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The mountains shall bring prosperity to the people. The hills bring the fruit of righteousness.
Psalms 72:3 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.
  • BSB May the mountains bring peace to the people, and the hills bring righteousness.
  • NKJV The mountains will bring peace to the people, And the little hills, by righteousness.
  • NASB May the mountains bring peace to the people, And the hills, in righteousness.
  • NLT May the mountains yield prosperity for all, and may the hills be fruitful.

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

Under the king's righteous rule, the very mountains and hills will yield prosperity and the fruit of righteousness.

Overview

The land itself flourishes when justice reigns, a poetic picture of peace and abundance flowing from righteous government. Creation prospers under God-honoring leadership. This points to the messianic age, when Christ's reign brings the restoration of all things and creation's renewal (Romans 8:19-21).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 11

  • Isa 52:7How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
  • Ezek 34:13–14I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
  • Joel 3:18It will happen in that day, that the mountains will drop down sweet wine, the hills will flow with milk, all the brooks of Judah will flow with waters, and a fountain will flow out from Yahweh’s house, and will water the valley of Shittim.
  • Ps 72:16Abundance of grain shall be throughout the land. Its fruit sways like Lebanon. Let it flourish, thriving like the grass of the field.
  • Ps 98:8–9Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing for joy together.
  • 2 Cor 5:19–21namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.
  • Ps 65:12The wilderness grasslands overflow. The hills are clothed with gladness.
  • Isa 32:16–17Then justice will dwell in the wilderness; and righteousness will remain in the fruitful field.
  • Dan 9:24Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.
  • Ps 85:10–11Mercy and truth meet together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
  • Ps 96:11–13Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar, and its fullness!

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 72:3YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 72:3 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.