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Psalms 87

A short, dense hymn to Zion as the city of God, founded on the holy mountains and loved above all the dwellings of Jacob. Its surprise is a registry: God records the peoples — Rahab (Egypt), Babylon, Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia — each entered as if born in Zion. Read it as a census of belonging. Foreign nations, not just Israel, get the line 'This one was born there.'

Parallel reading
English + Português (Brasil)
Psalms 87 (WEB)
  1. 1

    His foundation is in the holy mountains.

  2. 2

    The LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.

  3. 3

    Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God. Selah.

  4. 4

    I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me. Behold, Philistia, Tyre, and also Ethiopia: “This one was born there.”

  5. 5

    Yes, of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one was born in her;” the Most High himself will establish her.

  6. 6

    The LORD will count, when he writes up the peoples, “This one was born there.” Selah.

  7. 7

    Those who sing as well as those who dance say, “All my springs are in you.”

A birthplace granted, not inherited

The repeated phrase about being 'born there' turns citizenship into something God assigns by record-keeping rather than ancestry. Verse 6 has the LORD writing up the peoples one by one, and the psalm ends with singers and dancers declaring 'All my springs are in you' — the city becomes the source point for every people listed.

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