He calls on the heavens above and earth below to witness the judgment of 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.
- BSB He summons the heavens above, and 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:
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 1:2Hear, heavens, and listen, earth; for Yahweh has spoken: “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
- Deut 32:1Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
- Deut 31:28Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to witness against them.
- Deut 30:19I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants;
- Deut 4:26I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from off the land which you go over the Jordan to possess it. You will not prolong your days on it, but will utterly be destroyed.
- Mic 6:1–2Listen now to what Yahweh says: “Arise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear what you have to say.
- John 5:22–23For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son,
- Ps 98:9Let them sing before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
- Isa 11:3–4His delight will be in the fear of Yahweh. He will not judge by the sight of his eyes, neither decide by the hearing of his ears;
- Deut 4:36Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you. On earth he made you to see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the middle of the fire.
- Ps 50:6The heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge. Selah.
- Ps 96:13before Yahweh; for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, the peoples with his truth.
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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
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