Let the rivers clap their hands in glee! Let the hills sing out their songs of joy
Parallel translations
- WEB Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing for joy together.
- KJV Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together
- BSB Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy
- NKJV Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord,
- NASB May the rivers clap their hands, May the mountains sing together for joy
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
Let rivers clap and mountains sing for joy. All nature rejoices that God comes to reign.
Overview
Using vivid personification, the psalmist pictures rivers applauding and mountains singing in celebration of God's coming. Such imagery conveys that the entire created order anticipates the King's righteous judgment. It points to the renewal of creation that accompanies Christ's kingdom (cf. Isaiah 55:12).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Isa 55:12For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace. The mountains and the hills will break out before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields will clap their hands.
- Ps 65:12–13The wilderness grasslands overflow. The hills are clothed with gladness.
- Ps 89:12The north and the south, you have created them. Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name.
- Ps 93:3The floods have lifted up, Yahweh, the floods have lifted up their voice. The floods lift up their waves.
- Ps 47:1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. Oh clap your hands, all you nations. Shout to God with the voice of triumph!
- 2 Kgs 11:12Then he brought out the king’s son, and put the crown on him, and gave him the covenant; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, “Long live the king!”
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 98:8 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.