Bible Strands
Psalms 72:3
May the mountains bring peace to the people, and the hills bring righteousness.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist continues a royal prayer for the king’s reign, extending the petition for righteous judgment from verse 2 toward the protection of the afflicted in verse 4.
The words — The verb יִשְׂאוּ (yis’u) literally means “they will carry,” applied to הָרִים (harim, mountains) and גְבָעוֹת (geva’ot, hills) as they bear שָׁלוֹם (shalom, peace) and צְדָקָה (tzedaqah, righteousness) to the people.
The thread — The imagery of hills and mountains bearing peace or joy recurs in Psalms 65:12, while the proclamation of peace and reconciliation is echoed in Isaiah 52:7 and 2 Corinthians 5:19.
Why it lands — The text states that natural creation will deliver peace and righteousness to the people under this reign, requiring the reader to pursue communal justice as the concrete measure of true peace.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
- 2 Corinthians 5:19 that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
- Psalms 65:12 The pastures of the wilderness overflow; the hills are robed with joy.
- Psalms 72:16 May there be an abundance of grain in the land; may it sway atop the hills. May its fruit trees flourish like the forests of Lebanon, the people of its cities like the grass of the field.
- Psalms 85:10 Loving devotion and faithfulness have joined together; righteousness and peace have kissed.
- Psalms 96:11 Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea resound, and all that fills it.
- Psalms 98:8 Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy
- Isaiah 32:16 Then justice will inhabit the wilderness, and righteousness will dwell in the fertile field.
- Ezekiel 34:13 I will bring them out from the peoples, gather them from the countries, and bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the settlements of the land.
- Daniel 9:24 Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city to stop their transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place.