Psalms 69:34

69:34 Let the heavens and the earth praise him,

along with the seas and everything that swims in them!

Psalms 148:1-4

Psalm 148

148:1 Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord from the sky!

Praise him in the heavens!

148:2 Praise him, all his angels!

Praise him, all his heavenly assembly!

148:3 Praise him, O sun and moon!

Praise him, all you shiny stars!

148:4 Praise him, O highest heaven,

and you waters above the sky!

Isaiah 44:23

44:23 Shout for joy, O sky, for the Lord intervenes;

shout out, you subterranean regions of the earth.

O mountains, give a joyful shout;

you too, O forest and all your trees!

For the Lord protects Jacob;

he reveals his splendor through Israel. 10 

Isaiah 49:13

49:13 Shout for joy, O sky! 11 

Rejoice, O earth!

Let the mountains give a joyful shout!

For the Lord consoles his people

and shows compassion to the 12  oppressed.

Luke 2:10

2:10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, 13  for I proclaim to you good news 14  that brings great joy to all the people:

Luke 2:13-14

2:13 Suddenly 15  a vast, heavenly army 16  appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

2:14 “Glory 17  to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among people 18  with whom he is pleased!” 19 

Luke 15:10

15:10 In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels 20  over one sinner who repents.”

Revelation 12:12

12:12 Therefore you heavens rejoice, and all who reside in them!

But 21  woe to the earth and the sea

because the devil has come down to you!

He 22  is filled with terrible anger,

for he knows that he only has a little time!”

Revelation 19:1-7

19:1 After these things I heard what sounded like the loud voice of a vast throng in heaven, saying,

“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

19:2 because his judgments are true and just. 23 

For he has judged 24  the great prostitute

who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality,

and has avenged the blood of his servants 25  poured out by her own hands!” 26 

19:3 Then 27  a second time the crowd shouted, “Hallelujah!” The smoke rises from her forever and ever. 28  19:4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures threw themselves to the ground 29  and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne, saying: “Amen! Hallelujah!”

19:5 Then 30  a voice came from the throne, saying:

“Praise our God

all you his servants,

and all you who fear Him,

both the small and the great!”

The Wedding Celebration of the Lamb

19:6 Then 31  I heard what sounded like the voice of a vast throng, like the roar of many waters and like loud crashes of thunder. They were shouting: 32 

“Hallelujah!

For the Lord our God, 33  the All-Powerful, 34  reigns!

19:7 Let us rejoice 35  and exult

and give him glory,

because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come,

and his bride has made herself ready.


sn Psalm 148. The psalmist calls upon all creation to praise the Lord, for he is the creator and sovereign king of the world.

tn Or “heavenly messengers.”

tn Heb “all his host.”

tn Heb “stars of light.”

sn The “water” mentioned here corresponds to the “waters above” mentioned in Gen 1:7. See also Ps 104:3. For a discussion of the picture envisioned by the psalmist, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 47.

tn Heb “acts”; NASB, NRSV “has done it”; NLT “has done this wondrous thing.”

tn Heb “lower regions.” This refers to Sheol and forms a merism with “sky” in the previous line. See Pss 63:9; 71:20.

tn Heb “O forest and all the trees in it”; NASB, NRSV “and every tree in it.”

tn Heb “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.

10 tn That is, by delivering Israel. Cf. NCV “showed his glory when he saved Israel”; TEV “has shown his greatness by saving his people Israel.”

11 tn Or “O heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

12 tn Heb “his” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

13 tn Grk “behold.”

14 tn Grk “I evangelize to you great joy.”

15 tn Grk “And suddenly.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

16 tn Grk “a multitude of the armies of heaven.”

17 sn Glory here refers to giving honor to God.

18 tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") referring to both males and females.

19 tc Most witnesses (א2 B2 L Θ Ξ Ψ Ë1,13 Ï sy bo) have ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκία (en anqrwpoi" eudokia, “good will among people”) instead of ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκίας (en anqrwpoi" eudokia", “among people with whom he is pleased”), a reading attested by א* A B* D W pc (sa). Most of the Itala witnesses and some other versional witnesses reflect a Greek text which has the genitive εὐδοκίας but drops the preposition ἐν. Not only is the genitive reading better attested, but it is more difficult than the nominative. “The meaning seems to be, not that divine peace can be bestowed only where human good will is already present, but that at the birth of the Saviour God’s peace rests on those whom he has chosen in accord with his good pleasure” (TCGNT 111).

20 sn The whole of heaven is said to rejoice. Joy in the presence of God’s angels is a way of referring to God’s joy as well without having to name him explicitly. Contemporary Judaism tended to refer to God indirectly where possible out of reverence or respect for the divine name.

21 tn The word “But” is not in the Greek text, but the contrast is clearly implied. This is a case of asyndeton (lack of a connective).

22 tn Grk “and is filled,” a continuation of the previous sentence. Because English tends to use shorter sentences (especially when exclamations are involved), a new sentence was started here in the translation.

23 tn Compare the similar phrase in Rev 16:7.

24 tn Or “has punished.” See BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 5.b.α, describing the OT background which involves both the vindication of the innocent and the punishment of the guilty.

25 tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

26 tn Grk “from her hand” (referring to her responsibility in causing the blood of God’s followers to be shed).

27 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

28 tn Or “her smoke ascends forever and ever.”

29 tn Grk “creatures fell down.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

30 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

31 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

32 tn Grk “like the voice of a large crowd…saying.” Because of the complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation by supplying the words “They were.”

33 tc Several mss (א2 P 1611 2053 2344 pc ÏK lat ) read “the Lord our God” (κύριος ὁ θεός ἡμῶν, kurio" Jo qeo" Jhmwn). Other important mss (A 1006 1841 pc), however, omit the “our” (ἡμῶν). Further, certain mss (051 ÏA) omit “Lord” (κύριος), while others (including א*) change the order of the statement to “God our Lord” (ὁ θεός ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν). The expression “the Lord God, the All-Powerful” occurs in 6 other places in Revelation (1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22) and the pronoun “our” is never used. Scribes familiar with the expression in this book, and especially with the frequent κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ (kurio" Jo qeo" Jo pantokratwr; “the Lord God, the All-Powerful”) in the OT Prophets (LXX; cf. Jer 39:19; Hos 12:6; Amos 3:13; 4:13; 5:8, 14, 15, 16, 27; 9:5, 6, 15; Nah 3:5; Zech 10:3), would naturally omit the pronoun. Its presence may have arisen due to liturgical motivations or to conform to the expression “our God” in 19:1, 5, but this seems much less likely than an aversion to using the pronoun here and only here in the Greek Bible in the fuller title κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ.

34 tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…() κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22…κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν ὁ π. Rv 19:6.”

35 tn This verb and the next two verbs are hortatory subjunctives (giving exhortations).