Chapter
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150
Verse
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Psalm chapter 114

English Standard Version

1When Israel went out from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, 2Judah became his sanctuary, Israel his dominion. 3 The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back. 4 The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. 5What ails you, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back? 6O mountains, that you skip like rams? O hills, like lambs? 7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, 8who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water.
New International Version

1When Israel came out of Egypt, Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
2Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel his dominion. 3The sea looked and fled, the Jordan turned back;
4the mountains leaped like rams, the hills like lambs. 5Why was it, sea, that you fled? Why, Jordan, did you turn back?
6Why, mountains, did you leap like rams, you hills, like lambs? 7Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, 8who turned the rock into a pool, the hard rock into springs of water.
New American Standard Bible

1When Israel went forth from Egypt, The house of Jacob from a people of a foreign language, 2Judah became His sanctuary; Israel, His dominion. 3The sea looked and fled; The Jordan turned back. 4The mountains skipped like rams, The hills, like lambs. 5What ails you, sea, that you flee? Jordan, that you turn back? 6Mountains, that you skip like rams? Hills, like lambs? 7Tremble, earth, before the Lord, Before the God of Jacob, 8Who turned the rock into a pool of water, The flint into a fountain of water.
Christian Standard Bible

1When Israel came out of Egypt— the house of Jacob from a people who spoke a foreign language —
2Judah became his sanctuary, Israel, his dominion. 3The sea looked and fled; the Jordan turned back. 4The mountains skipped like rams, the hills, like lambs. 5Why was it, sea, that you fled? Jordan, that you turned back?
6Mountains, that you skipped like rams? Hills, like lambs? 7Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob, 8who turned the rock into a pool, the flint into a spring.
New Living Translation

1When the Israelites escaped from Egypt — when the family of Jacob left that foreign land — 2the land of Judah became God’s sanctuary, and Israel became his kingdom.
3The Red Sea saw them coming and hurried out of their way! The water of the Jordan River turned away. 4The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs! 5What’s wrong, Red Sea, that made you hurry out of their way? What happened, Jordan River, that you turned away? 6Why, mountains, did you skip like rams? Why, hills, like lambs?
7Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob. 8He turned the rock into a pool of water; yes, a spring of water flowed from solid rock.
King James Version

1When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;
2Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion.
3The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back.
4The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.
5What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?
6Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs?
7Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob;
8Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.
New King James Version

1When Israel went out of Egypt, The house of Jacob from a people of strange language, 2 Judah became His sanctuary, And Israel His dominion. 3 The sea saw it and fled; Jordan turned back. 4 The mountains skipped like rams, The little hills like lambs. 5 What ails you, O sea, that you fled? O Jordan, that you turned back? 6O mountains, that you skipped like rams? O little hills, like lambs? 7Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, At the presence of the God of Jacob, 8 Who turned the rock into a pool of water, The flint into a fountain of waters.

What does Psalm chapter 114 mean?

Psalms 113—118 were used at major celebrations, such Passover. This psalm's reference to Egyptian slavery is why this block is sometimes called the "Egyptian Hallel." The verses within this set of psalms repeatedly use the Hebrew word halelu-yāh. This is typically rendered in English as "hallelujah," and comes from a Hebrew combination literally meaning "praise" and "God [Yahweh]."

This psalm begins with a reference to Israel's rescue from Egyptian slavery (Exodus 12:41). Jacob was the father of the twelve tribes, and God renamed him "Israel" (Genesis 32:28). The tribe of Judah became the seat of government and the tribe of Israel's kings (Genesis 49:10). God used His relationship with Israel, His chosen people, to demonstrate His power and glory (Psalm 114:1–2).

During the exodus from Egypt, Israel witnesses multiple miracles. Among these were the parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:21) and the earth-shaking presence of God on Sinai (Exodus 19:18). Later, they walked over the Jordan river without getting wet thanks to God's intervention (Joshua 3:13). These were signs and proof of the Lord's work on behalf of His people (Psalm 114:3–4).

The psalmist emphasizes God's power by asking "rhetorical" questions. These are statements—not literal requests—framed as questions because the answer is assumed to be obvious. Here, the psalmist asks the natural water and land why it reacted that way. The expected reply is that they did so because of God's command. The power of the Lord caused these miraculous events (Psalm 114:5–6).

The song ends with further statements of God's power and influence. This also includes mention of another miracle which occurred during Israel's desert wandering. While suffering from thirst, the people were given water (Exodus 17:6) when God caused it to pour out of a rock (Psalm 114:7–8).
Expand
Expand
Expand
What is the Gospel?
Download the app:
BibleRef.com is part of Got Questions Ministries

For answers to your Bible questions, please visit