Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.
Parallel translations
- WEB Tell God, “How awesome are your deeds! Through the greatness of your power, your enemies submit themselves to you.
- BSB Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies cower before You.
- NKJV Say to God, “How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.
- NASB Say to God, “How awesome are Your works! Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will pretend to obey You.
- NLT Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! Your enemies cringe before your mighty power.
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's awesome deeds and great power cause even enemies to submit. It declares the overwhelming might of God before all opposition.
Overview
The worshipers tell God how awesome His works are, so that His enemies cringe before His power. Even hostile powers are forced to acknowledge His greatness. This foreshadows the final triumph of Christ, to whom every foe will at last submit.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ps 18:44As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.
- Ps 65:5By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation; who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea:
- Ps 81:15The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.
- Ps 47:2For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.
- Ps 22:28–29For the kingdom is the LORD’s: and he is the governor among the nations.
- Jer 10:10But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
- Isa 2:19And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
- Ps 78:35–36And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God their redeemer.
- Isa 64:3When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.
- Ps 68:30Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver: scatter thou the people that delight in war.
- Ps 76:12He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth.
- Judg 5:20–22They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
- Judg 5:2–4Praise ye the LORD for the avenging of Israel, when the people willingly offered themselves.
- Exod 15:1–16Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
- Exod 15:21And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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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 66:3 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.