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11 [a]Kindness and faithfulness[b] will meet;
    righteousness and peace will embrace.
12 Faithfulness will spring forth from the earth,
    and righteousness[c] will look down from heaven.
13 [d]The Lord will grant us prosperity,[e]
    and our land will yield its harvest.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 85:11 People will regulate their lives by the divine norms. The divine attributes, as well as the moral virtues that correspond to them, are here personified (see Pss 89:15; 97:2) as courtiers of the returning king.
  2. Psalm 85:11 Kindness and faithfulness: often found together to express God’s loyalty (see Pss 25:10; 40:12f; 57:11; 61:8; Ex 34:6).
  3. Psalm 85:12 Righteousness: personification of God’s attribute, which expresses his kingship in and over his people (see Pss 4:2; 22:31, alternative translation).
  4. Psalm 85:13 The goodness and blessings that the psalmist sees in a vision of the future are, for Christians, fulfilled in Christ. Yet the completion of salvation is also for Christians an object of promise and of longing expectation.
  5. Psalm 85:13 Prosperity: the benefits of God’s kingdom enjoyed by those who fear him: forgiveness (v. 3), reconciliation, renewal of covenant status (vv. 9-10), and fullness of restoration (vv. 10-14). Thus, faith in God leads to hope in a new age of righteousness (see Gal 5:5; 2 Pet 3:13).

11 Faithfulness springs forth from the earth,
    and righteousness(A) looks down from heaven.
12 The Lord will indeed give what is good,(B)
    and our land will yield(C) its harvest.
13 Righteousness goes before him
    and prepares the way for his steps.

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