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Well-known verses, their interpretation and the debates around them · Articles: 550 (835 in the whole category)

Matthew 55

1:22–23An editorial comment in which the author of Matthew interprets Jesus' conception by the Holy Spirit as the fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14. The passage is…
1:23Matthew 1:23 records Matthew's testimony that the prophecy that a virgin would bear a son, whose name would be called Emmanuel, meaning "God with us,…
4:15–16A passage in which the Gospel of Matthew presents the beginning of Jesus' Galilean ministry as the fulfillment of Isaiah 9:1–2. Because it speaks of …
4:17Matthew 4:17 records the first proclamation Jesus made when he began his public ministry in Galilee. The words "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is …
5:3The first of the Beatitudes, which open the Sermon on the Mount, this verse declares that the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor in spirit. Interp…
5:13–16The passage in which Jesus calls his disciples "the salt of the earth" and "the light of the world." It is among the texts most frequently cited in d…
5:17–18In this saying Jesus declares that he came not to destroy the law or the prophets but to fulfill them. The passage serves as a starting point from wh…
5:20Matthew 5:20 is the verse in the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus tells his disciples that unless their righteousness exceeds that of the scribes a…
5:31-32In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus cites the Deuteronomic provision for a writing of divorcement and links the putting away of a wife with adultery. B…
5:38–42A passage in the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus teaches a life of non-retaliation in place of the principle of retaliation, "An eye for an eye, a…
5:39In this verse 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 stan…
5:44Matthew 5:44 contains Jesus' command, "Love your enemies... and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." It is regarded as one o…
6:5–8Matthew 6:5–8 is a passage in the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus warns against praying to be seen by others and against supposing that one will b…
6:9-13This passage contains the prayer Jesus taught his disciples, which the church recites together as the Lord's Prayer. Discussion of the passage addres…
6:24–34Matthew 6:24–34 is the passage in the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus teaches that no one can serve both God and mammon and instructs his hearers …
6:33A promise that those who do not worry about what they will eat, drink, or wear, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, will have al…
7:1"Judge not, that ye be not judged" is a saying of Jesus. It warns against the hypocrisy of condemning others, but critics frequently point out that i…
7:7"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" is a promise concerning prayer. The verse is cheris…
7:13–14A 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 …
7:21Jesus' warning, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which …
7:22–27The closing section of the Sermon on the Mount, which compares those who hear and do the words of Jesus to a house built upon a rock, and those who o…
8:16–17A passage that interprets Jesus' evening healing of the demon-possessed and the sick as the fulfillment of Isaiah 53:4. It is frequently cited in dis…
9:13In this verse Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6 to the Pharisees, declaring that God desires mercy rather than sacrifice and that he has come to call sinners. I…
10:28A saying of Jesus, spoken as he sent out the twelve disciples, in which he tells them to fear not persecutors, who can kill only the body, but the on…
10:40–42The closing section of the instructions Jesus gave when sending out the twelve disciples, declaring that whoever receives those he sends receives Jes…
11:28"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" is an invitation spoken by Jesus. It is one of the verses most widel…
11:29–30In this passage Jesus invites his hearers to take his yoke upon them and learn of him, promising that they will find rest. Together with the precedin…
12:7In a Sabbath controversy, Jesus defended his disciples by quoting Hosea 6:6. The verse expresses the principle that mercy takes precedence over sacri…
12:31–32Jesus' warning that every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, neither in this wo…
12:41Jesus' warning to those who demanded a sign: the men of Nineveh, who repented at Jonah's preaching, will condemn "this generation" at the judgment. T…
16:18–19Jesus'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 passa…
16:24"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" is a saying of Jesus. Regarded as a summary of disciplesh…
18:15–17A step-by-step procedure: if a brother sins, one should first admonish him privately, then with one or two witnesses, and, if he still refuses to lis…
18:18–19After describing how to deal with a brother who has sinned within the community, Jesus gives the disciples the authority to "bind and loose" and prom…
18:20"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" is a promise of Jesus. It is widely used to offer comfort …
