¶God of armies, do turn back; Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine,
Parallel translations
- WEB Turn again, we beg you, God of Armies. Look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vine,
- KJV Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;
- BSB Return, O God of Hosts, we pray! Look down from heaven and see! Attend to this vine—
- NKJV Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts; Look down from heaven and see, And visit this vine
- NLT Come back, we beg you, O God of Heaven’s Armies. Look down from heaven and see our plight. Take care of this grapevine
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 psalmist begs the God of Armies to return, look down from heaven, and tend to His vine. It is a direct plea for God's renewed attention and care.
Overview
Here the lament turns to earnest petition, calling on God to turn, see, and visit the suffering nation. To ask God to look down is to plead for His active intervention, not mere observation. The appeal rests on God's prior ownership of the vine, confident that the Planter will not abandon His own planting.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Isa 63:15Look down from heaven, and see from the habitation of your holiness and of your glory. Where are your zeal and your mighty acts? The yearning of your heart and your compassion is restrained toward me.
- Ps 90:13Relent, Yahweh! How long? Have compassion on your servants!
- Dan 9:16–19Lord, according to all your righteousness, let your anger and please let your wrath be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to all who are around us.
- Isa 63:17O Yahweh, why do you make us wander from your ways, and harden our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your inheritance.
- Mal 3:7From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my ordinances, and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says Yahweh of Armies. “But you say, ‘How shall we return?’
- Acts 15:16‘After these things I will return. I will again build the tabernacle of David, which has fallen. I will again build its ruins. I will set it up,
- Ps 7:7Let the congregation of the peoples surround you. Rule over them on high.
- Joel 2:14Who knows? He may turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, even a meal offering and a drink offering to Yahweh, your God.
- Ps 33:13Yahweh looks from heaven. He sees all the sons of men.
- Lam 3:50until Yahweh looks down, and sees from 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 80:14 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.