Mount Gilead.
  • Zeph 3:17The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing.”
  • Phil 2:10–11that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
  • Song 1:8If you do not know, O fairest of women, follow the tracks of the flock, and graze your young goats near the tents of the shepherds.
  • Luke 24:52And they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
  • Ps 45:6Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.
  • Phil 3:8More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
  • Isa 62:4–5No longer will you be called Forsaken, nor your land named Desolate; but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be His bride.
  • John 4:21–22“Believe Me, woman,” Jesus replied, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
  • Ps 2:12Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in your rebellion, when His wrath ignites in an instant. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
  • Song 2:2Like a lily among the thorns is my darling among the maidens.
  • Acts 10:36He has sent this message to the people of Israel, proclaiming the gospel of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.
  • John 20:28Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!”
  • Rom 14:9For this reason Christ died and returned to life, that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
  • Jer 23:5–6Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land.
  • Song 4:7You are altogether beautiful, my darling; in you there is no flaw.
  • Song 4:9–10You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your neck.
  • Song 6:4You are as beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem, as majestic as troops with banners.
  • Song 7:1–10How beautiful are your sandaled feet, O daughter of the prince! The curves of your thighs are like jewels, the handiwork of a master.
  • Song 1:12–16While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.
  • Eph 5:26–27to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,
  • Song 2:14O my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the crevices of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your countenance is lovely.
  • Rev 5:8–14When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 45:11YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 45:11 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.