19:3–9A passage in which Jesus, questioned by the Pharisees about divorce, answers by appealing to the order of marriage established at creation and names …
19:9A saying of Jesus that whoever puts away his wife, except for fornication, and marries another commits adultery. Denominations differ in their positi…
19:16–26In this passage a rich young man asks how to obtain eternal life, and Jesus answers that he should sell his possessions, give to the poor, and follow…
19:24"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God" is a saying of Jesus. It is a prin…
20:28In this saying, Jesus declares that he came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. The verse is frequently cited as a teaching on the ex…
21:21–22A passage in which Jesus, responding to disciples astonished that the fig tree had withered, speaks of the power of undoubting faith and of prayer. I…
22:21Jesus' reply, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." It is the verse most commonly cit…
22:30In this verse Jesus answers a question from the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection, by saying that "in the resurrection" people neith…
22:37–40In 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 prophe…
23:4A verse in which Jesus criticizes the scribes and Pharisees for laying heavy burdens on others while refusing to lift a finger themselves. It is freq…
23:23In this saying, Jesus rebukes the scribes and Pharisees who tithed even small herbs such as mint, anise, and cummin while neglecting justice, mercy, …
24:14A prophecy of Jesus that this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world for a witness to all nations, and then the end will come. Becau…
24:15A verse in which Jesus, speaking to his disciples on the Mount of Olives, presents Daniel's "abomination of desolation" standing in the holy place as…
24:30–31A passage in the Olivet Discourse in which Jesus says that after the great tribulation the Son of Man will come on the clouds with great glory and Hi…
24:36A saying of Jesus that no one knows the day and hour, not even the angels or the Son, but the Father only. It is a key verse against date-setting esc…
25:40The 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, …
26:26–28At the Last Supper, Jesus broke bread and said, "Take, eat; this is my body," and then gave the cup, saying, "For this is my blood of the new testame…
27:46The cry that Jesus uttered with a loud voice from the cross: "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"…
28:18–20The closing verses of the Gospel of Matthew, in which the risen Jesus commands the eleven disciples to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and t…
28:19–20In this passage the risen Jesus commands his disciples to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the H…

Mark 20

1:15"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel" is Jesus' first proclamation in the Gospel of Mark. It …
2:27–28In a dispute over the Sabbath, Jesus declares that "the sabbath was made for man" and identifies himself as Lord of the Sabbath. The passage is frequ…
3:28–30In this passage Jesus warns the scribes who had said he was possessed by a demon that "blasphemy against the Holy Ghost" will never be forgiven. What…
6:13A verse recording that the twelve disciples, sent out by Jesus, cast out demons and healed the sick by anointing them with oil. It is frequently cite…
7:18–19In this passage Jesus explains to his disciples that food entering a person from outside cannot defile that person. Its closing clause, rendered in t…
7:21–23In this passage, Jesus explains to his disciples that what defiles a person is not food entering from outside but evil coming from the heart, and he …
8:34–35A passage in which Jesus tells the crowd and his disciples to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him. It is frequently cited as a key t…
9:23Mark 9:23 is the verse in which Jesus, after the father of a demon-possessed boy pleads "if thou canst do any thing," takes up the father's words and…
9:50Mark 9:50 records Jesus' charge to his disciples, given through the figure of salt, to live as disciples who have not lost their savor and to be at p…
10:2-12The passage in which the Pharisees ask Jesus whether divorce is lawful, and Jesus answers by appealing to the order of creation: "What therefore God …
10:38–39In this passage, James and John ask for places of glory, and Jesus asks whether they are able to drink the "cup" that he drinks and to be baptized wi…
10:45"For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" is a saying of Jesus. The verse uni…
11:22–25In this passage Jesus, standing before the withered fig tree, teaches his disciples about faith in God, prayer without doubting, and the forgiveness …
11:24"What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" is a saying of Jesus. The verse encourages the pra…
12:13-17In this passage, the Pharisees and the Herodians ask Jesus whether taxes should be paid to Caesar (the Roman emperor), and Jesus answers, "Render to …
12:28-34In this passage a scribe asks which commandment is the greatest, and Jesus answers by joining the command to love God from Deuteronomy with the comma…
13:10Mark 13:10 is the verse in which Jesus says that before the end the gospel must first be preached to all nations. It is frequently cited and discusse…
