March around Zion, encircle her, count her towers,
Parallel translations
- WEB Walk about Zion, and go around her. Number its towers.
- KJV Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.
- NKJV Walk about Zion, And go all around her. Count her towers;
- NASB Walk around Zion and encircle her; Count her towers;
- NLT Go, inspect the city of Jerusalem. Walk around and count the many towers.
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 people are invited to inspect Zion's defenses—walls and towers—as evidence of God's protection. Faith looks at the visible signs of His faithfulness.
Overview
Worshipers are told to walk around the city and count its towers, surveying its strong defenses. The point is not pride in masonry but testimony to God's preservation of His people. The intact city becomes a witness to God's protecting care, a lesson to be passed on, as the next verses make clear.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Isa 33:18–20Your mind will ponder the former terror: “Where is he who tallies? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?”
- Matt 24:1–2As Jesus left the temple and was walking away, His disciples came up to Him to point out its buildings.
- Neh 12:31–40Then I brought the leaders of Judah up on the wall, and I appointed two great thanksgiving choirs. One was to proceed along the top of the wall to the right, toward the Dung Gate.
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 48:12 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.