Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
Parallel translations
- WEB Truth springs out of the earth. Righteousness has looked down from heaven.
- BSB Faithfulness sprouts from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.
- NKJV Truth shall spring out of the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
- NASB Truth sprouts from the earth, And righteousness looks down from heaven.
- NLT Truth springs up from the earth, and righteousness smiles down from heaven.
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
Truth springs up from the earth while righteousness looks down from heaven. God's faithfulness joins earth and heaven in His restoring work.
Overview
Continuing the imagery of v. 10, this verse pictures a harmony between the human and divine spheres as truth and righteousness meet. It conveys the flourishing that follows God's reconciling favor. Many read it as anticipating the incarnation, where heaven's righteousness comes down and truth springs up in the person of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- John 14:6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
- Isa 45:8Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.
- 1 Jn 5:20–21And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
- Isa 42:21The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable.
- Matt 17:5While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
- Eph 1:6To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
- Matt 3:17And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
- Isa 4:2In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.
- 2 Cor 5:21For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
- Luke 2:14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
- Isa 53:2For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
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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 85:11 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.