13:32–33In this passage Jesus says that only the Father knows "that day and that hour" of his return, and he urges his hearers to keep watch. It is often cit…
15:33–37This passage describes the moment just before Jesus died on the cross when, after three hours of darkness, he cried out in the words of Psalm 22:1, "…
16:15-18In this passage the risen Jesus commands his disciples to preach the gospel to all the world and describes the signs that will follow those who belie…

Luke 32

1:26-35In this passage the angel Gabriel appears to Mary, a virgin of Nazareth, and announces that she will conceive a son by the Holy Spirit and is to name…
1:37Spoken by the angel Gabriel to Mary in the Annunciation scene, this verse declares that nothing is impossible with God. It is often cited as a key ve…
2:10-11A passage in which an angel announces the birth of Jesus to the shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem, calling him "Savior," "Christ," and "Lord." B…
2:14Luke 2:14 is the hymn of praise sung by the heavenly host before the shepherds on the night of Jesus' birth. It is central to Christmas worship and h…
4:18-19Luke 4:18-19 records the words Jesus read from the book of Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazareth and proclaimed as the purpose of his ministry. Because…
6:20Luke 6:20 is the first beatitude of the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, in which Jesus tells his disciples that the poor are blessed and t…
6:27–36In this passage from the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus teaches his hearers to love their enemies, to do good to those who hate them, and to be merciful …
6:35–37A teaching of Jesus calling his followers to love their enemies, to lend without expecting repayment, and, in imitation of God's mercy, to refrain fr…
6:37–42In this passage from the Sermon on the Plain, Jesus teaches his hearers not to judge or condemn others but to forgive and to give. It is widely known…
6:38A saying of Jesus that begins, "Give, and it shall be given unto you." The verse is widely used to encourage offerings and generosity, but its origin…
6:46A question Jesus posed at the close of the Sermon on the Plain to those who called him "Lord" yet did not do what he said. It is frequently cited in …
7:22In this verse, when the imprisoned John the Baptist asks whether Jesus is "he that should come," Jesus answers by pointing to acts of healing and to …
9:23A verse in which Jesus says that anyone who would follow him must deny himself and take up his cross daily. It is widely cited as a core demand of di…
11:2-4The Lord's Prayer as recorded in the Gospel of Luke, given by Jesus in response to a disciple's request that he teach them to pray. Because it is sho…
11:5–13A passage in which Jesus, after teaching the Lord's Prayer, instructs his disciples on prayer through the parable of the friend who comes at midnight…
11:20A verse in which Jesus attributes his exorcisms (the casting out of demons) to "the finger of God" and declares that they are a sign that the kingdom…
12:10A verse in which Jesus says that whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will n…
12:29–31A saying of Jesus in which he tells his disciples not to be anxious about what they will eat and drink but to seek the kingdom of God. Together with …
13:23–24In this passage, when asked, "Are there few that be saved?" Jesus does not answer with a number but replies, "Strive to enter in at the strait gate."…
15:20In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, this verse describes the father seeing his returning younger son from a distance, running to him, embracing him, …
17:20–21Jesus' reply to the Pharisees when they asked when the kingdom of God would come. A central question in both translation and interpretation is whethe…
17:22–24In this passage Jesus tells his disciples that the day of the Son of Man will come like lightning, visible to the whole world. It is often cited as e…
18:1A verse in which Luke states the purpose of the parable of the unjust judge and the widow before Jesus tells it. Because of its exhortation that "men…
18:24–27In this passage, which immediately follows the conversation with the rich ruler, Jesus says that it is hard for those who have riches to enter the ki…
19:8–9In this passage, Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector of Jericho, declares that he will give half of his goods to the poor and restore fourfold anythin…
19:10Luke 19:10 records the words Jesus spoke after staying at the house of Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, in Jericho, declaring that he came "to see…
22:19–20In this passage Jesus, at the Last Supper, shares the bread and the cup and speaks of his body and of the blood of the "new covenant." It is widely r…
23:34Luke 23:34 records the prayer of Jesus on the cross for those crucifying him: "Father, forgive them." It is traditionally counted as the first of the…
23:43Luke 23:43 records the promise Jesus made on the cross to the repentant thief: "To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." The verse is frequently ci…
24:44–46In this passage the risen Jesus explains to his disciples that the whole of the Old Testament was written concerning him and was fulfilled in his suf…
