Back to Psalms 78

Psalms 78:52-55

But he led out his own people like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

He led them safely, so that they weren’t afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, to this mountain, which his right hand had taken.

He also drove out the nations before them, allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Read all of Psalms 78 →

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    But he led out his own people like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

    He led them safely, so that they weren’t afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

    He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, to this mountain, which his right hand had taken.

    He also drove out the nations before them, allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

  • KJV King James Version

    But made his own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

    And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

    And he brought them to the border of his sanctuary, even to this mountain, which his right hand had purchased.

    He cast out the heathen also before them, and divided them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

Show all 3 translations
  • JPS JPS Tanakh (1917)

    But He made His own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

    And He led them safely, and they feared not; but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.

    And He brought them to His holy border, to the mountain, which His right hand had gotten.

    He drove out the nations also before them, and allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.

View more translations →

Cross-references (36)

  • Exodus 14:19-20 (v53) The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood…
  • Exodus 15:10 (v53) You blew with your wind. The sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.
  • Joshua 13:7 (v55) Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”
  • Psalms 44:2 (v55) You drove out the nations with your hand, but you planted them. You afflicted the peoples, but you spread them abroad.
  • Exodus 14:15 (v53) Yahweh said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward.
Show all 36 cross-references
  • Exodus 14:27-28 (v53) Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against…
  • Nehemiah 9:12 (v52) Moreover, in a pillar of cloud you led them by day; and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light in the way in which they should go.
  • Psalms 44:3 (v54) For they didn’t get the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them; but your right hand, your arm, and the…
  • Psalms 77:20 (v52) You led your people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
  • Psalms 136:15 (v53) but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea; for his loving kindness endures forever:
  • Hebrews 11:29 (v53) By faith, they passed through the Red Sea as on dry land. When the Egyptians tried to do so, they were swallowed up.
  • Exodus 15:17 (v54) You will bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, the place, Yahweh, which you have made for yourself to dwell…
  • Nehemiah 9:22-25 (v55) Moreover you gave them kingdoms and peoples, which you allotted according to their portions. So they possessed the land of Sihon, even the…
  • Isaiah 63:11-14 (v52) Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, “Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his…
  • John 10:11-42 (v52) I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the…
  • Deuteronomy 6:10-12 (v55) It shall be, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you,…
  • Joshua 6:1-21 (v55) Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the children of Israel. No one went out, and no one came in. Yahweh said to Joshua, “Behold, I…
  • Psalms 95:7 (v52) for he is our God. We are the people of his pasture, and the sheep in his care. Today, oh that you would hear his voice!
  • Psalms 100:3 (v52) Know that Yahweh, he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
  • Psalms 105:37 (v52) He brought them out with silver and gold. There was not one feeble person among his tribes.
  • Psalms 105:44-45 (v55) He gave them the lands of the nations. They took the labor of the peoples in possession, that they might keep his statutes, and observe his…
  • Psalms 136:18-22 (v55) and killed mighty kings; for his loving kindness endures forever: Sihon king of the Amorites; for his loving kindness endures forever; Og…
  • Isaiah 40:11 (v52) He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who…
  • Luke 15:4-6 (v52) “Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the…
  • Numbers 33:54 (v55) You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the more you shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you shall…
  • Joshua 19:51 (v55) These are the inheritances, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the…
  • Joshua 23:4 (v55) Behold, I have allotted to you these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that…
  • Psalms 68:16 (v54) Why do you look in envy, you rugged mountains, at the mountain where God chooses to reign? Yes, Yahweh will dwell there forever.
  • Psalms 135:10-12 (v55) He struck many nations, and killed mighty kings, Sihon king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan, and gave…
  • Isaiah 11:9 (v54) They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea.
  • Jeremiah 23:2-4 (v52) Therefore Yahweh, the God of Israel, says against the shepherds who feed my people: “You have scattered my flock, driven them away, and…
  • Ezekiel 34:11-31 (v52) “ ‘For the Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock…
  • Daniel 9:16-20 (v54) Lord, according to all your righteousness, let your anger and please let your wrath be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy…
  • Daniel 11:45 (v54) He will plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the glorious holy mountain; yet he will come to his end, and no one will help him.
  • Ephesians 1:14 (v54) who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.
  • Exodus 15:13 (v54) “You, in your loving kindness, have led the people that you have redeemed. You have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation.

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

Explain this passage (15 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv52, 53, 55 52. And he made his people to go forth…

52. And he made his people to go forth like sheep. The Psalmist again celebrates God’s fatherly love towards the chosen people, whom, as we have elsewhere remarked, he compares to a flock of sheep. They had no wisdom or power of their own to preserve and defend themselves; but God graciously condescended to perform towards them the office of a shepherd. It is a singular token of the love which he bore towards them, that he did not disdain to humble himself so far as to feed them as his own sheep. What could a multitude who had never been trained up to the art of war do against powerful and warlike enemies? So far from having learned the art of war, the people, as is well known, had been employed, when in Egypt, in mean and servile occupations, as if they had been condemned to toil under the earth in mines or in quarries.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv53–54 That is, they had none occasion to fear, forasmuch…
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv52–55 Psa 78:52 But made his own people to go…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv53–54 They feared not. But it is said that they…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv52–55 And he led them on safely,.... Through the sea,…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v54 Holy place - The land of Canaan, separated by…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v54 Verse 54. The border of his sanctuary] קדשו kodsho,…
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v52 Psa 78:52-54. But made his own people go out…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv52–55 But made his own people to go forth like…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv53–55 53. Safely… they feared not—They had no cause of…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv52–55 52. But made &c.] But he led forth his…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v54 (54) This mountain—i.e., Zion, though from its apposition to…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv52–55 But made his own people to go forth like…
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv52–55 Ver. 52. But made his own people to go…
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv52, 54 General Information:
Share