Arise, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are Your inheritance.
Parallel translations
- WEB Arise, God, judge the earth, for you inherit all of the nations.
- KJV Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.
- NKJV Arise, O God, judge the earth; For You shall inherit all nations.
- NASB Arise, God, judge the earth! For You possess all the nations.
- NLT Rise up, O God, and judge the earth, for all the nations belong to you.
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 calls on God to arise and judge the earth, for all nations are His inheritance. The cry looks to God as the only true and final Judge.
Overview
Since human judges have failed, the psalm ends pleading for God Himself to take up the judgment of the whole earth. All nations belong to Him by right, so He alone can establish true justice. This longing is answered in Christ, to whom all judgment has been given and who will one day rule the nations in righteousness (cf. John 5:22; Rev. 11:15).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Rev 11:15Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”
- Ps 2:8Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the earth Your possession.
- Ps 96:13before the LORD, for He is coming—He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.
- Ps 22:28For dominion belongs to the LORD and He rules over the nations.
- Ps 102:13You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show her favor—the appointed time has come.
- Ps 12:5“For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”
- Ps 44:26Rise up; be our help! Redeem us on account of Your loving devotion.
- Zeph 3:8Therefore wait for Me,” declares the LORD, “until the day I rise to testify. For My decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them My indignation—all My burning anger. For all the earth will be consumed by the fire of My jealousy.
- Mic 7:7But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.
- Mic 7:2The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net.
- Isa 51:9Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon?
- Ps 7:6Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; rise up against the fury of my enemies. Awake, my God, and ordain judgment.
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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 82:8 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.