Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you who serve Him, and those who fear Him, small and great alike!”
Parallel translations
- WEB A voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, the small and the great!”
- KJV And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.
- NKJV Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!”
- NASB And a voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.”
- NLT And from the throne came a voice that said, “Praise our God, all his servants, all who fear him, from the least to the greatest.”
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
A voice from the throne calls all God's servants, small and great, to praise Him. Worship belongs to every believer.
Overview
The summons goes out to the whole company of God's people, regardless of status, to give Him praise. By including 'the small and the great,' it levels all distinctions before God. The verse invites the entire church into the heavenly chorus, anticipating the celebration that follows.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 134:1A song of ascents. Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD who serve by night in the house of the LORD!
- Ps 148:11–13kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth,
- Ps 150:6Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Hallelujah!
- Ps 135:1Hallelujah! Praise the name of the LORD. Give praise, O servants of the LORD,
- Rev 7:15For this reason, they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and the One seated on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them.
- Rev 11:18–19The nations were enraged, and Your wrath has come. The time has come to judge the dead and to reward Your servants the prophets, as well as the saints and those who fear Your name, both small and great—and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
- Ps 135:19–20O house of Israel, bless the LORD; O house of Aaron, bless the LORD;
- Ps 22:23You who fear the LORD, praise Him! All descendants of Jacob, honor Him! All offspring of Israel, revere Him!
- Ps 103:20–22Bless the LORD, all His angels mighty in strength who carry out His word, who hearken to the voice of His command.
- Rev 20:12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.
- Rev 16:17Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came from the throne in the temple, saying, “It is done!”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Christ at the center
Revelation ends the story with the slain-yet-standing Lamb who is worthy, the Lion of Judah, the Alpha and Omega, the returning King who makes all things new and dwells with his people forever.
How Revelation 19:5 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 Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.