24:46–49In this passage the risen Jesus declares that the suffering and resurrection of the Christ, and the preaching of repentance and the forgiveness of si…
24:50–51The closing passage of the Gospel of Luke, which recounts how the risen Jesus, near Bethany, lifted up his hands and blessed his disciples, and while…

John 54

1:1The opening verse of the Gospel of John declares that the Word, who existed in the beginning, was with God and was God. Because it is a key verse aff…
1:12–13A passage stating that those who receive Jesus and believe on his name are given the power to become children of God, and that this birth comes not f…
1:14A verse declaring that the Word, who existed from the beginning, became flesh and dwelt among people. It is the most concise statement of the Christi…
3:3–5The passage in which Jesus tells the Pharisee Nicodemus, "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." It is the source of the expr…
3:16John 3:16 declares that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him should have everlasting life. It i…
3:17–18A passage stating that God sent his Son not to condemn the world but to save it, and that whoever believes is not condemned, while whoever does not b…
3:36John 3:36 states that whoever believes in the Son (Jesus) has eternal life now, while the wrath of God remains on whoever does not obey the Son. It i…
4:20–23In this passage Jesus tells a Samaritan woman that worship offered "in spirit and in truth" matters more than the place of worship. It is one of the …
4:24In this verse Jesus tells the Samaritan woman, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." The verse speaks…
5:24–25A passage in which Jesus declares that whoever hears his word and believes the God who sent him already has eternal life and has passed from death to…
5:25–29A saying of Jesus declaring that the hour when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and live "is coming, and now is," and announcing a resu…
6:35In this saying Jesus identifies himself as "the bread of life" and declares that whoever comes to him and believes in him will never hunger or thirst…
6:37–40John 6:37–40 is the passage in which Jesus says that he will not cast out those whom the Father has given him, that he will lose none of them, and th…
6:53–54In this passage Jesus says, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." The Catholic Church and various…
6:63A verse in which Jesus tells disciples who found his teaching on the bread of life hard to accept that "it is the spirit that quickeneth" and that hi…
7:24Spoken by Jesus during the Feast of Tabernacles to Jews who objected to his healing on the Sabbath, this verse calls on its hearers not to judge by o…
8:7John 8:7 is the verse in which Jesus says to those about to stone a woman taken in adultery, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a …
8:11John 8:11 records Jesus' words to the woman brought to him after she was caught in adultery: "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." The ve…
8:12In this verse, spoken at the Jerusalem temple around the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus declares himself "the light of the world" and promis…
8:31Jesus' words to the Jews who had believed in him, telling them that if they "continue in my word" they are his disciples indeed. The verse is frequen…
8:32"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" is a saying of Jesus. The phrase is widely used outside the church as a symbol of ac…
8:34–36In this passage Jesus tells the Jews who had believed on him that "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin" and that "If the Son therefore sha…
8:58The verse in which Jesus says, "Before Abraham was, I am." It is frequently cited as evidence of Christ's preexistence (his existence before coming i…
9:1-3In this passage Jesus answers that the blindness of a man born blind was caused neither by his own sin nor by his parents' sin, but occurred so that …
10:3–4A passage in which Jesus, using the figure of a shepherd and his sheep, says that the shepherd calls each of his sheep by name and goes before them, …
10:9In this verse Jesus, explaining the parable of the sheepfold, identifies himself as "the door." Whoever enters through him, he says, finds salvation,…
10:10In this passage Jesus presents himself as the door of the sheep and the good shepherd, saying, "I am come that they might have life, and that they mi…
10:11–15In this passage Jesus presents himself as the "good shepherd" who lays down his life for the sheep, in contrast to the hireling who flees in the face…
10:16In the Good Shepherd discourse, Jesus says that he must also bring "other sheep... which are not of this fold," so that there will be "one flock" (KJ…
10:27–29A passage in which Jesus says that he gives eternal life to his sheep and that no one can pluck them out of his hand or the Father's hand. It is freq…
10:28–29In this passage Jesus says that he gives eternal life to his sheep and that no one can snatch them out of his hand or out of the Father's hand. It is…
10:30A saying of Jesus to the Jews at the Feast of Dedication: "I and my Father are one." Because it speaks directly of the relationship between the Fathe…
10:35In this verse Jesus, answering a charge of blasphemy, quotes Psalm 82:6 and declares that "the scripture cannot be broken." The verse is frequently c…
