He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment.
Parallel translations
- WEB He will judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.
- BSB May he judge Your people with righteousness and Your afflicted with justice.
- NKJV He will judge Your people with righteousness, And Your poor with justice.
- NASB May he judge Your people with righteousness And Your afflicted with justice.
- NLT Help him judge your people in the right way; let the poor always be treated fairly.
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 king will judge God's people with righteousness and defend the poor with justice.
Overview
The prayer envisions a ruler who upholds the cause of the afflicted and judges fairly. Care for the poor is a defining mark of godly kingship throughout Scripture. No earthly king fully achieved this, but Jesus, who proclaimed good news to the poor and will judge in perfect righteousness, fulfills it completely (Luke 4:18; Isaiah 11:4).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Isa 32:1Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.
- Ps 72:12–14For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper.
- Isa 32:17And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
- Isa 9:7Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
- Job 34:19How much less to him that accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor? for they all are the work of his hands.
- 1 Kgs 3:5–10In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
- Ps 12:5For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.
- Ps 82:3–4Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.
- Isa 11:2–5And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
- Rev 19:11And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
- Ps 45:6–7Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.
- Jer 33:15In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
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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 72:2 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.