He will judge the world with justice and rule the nations with fairness.
Parallel translations
- WEB He will judge the world in righteousness. He will administer judgment to the peoples in uprightness.
- KJV And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.
- BSB He judges the world with justice; He governs the people with equity.
- NKJV He shall judge the world in righteousness, And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.
- NASB And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples fairly.
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
God will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity. His judgment is perfectly just toward all nations.
Overview
David affirms that God's universal judgment is marked by righteousness and fairness, not favoritism or error. This expectation of a final, equitable judgment of all peoples runs throughout Scripture and is fulfilled in Christ, whom God has appointed to judge the world in righteousness (Acts 17:31).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 96:13before Yahweh; for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, the peoples with his truth.
- Rev 20:12–13I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.
- Acts 17:31because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.”
- Ps 98:9Let them sing before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
- Rom 2:16in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Good News, by Jesus Christ.
- Rom 2:5–6But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God;
- Gen 18:25Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn’t the Judge of all the earth do right?”
- Ps 99:4The King’s strength also loves justice. You do establish equity. You execute justice and righteousness in Jacob.
- Isa 11:4–5but with righteousness he will judge the poor, and decide with equity for the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips he will kill the wicked.
- Ps 94:15For judgment will return to righteousness. All the upright in heart shall follow it.
- Ps 50:6The heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge. Selah.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 9:8 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.