11:25–26The passage in which Jesus, after the death of Lazarus, tells Martha, "I am the resurrection, and the life." It is one of the "I am" declarations in …
13:34-35The passage in which Jesus, at the Last Supper, gives his disciples the new commandment to "love one another." He says that their love for one anothe…
14:1–9In this passage, set after the Last Supper, Jesus promises his troubled disciples a place in his Father's house and his return, and declares that he …
14:6The passage in which Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." It is a representative text for t…
14:12–14The passage in which Jesus says that whoever believes in him will do the works he does and "greater works than these shall he do," and promises to do…
14:27John 14:27 is the verse in which Jesus, on the night before his crucifixion, promises to leave his disciples "my peace," a peace unlike what the worl…
15:1–8In this passage Jesus compares himself to "the true vine" and his disciples to the branches, teaching that they bear fruit only by abiding in him. It…
15:5In this passage Jesus says, "I am the vine, ye are the branches," declaring that whoever abides in him brings forth much fruit and that without him n…
15:12–13A passage in which Jesus commands his disciples to love one another as he has loved them and declares that there is no greater love than to lay down …
15:26–27In this passage Jesus says that the "Comforter" (Paraclete), the "Spirit of truth" whom he will send from the Father, will testify of him, and that t…
16:7A verse from Jesus' Farewell Discourse in which he says that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, will come only if he goes away. It is frequently cited t…
16:23–24In his farewell discourse on the eve of the crucifixion, Jesus promised his disciples that "in that day," after the resurrection, whatever they asked…
16:33In these words Jesus concluded his farewell discourse after the Last Supper, telling his disciples that they would face tribulation in the world but …
17:20–23A passage from the prayer Jesus offered just before his arrest, in which he asks that later believers, who would come to believe through the disciple…
17:21A verse from the prayer Jesus offered to the Father before his arrest, in which he asks that those who believe "all may be one" so that the world may…
19:34–35After Jesus died on the cross, a soldier pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water came out. The passage then states that the one who saw th…
20:22In this verse the risen Jesus breathes on His disciples and says, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost." The verse is frequently discussed in pneumatology and …
20:23In this verse the risen Jesus gives the Holy Spirit to his disciples and says, "Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them." The Catholi…
20:28John 20:28 is the verse in which Thomas, encountering the risen Jesus, confesses, "My Lord and my God." Because it is one of the principal New Testam…
20:31A verse in which the author of the Gospel of John states the purpose of the book: that readers might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God…
21:15–17The passage in which the risen Jesus, on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, asks Simon Peter three times, "Lovest thou me?" and entrusts him with the …

Acts 32

1:4–5In this passage the risen Jesus, before his ascension, tells the apostles not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father, saying th…
1:7The reply of the risen Jesus to his disciples just before his ascension, telling them that the time of restoring the kingdom lies within the Father's…
1:8The passage in which Jesus, just before his ascension, tells the disciples that when the Holy Spirit comes upon them they will receive power and be h…
2:1–4This passage recounts how the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples gathered on the day of Pentecost with a sound like wind and with tongues as of fire…
2:16–21In this passage, Peter quotes the Book of Joel on the Day of Pentecost and proclaims that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit "upon all flesh" fulfills…
2:23A verse from Peter's Pentecost sermon stating that the death of Jesus took place according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, while…
2:38When the crowd that heard Peter's Pentecost sermon asked, "What shall we do?" Peter answered that they should repent and be baptized in the name of J…
2:39–41The verses that conclude Peter's sermon at Pentecost, proclaiming that the promise is "unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off" …
2:42–47A passage summarizing the life of the first community of believers in Jerusalem after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, describing thei…
2:44–45An account of how, after Pentecost, the believers lived together, had all things in common, and sold their possessions to distribute to each accordin…
3:17A verse from Peter's sermon in Solomon's Porch, in which he says that the people of Jerusalem and their rulers who delivered Jesus to death did so "t…
3:19In this verse Peter, speaking in the temple, urges the people of Israel to repent and be converted so that their sins may be blotted out, promising t…
