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So the king will desire your beauty, honor him, for he is your lord.
Psalms 45:11 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him.
  • BSB and the king will desire your beauty; bow to him, for he is your lord.
  • 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 95:6Oh come, let’s worship and bow down. Let’s kneel before Yahweh, our Maker,
  • Isa 54:5For your Maker is your husband; Yahweh of Armies is his name. The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. He will be called the God of the whole earth.
  • Song 4:1–5Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves behind your veil. Your hair is as a flock of goats, that descend from Mount Gilead.
  • Zeph 3:17Yahweh, your God, is among you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will calm you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.
  • Phil 2:10–11that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
  • Song 1:8If you don’t know, most beautiful among women, follow the tracks of the sheep. Graze your young goats beside the shepherds’ tents.
  • Luke 24:52They worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
  • Ps 45:6Your throne, God, is forever and ever. A scepter of equity is the scepter of your kingdom.
  • Phil 3:8Yes most certainly, and I count all things to be a loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them nothing but refuse, that I may gain Christ
  • Isa 62:4–5You will not be called Forsaken any more; nor will your land be called Desolate any more: but you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for Yahweh delights in you, and your land will be married.
  • John 4:21–22Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father.
  • Ps 2:12Give sincere homage to the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish on the way, for his wrath will soon be kindled. Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.
  • Song 2:2As a lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
  • Acts 10:36The word which he sent to the children of Israel, preaching good news of peace by Jesus Christ — he is Lord of all —
  • John 20:28Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
  • Rom 14:9For to this end Christ died, rose, and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
  • Jer 23:5–6“Behold, the days come,” says Yahweh, “that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
  • Song 4:7You are all beautiful, my love. There is no spot in you.
  • Song 4:9–10You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride. You have ravished my heart with one of your eyes, with one chain of your neck.
  • Song 6:4You are beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, lovely as Jerusalem, awesome as an army with banners.
  • Song 7:1–10How beautiful are your feet in sandals, prince’s daughter! Your rounded thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of a skillful workman.
  • Song 1:12–16While the king sat at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.
  • Eph 5:26–27that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word,
  • Song 2:14My dove in the clefts of the rock, In the hiding places of the mountainside, Let me see your face. Let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
  • Rev 5:8–14Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and 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.