Add parallel Print Page Options

That the mountains may yield their bounty for the people,
    and the hills great abundance,(A)
That he may defend the oppressed among the people,
    save the children of the poor and crush the oppressor.

Read full chapter

That abundance may flourish in his days,
    great bounty, till the moon be no more.

III

[a]May he rule from sea to sea,
    from the river to the ends of the earth.(A)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 72:8 From sea to sea…the ends of the earth: the boundaries of the civilized world known at the time: from the Mediterranean Sea (the western sea) to the Persian Gulf (the eastern sea), and from the Euphrates (the river) to the islands and lands of southwestern Europe, “the ends of the earth.” The words may also have a mythic nuance—the earth surrounded by cosmic waters, hence everywhere.

17 May his name be forever;
    as long as the sun, may his name endure.(A)
May the tribes of the earth give blessings with his name;[a]
    may all the nations regard him as favored.(B)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 72:17 May the tribes of the earth give blessings with his name: an echo of the promise to the ancestors (Gn 12:3; 26:4; 28:14), suggesting that the monarchy in Israel fulfilled the promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.