4:12Acts 4:12 records Peter's declaration before the Jewish supreme council, the Sanhedrin: "Neither is there salvation in any other." It is a leading te…
4:32–35A summary passage in Acts reporting that the believers of the early Jerusalem church held their possessions in common and distributed them according …
5:1–4In this passage Peter rebukes Ananias, a member of the early church, for secretly keeping back part of the price of his land while presenting the res…
5:29Acts 5:29 records the reply of Peter and the apostles to the Jerusalem council's order forbidding them to preach: "We ought to obey God rather than m…
7:60Acts 7:60 records the prayer of Stephen, who, as he was being stoned to death, asked forgiveness for those who were killing him. Because it echoes Je…
8:32–35In this passage Philip explains to an Ethiopian eunuch, who was reading the passage in Isaiah 53 about the "sheep led to the slaughter," that the wor…
10:44–46This passage describes how, while Peter was preaching in the house of Cornelius, the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentile listeners, and they spoke with t…
11:14The angel's words to Cornelius, as quoted by Peter when he reported Cornelius's vision to the church in Jerusalem: Cornelius and "all thy house" woul…
13:22A verse from Paul's sermon in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch, in which he recounts that God removed Saul and raised up David as "a man after mine …
15:28–29The conclusion of the letter that the Jerusalem Council sent to Gentile believers. It does not impose circumcision or the whole Law, but it directs t…
16:14-15In this passage, set in Philippi, the Lord opens the heart of Lydia as she listens to Paul, and she and her whole household are baptized. It is frequ…
16:30–34In this passage the Philippian jailer asks, "What must I do to be saved?" and Paul and Silas answer, "Believe on the Lord Jesus." It is frequently ci…
16:31In this verse Paul and Silas answer the jailer of the prison at Philippi: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."…
17:26A statement from Paul's speech at the Areopagus in Athens declaring that God made all the nations of humankind from one source and determined the tim…
20:33–34In this passage the apostle Paul tells the elders of the church at Ephesus that he did not covet anyone's possessions and that he provided for his ow…
20:34–35The closing section of Paul's farewell address to the Ephesian elders. Paul reminds them of his example of working with his own hands to help the wea…
20:35The 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…
21:9A verse reporting that when Paul and his companions stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist in Caesarea, Philip had four unmarried daughters who…
22:16In this verse the apostle Paul recounts the words Ananias spoke to him at the time of his conversion, words that link baptism with the washing away o…
28:3–6Acts 28:3–6 recounts how Paul was bitten by a viper on the island of Melita yet suffered no harm, so that the islanders' judgment of him shifted from…

Romans 55

1:16–17In 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 writt…
1:18–25Paul's argument that human beings, though able to know God through the created world, worshiped idols and therefore stand under God's wrath. The pass…
1:26–27In this passage, Paul speaks of humanity having turned from God to serve idols and describes same-sex sexual activity as having "changed the natural …
2:1In this verse Paul points out that those who condemn others do the same things and so condemn themselves. It is frequently cited within the argument …
2:4Romans 2:4 states that God's goodness and longsuffering lead people to repentance. It is frequently cited as a warning against mistaking the postpone…
3:10-12A passage in which Paul weaves together Old Testament texts, chiefly from the Psalms, to show that Jews and Gentiles alike are under sin. As a key te…
3:21–26A passage in which Paul states that all have sinned, yet the righteousness of God is received freely, apart from the law, through faith in Jesus Chri…
3:23–24A passage stating that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, yet are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Ch…
3:28Romans 3:28 is the verse in which the apostle Paul concludes that a person is justified by faith, not by the works of the law. It is often cited as t…
3:31Romans 3:31 is Paul's declaration that the teaching of justification by faith does not abolish the law but rather establishes it. The verse is freque…
4:1–5In this passage Paul uses Abraham as an example to explain that a person is counted righteous by faith rather than by works. It is frequently cited a…
4:25Romans 4:25 states that Jesus was delivered over to death because of our sins and raised again for our justification. It is frequently cited because …
5:6–10A passage teaching that God demonstrated his love when Christ died for people while they were without strength, sinners, and enemies of God, and that…
5:8Romans 5:8 reads: "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." It is a key verse for the teaching…
5:12Romans 5:12 states that sin entered the world through one man, Adam, and death through sin, so that death passed upon all people. It is the principal…
5:18–19A passage in which Paul contrasts Adam's one trespass with Christ's one act of obedience, teaching that both condemnation and justification come to m…
