For it is written, “‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘to me every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess to God.’”
Parallel translations
- KJV For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
- BSB It is written: “As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before Me; every tongue will confess to God.”
- NKJV For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.”
- NASB For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, to Me every knee will bow, And every tongue will give praise to God.”
- NLT For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.’”
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
Paul cites Isaiah: as surely as God lives, every knee will bow and every tongue confess to Him. Universal accountability to God underlines why we must not usurp His judgment.
Overview
Quoting Isaiah 45:23, Paul affirms that all will ultimately acknowledge God. This same passage Paul applies to Christ in Philippians 2, showing the divine glory shared by the Son. The point in context is that every person answers to God, so judging a brother intrudes on prerogatives that belong to the Lord before whom all will bow.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Isa 45:22–25“Look to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
- Phil 2:10–11that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth,
- Ps 72:11Yes, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him.
- Rom 10:9that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
- Matt 10:32Everyone therefore who confesses me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven.
- 1 Jn 4:15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God.
- Isa 49:18Lift up your eyes all around, and see: all these gather themselves together, and come to you. As I live,” says Yahweh, “you shall surely clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament, and dress yourself with them, like a bride.
- Rom 15:9and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore will I give praise to you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.”
- Num 14:21but in very deed, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with Yahweh’s glory;
- Rev 5:14The four living creatures said, “Amen!” The elders fell down and worshiped.
- 2 Jn 1:7For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who don’t confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the Antichrist.
- Zeph 2:9Therefore as I live, says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, surely Moab will be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles, and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation. The remnant of my people will plunder them, and the survivors of my nation will inherit them.
- Num 14:28Tell them, ‘As I live, says Yahweh, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you.
- Ezek 5:11Therefore as I live,’ says the Lord Yahweh, ‘surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore I will also diminish you. My eye won’t spare, and I will have no pity.
- Jer 22:24“As I live,” says Yahweh, “though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet on my right hand, yet would I pluck you from there;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 14:11 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.