Then men will say, “There is surely a reward for the righteous! There is surely a God who judges the earth!”
Parallel translations
- WEB so that men shall say, “Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous. Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth.”
- KJV So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.
- NKJV So that men will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely He is God who judges in the earth.”
- NASB And people will say, “There certainly is a reward for the righteous; There certainly is a God who judges on the earth!”
- NLT Then at last everyone will say, “There truly is a reward for those who live for God; surely there is a God who judges justly here on earth.”
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 psalm closes confessing that there truly is reward for the righteous and a God who judges the earth. It is the settled conclusion that God's justice is real.
Overview
After confronting injustice, the psalm ends with renewed confidence that God does reward righteousness and does judge the world. This answers the wicked's earlier scoffing and assures the faithful that moral order is not an illusion. The promise finds its surest ground in Christ, through whom God will judge the earth in righteousness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Isa 3:10Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.
- Ps 67:4Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You judge the peoples justly and lead the nations of the earth. Selah
- Ps 64:9Then all mankind will fear and proclaim the work of God; so they will ponder what He has done.
- Ps 33:18Surely the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His loving devotion
- Mal 2:17You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD, and in them He delights,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”
- Mal 3:14You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the LORD of Hosts?
- Rom 2:5But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
- Rom 6:21–22What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death.
- Ps 98:9before the LORD, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.
- Ps 73:13–15Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure; in innocence I have washed my hands.
- 2 Pet 3:4–10“Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.”
- Ps 92:15to proclaim, “The LORD is upright; He is my Rock, and in Him there is no unrighteousness.”
- Ps 94:2Rise up, O Judge of the earth; render a reward to the proud.
- 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.
- Ps 18:20The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness; He has repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands.
- Ps 9:8He judges the world with justice; He governs the people with equity.
- Ps 9:16The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah
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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 58:11 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.