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May they praise Your great and awesome name; Holy is He.
Psalms 99:3 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Let them praise your great and awesome name. He is Holy!
  • KJV Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.
  • BSB Let them praise Your great and awesome name—He is holy!
  • NKJV Let them praise Your great and awesome name— He is holy.
  • NLT Let them praise your great and awesome name. Your name is holy!

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 the nations praise God's great and awesome name, for He is holy. His holiness is the ground of all worship.

Overview

The refrain 'He is holy' marks the central theme of Psalm 99, calling all peoples to praise God's name. His holiness is both His moral purity and His set-apart majesty above all creation. This holiness, which sinners cannot approach on their own, is made accessible through Christ, who makes His people holy.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 17

  • Isa 6:3One called to another, and said, “Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!”
  • Deut 28:58If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH YOUR GOD;
  • Ps 111:9He has sent redemption to his people. He has ordained his covenant forever. His name is holy and awesome!
  • Rev 15:3–4They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God, the Almighty! Righteous and true are your ways, you King of the nations.
  • Ps 145:17Yahweh is righteous in all his ways, and gracious in all his works.
  • Neh 1:5and said, “I beg you, Yahweh, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and keep his commandments:
  • Ps 66:3Tell God, “How awesome are your deeds! Through the greatness of your power, your enemies submit themselves to you.
  • John 17:11I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them through your name which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are.
  • Deut 7:21You shall not be scared of them; for Yahweh your God is among you, a great and awesome God.
  • Rev 4:8The four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within. They have no rest day and night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!”
  • Neh 4:14I looked, and rose up, and said to the nobles, to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them! Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
  • 1 Sam 2:2There is no one as holy as Yahweh, For there is no one besides you, nor is there any rock like our God.
  • Josh 24:19Joshua said to the people, “You can’t serve Yahweh, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins.
  • Ps 76:1For the Chief Musician. On stringed instruments. A Psalm by Asaph. A song. In Judah, God is known. His name is great in Israel.
  • Neh 9:32Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness, don’t let all the travail seem little before you, that has come on us, on our kings, on our princes, on our priests, on our prophets, on our fathers, and on all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day.
  • Jer 20:11But Yahweh is with me as an awesome mighty one. Therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail. They shall be utterly disappointed, because they have not dealt wisely, even with an everlasting dishonor which shall never be forgotten.
  • Ps 76:12He will cut off the spirit of princes. He is feared by the kings of the earth.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 99:3YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 99:3 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.