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Acts 2:1–4
[Bible Verses]This passage recounts how the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples gathered on the day of Pentecost with a sound like a rushing wind and with tongues as of fire, and how they began to speak in other languages. The event is commemorated as the beginning of the church. What these tongues were, and whether the same experience continues today, are major points of disagreement among denominations.
Acts 16:31
[Bible Verses]Acts 16:31 records the answer of Paul and Silas to the jailer of the prison at Philippi: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." The verse is widely cherished as a text of hope for the salvation of one's family. It raises two questions: whether "thy house" is a promise to the whole family, and whether household baptisms support infant baptism.
Acts 20:35
[Bible Verses]Acts 20:35 is the verse in which Paul, taking leave of the elders of the church at Ephesus, urges them to remember the words of the Lord Jesus: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." It is one of the rare verses that preserve a saying of Jesus not recorded in the four Gospels, and it is widely cited to encourage sharing and giving.
Romans 1:16–17
[Bible Verses]In this passage Paul declares that he is not ashamed of the gospel and states that in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, "The just shall live by faith." The passage expresses the theme of the entire Epistle to the Romans and is known for its decisive influence on Martin Luther's Reformation thought.
Psalm 137:9
[Bible Verses]Psalm 137:9 is the final verse of Psalm 137, a lament over the Babylonian exile. It pronounces blessed the one who dashes the enemy's little ones against the rock. It is often counted among the most troubling verses in the Bible and is commonly cited as a representative example in discussions of how to read the so-called imprecatory psalms.
Isaiah 9:6
[Bible Verses]Isaiah 9:6 is the prophecy that "unto us a child is born," whose name "shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." It is one of the best-known Christmas texts. Interpretations differ, both between Christianity and Judaism and between mainstream denominations and certain other groups, over whom these titles refer to and what they mean.
Jeremiah 1:5
[Bible Verses]A verse from the call narrative of Jeremiah in which God declares that He knew Jeremiah before forming him in the womb, sanctified him before he came forth, and ordained him a prophet to the nations. It is a representative verse on vocation and divine foreknowledge and is also cited in discussions of predestination and bioethics.
Jeremiah 17:9
[Bible Verses]A lament declaring that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, and asking who can know it. It is a classic verse on the sinfulness of human nature and is frequently cited in discussions among denominations concerning original sin and the doctrine of total depravity.
Jeremiah 29:11
[Bible Verses]Jeremiah 29:11 is the promise that God's thoughts toward his people are thoughts of peace and not of evil, intended to give them a future and a hope. It is one of the verses most frequently used at graduations and new beginnings, and it often prompts debate over whether a word given to the community of exiles in Babylon may be applied as a promise of personal success.
Ezekiel 36:26
[Bible Verses]Ezekiel 36:26 records God's promise to give a new spirit, to take away the stony heart, and to give a heart of flesh. It is a principal Old Testament text on regeneration and the inward transforming work of the Holy Spirit, and it is frequently cited in discussions among denominations about how God's work and the human response relate to each other in conversion.
Matthew 5:3
[Bible Verses]Matthew 5:3 is the first of the Beatitudes, which open the Sermon on the Mount. It declares that the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor in spirit. Interpreters differ over what "poverty of spirit" means and how it relates to "the poor" in Luke's Gospel.
Matthew 5:39
[Bible Verses]Matthew 5:39 is the verse in which Jesus teaches his hearers not to resist an evil person and, if someone strikes them on the right cheek, to turn the other also. It stands at the center of interpretive debates that extend beyond the prohibition of personal retaliation to questions of war, violence, and military service.
Matthew 6:33
[Bible Verses]Matthew 6:33 is the promise that those who do not worry about what they will eat, drink, or wear, but "seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness," will have "all these things" added to them. It is one of the verses most frequently cited in discussions of priorities in the life of faith.
Matthew 7:13–14
[Bible Verses]A saying of Jesus contrasting the wide gate that leads to destruction with the narrow gate that leads to life. It is read as a warning that the path of discipleship is not easy, and it frequently appears in discussions about the number of the saved and the exclusivity of salvation.
Matthew 16:18–19
[Bible Verses]Jesus's words to Peter, "Upon this rock I will build my church," together with his promise to give Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven. The passage is the central scriptural basis for the papacy in the Catholic Church, and its interpretation differs sharply among Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox traditions.
Matthew 22:37–40
[Bible Verses]In this passage Jesus, asked which is the greatest commandment, names love for God and love for neighbor and declares that all the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments. It is accepted across denominational lines as a summary of biblical ethics.
Matthew 24:14
[Bible Verses]Matthew 24:14 is a prophecy of Jesus that this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then the end shall come. Because it links the motive for mission with the timing of the Second Coming, the verse figures prominently both in the missionary movement and in eschatological discussion.
Matthew 24:36
[Bible Verses]Matthew 24:36 is the saying of Jesus that no one knows the day and hour of his coming, not even the angels or the Son, but the Father only. It is a key verse against date-setting eschatology, which fixes a date for the Second Coming, and it has also raised theological questions about the divinity and humanity of Jesus.
Matthew 25:40
[Bible Verses]Matthew 25:40 is the verse in the parable of the sheep and the goats in which the King says, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." It is the passage most often cited as a basis for serving the poor, and interpreters differ over who "the least of these" are.
Matthew 26:26–28
[Bible Verses]Matthew 26:26–28 records the words Jesus spoke at the Last Supper when he broke bread and said, "Take, eat; this is my body," and then gave the cup, saying, "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." These are the words of institution of the Lord's Supper, and no passage has divided the church more deeply over the meaning of Communion.