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By Solomon.

1God, give the king your justice;

your righteousness to the royal son.

2He will judge your people with righteousness,

and your poor with justice.

3The mountains shall bring prosperity to the people.

The hills bring the fruit of righteousness.

4He will judge the poor of the people.

He will save the children of the needy,

and will break the oppressor in pieces.

5They shall fear you while the sun endures;

and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.

6He will come down like rain on the mown grass,

as showers that water the earth.

7In his days, the righteous shall flourish,

and abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.

8He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,

from the River to the ends of the earth.

9Those who dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him.

His enemies shall lick the dust.

10The kings of Tarshish and of the islands will bring tribute.

The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

11Yes, all kings shall fall down before him.

All nations shall serve him.

12For he will deliver the needy when he cries;

the poor, who has no helper.

13He will have pity on the poor and needy.

He will save the souls of the needy.

14He will redeem their soul from oppression and violence.

Their blood will be precious in his sight.

15He will live; and Sheba’s gold will be given to him.

Men will pray for him continually.

They will bless him all day long.

16Abundance of grain shall be throughout the land.

Its fruit sways like Lebanon.

Let it flourish, thriving like the grass of the field.

17His name endures forever.

His name continues as long as the sun.

Men shall be blessed by him.

All nations will call him blessed.

18Praise be to Yahweh God, the God of Israel,

who alone does marvelous deeds.

19Blessed be his glorious name forever!

Let the whole earth be filled with his glory!

Amen and amen.

20This ends the prayers by David, the son of Jesse.

The Influence of the Bible on the English Language in Contemporary Expressions

The Influence of the Bible on the English Language in Contemporary Expressions

Note | Ps 72:9 | David Crystal

Everyday expressions in English that are based on the King James Version of the Bible

Expression

Meaning

Biblical Text

"A labor of love" 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
"A sign of the times" Matthew 16:3
"At the eleventh hour Matthew 20:1-16
"At your wit's end" Psalm 107:23-27
"By the skin of your teeth"To barely succeedJob 19:20
"Bite the dust"For something to failPsalm 72:9
"Blind leading the blind"Unskilled persons are being led by equally unskilled persons.Matthew 15:14
"Broken heart"To have much sorrow.Psalm 34:18
"Can a leopard change his spots?"The inability of a person to change what they areJeremiah 13:23
"Cast the first stone"To criticize first, or be the first person to attack.John 8:7
"Cast your pearls before swine" Matthew 7:6
"Drop in a bucket"Insignificant impact or amountIsaiah 40:15
"Eat, drink, and be merry" Ecclesiastes 8:15; Luke 12:19; 1 Corinthians 15:32
Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth"If something bad is done by a person, then the same thing should happen to them as a punishment.Matthew 5:38
"Fall from grace"This speaks of a person who has fallen from a position of respect or rank.Galatians 5:4
"Fall by the wayside" Luke 8:5
"Feet of clay" Daniel 2:31-45
"Fight the good fight"  1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:6
"Fly in the ointment"Something that ruins an effort.Ecclesiastes 10:1
"For every thing there is a season" Ecclesiastes 3
"Forbidden fruit" Genesis 3:3
"Go the extra mile"Go beyond what is expected of a person.Matthew 5:41
"Good Samaritan"This speaks of a person who helps another person in need without the intent of receiving something in return.Luke 10:30-37
"He that toucheth pitch" Ecclesiasticus 13:1 (Apocrypha)
"He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword Matthew 26:52
"How the mighty have fallen" 2 Samuel 1:19
"Land of milk and honey" Exodus 3:1-22
"Land of Nod" Genesis 4:16
"Leopard cannot change its spots" Jeremiah 13:23
"Let there be light"Lighthearted comment when someone turns on a lightGenesis 1:3
"Like a lamb to the slaughter"To do an innocent act not knowing of the danger ahead.Isaiah 53:7
"Millstone around your neck" Luke 17:2
"Move mountains" 1 Corinthians 13:2
"Nothing but skin and bones"For a person to be very thin or emasculated.Job 19:19-20
"Nothing new under the sun" Ecclesiastes 1:9
"O ye of little faith" Matthew 8:26
"Pride comes before a fall"Usually, a caution that someone is too confident and will cause the person to fail.Proverbs 16:18
"The love of money is the root of all evil" 1 Timothy 6:10
"The powers that be" Romans 13:1
"The straight and narrow" Matthew 7:13-14
"Writing on the wall"Indicating that something bad is about to happen.Daniel 5:1-31

You may see several examples, given above, at Biblical idioms and sayings with origins explained.

David Crystal has discovered 257 examples of these idioms. You may read or listen to an interview with him at Talk of the Nation, December 22, 2010, and may want to order his book, Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language.