Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.
Parallel translations
- WEB Princes shall come out of Egypt. Ethiopia shall hurry to stretch out her hands to God.
- BSB Envoys will arrive from Egypt; Cush will stretch out her hands to God.
- NKJV Envoys will come out of Egypt; Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God.
- NASB Messengers will come from Egypt; Cush will quickly stretch out her hands to God.
- NLT Let Egypt come with gifts of precious metals; let Ethiopia bring tribute to God.
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
Even Egypt and Ethiopia will come to worship and submit to God. It foretells distant nations turning to the Lord.
Overview
David anticipates envoys from Egypt and Cush stretching out their hands to God, a picture of Gentile nations seeking the true God. This hope of the nations' inclusion threads through the Old Testament. It is realized in the gospel, as seen for instance in the Ethiopian official's conversion (Acts 8), when the good news reaches the ends of the earth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Isa 45:14Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God.
- Zeph 3:10From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering.
- Acts 8:27–40And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,
- Ps 44:20If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god;
- Isa 19:18–25In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction.
- Ps 72:8–11He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
- Ps 143:6I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah.
- Isa 60:6–7The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.
- Ps 88:9Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
- Isa 66:19And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.
- 1 Kgs 8:22And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:
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 68:31 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.