He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that He may judge His people:
Parallel translations
- WEB He calls to the heavens above, to the earth, that he may judge his people:
- KJV He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.
- NKJV He shall call to the heavens from above, And to the earth, that He may judge His people:
- NASB He summons the heavens above, And the earth, to judge His people:
- NLT He calls on the heavens above and earth below to witness the judgment of his people.
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
God calls heaven and earth as witnesses while He judges His people. Creation itself attests to the justice of His verdict.
Overview
In the form of a covenant lawsuit, God summons the heavens and earth as witnesses against Israel, a pattern seen in Deuteronomy 32. This underscores the legal solemnity of the indictment. God's judgment of His own people is not arbitrary but witnessed and righteous.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Isa 1:2Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: “I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me.
- Deut 32:1Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
- Deut 31:28Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officers so that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them.
- Deut 30:19I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live,
- Deut 4:26I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live long upon it, but will be utterly destroyed.
- Mic 6:1–2Hear now what the LORD says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice.
- John 5:22–23Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son,
- Ps 98:9before the LORD, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.
- Isa 11:3–4And He will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what His eyes see, and He will not decide by what His ears hear,
- Deut 4:36He let you hear His voice from heaven to discipline you, and on earth He showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the fire.
- Ps 50:6And the heavens proclaim His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge. Selah
- Ps 96:13before the LORD, for He is coming—He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.
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 50:4 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.