The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Parallel translations
- WEB The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
- KJV The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
- NKJV The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
- NASB The righteous person will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
- NLT But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon.
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 righteous flourish like a palm tree and grow strong like a cedar of Lebanon. Those who trust God enjoy enduring, fruitful, stable life.
Overview
In contrast to the short-lived grass of the wicked (v.7), the righteous are pictured as long-lived, fruitful, and majestic trees. The palm bears fruit and the cedar stands tall and strong, images of lasting vitality rooted in God. This flourishing finds its source in being united to Christ, the true vine (John 15:5; Psalm 1:3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Jer 17:8He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit.
- Ps 1:3He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.
- Ps 104:16The trees of the LORD have their fill, the cedars of Lebanon that He planted,
- Ps 52:8But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in the loving devotion of God forever and ever.
- Hos 14:5–6I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
- Amos 2:9Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, though his height was like that of the cedars, and he was as strong as the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below.
- Num 24:6They spread out like palm groves, like gardens beside a stream, like aloes the LORD has planted, like cedars beside the waters.
- Isa 65:22No longer will they build houses for others to inhabit, nor plant for others to eat. For as is the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, and My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands.
- Ps 72:7May the righteous flourish in his days and prosperity abound, until the moon is no more.
- Isa 55:13Instead of the thornbush, a cypress will grow, and instead of the brier, a myrtle will spring up; they will make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign, never to be destroyed.”
- Ps 92:7that though the wicked sprout like grass, and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed.
- 1 Kgs 6:29Then he carved the walls all around the temple, in both the inner and outer sanctuaries, with carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers.
- 1 Kgs 4:33He spoke of trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing in the wall, and he taught about animals, birds, reptiles, and fish.
- Ps 148:9mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,
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 92:12 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.