The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.
Parallel translations
- WEB The haters of Yahweh would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever.
- BSB Those who hate the LORD would feign obedience, and their doom would last forever.
- NKJV The haters of the Lord would pretend submission to Him, But their fate would endure forever.
- NASB “Those who hate the Lord would pretend to obey Him, And their time of punishment would be forever.
- NLT Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him; they would be doomed forever.
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
Those who hate the LORD would cringe before Him, their punishment lasting forever. God's enemies face certain and enduring judgment.
Overview
The verse promises that the LORD's haters would be forced into submission under His everlasting judgment. It contrasts the fate of God's enemies with the blessing offered to His obedient people. This points to the final triumph of God over all who oppose Him, vindicating His righteousness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Deut 7:10And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.
- Rom 1:30Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
- Ps 63:3Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
- Rom 8:7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
- Ps 83:2–18For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head.
- Ps 18:44–45As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.
- Exod 20:5Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
- Ps 102:28The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.
- John 15:22–23If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.
- Joel 3:20But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.
- Isa 65:22They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
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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 81:15 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.