6:3–6Paul's teaching that Christians, having been united through baptism with Christ's death and resurrection, no longer live as servants of sin. It is a …
6:13In this verse Paul urges the believers in the church at Rome not to yield the members of their bodies to sin as "instruments of unrighteousness," but…
6:21–22A passage in which Paul contrasts the fruit of the past, when believers were servants of sin (shame and death), with the fruit of the present, now th…
6:23Romans 6:23 reads, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (KJV). By contrasting the conse…
7:24–25A passage in which Paul, struggling against sin, laments that he is a "wretched man" and gives thanks for deliverance through Jesus Christ. Interpret…
8:1–2The declaration that there is "no condemnation" for those who are in Christ Jesus. Cherished as a classic text on the assurance of justification, it …
8:11In this verse Paul says that, just as God raised Jesus from the dead, he will also give life to believers' "mortal bodies" through the Spirit who dwe…
8:18A verse in which the apostle Paul declares that the sufferings believers now endure cannot be compared with the glory that is yet to be revealed. It …
8:19–23A passage in Romans 8 in which the apostle Paul says that the whole created order groans and waits together for the revealing of the children of God …
8:24–25A passage from Paul's letter to the church in Rome teaching that salvation is held in hope for a consummation not yet seen, and that this hope waits …
8:28A verse declaring that "all things work together for good to them that love God." It is among the passages most widely quoted for comfort in sufferin…
8:29–30A passage in which foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification, and glorification follow one another in sequence, commonly called the "gold…
8:32A verse in which Paul argues that, because God gave up his own Son, he will also graciously give believers all things. It is frequently quoted as an …
8:33–34A passage in which Paul declares that no one can bring a charge against or condemn those whom God has chosen. Grounding this in God's act of justific…
8:38–39This passage declares that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, nor anything else "shall be able to separate" believers from th…
9:18–23In this passage Paul uses the analogy of the potter and the vessels to explain God's sovereignty in both showing mercy and hardening. It is one of th…
9:20-21A passage asserting the potter's authority, declaring that the thing formed cannot say to him that formed it, "Why hast thou made me thus?" As the he…
10:4A verse in which Paul calls Christ "the end of the law." It is frequently discussed because one's understanding of the relationship between law and g…
10:9-10A passage teaching that "if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead…
10:13-14A passage in which the apostle Paul quotes the Book of Joel to declare that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved, and then, through a…
10:14–15In this passage the apostle Paul uses a chain of questions (calling, believing, hearing, preaching, and sending) to show that people are needed to pr…
10:17A verse stating that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ (KJV: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God…
11:2A verse in which Paul declares that, despite the unbelief of most of Israel, God has not cast away "his people which he foreknew," and then appeals t…
11:17–24In this passage Paul uses the image of grafting into an olive tree to warn Gentile believers not to boast against Israel. It is frequently cited in d…
11:25–26This passage states that "blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved." I…
11:28-29A passage in which Paul says that Israel, though it has not accepted the gospel, is still beloved of God for the sake of the fathers, and that God's …
11:33–36A doxology in which the apostle Paul, concluding his discussion in Romans 9–11 of the salvation of Israel and the Gentiles, praises the unsearchable …
12:1-2An exhortation stating that presenting one's body as "a living sacrifice, holy" is "spiritual worship" (KJV: "reasonable service"), and urging believ…
12:9–10Paul's exhortation to love without hypocrisy, to hate evil and hold fast to what is good, and to show brotherly affection and mutual honor among beli…
12:17–21Paul's exhortation not to avenge oneself but to leave vengeance to God and to overcome evil with good. The passage is frequently cited in teaching on…
13:1This verse exhorts every person to "be subject unto the higher powers" and declares that all authority comes from God. It is a key text on the relati…
13:3–4A passage describing the ruler as "the minister of God," appointed to encourage good and punish evil. It is frequently cited in discussions of the le…
13:8–10A passage in which Paul urges the church in Rome to owe no one anything except the debt of loving one another and declares that love is the fulfillin…
14:5–6A passage in which the apostle Paul, addressing the question of observing days in the church at Rome, urges believers to respect one another's convic…
14:6–8Paul wrote these verses to the church in Rome, which was divided over questions of food and the observance of days. In them he confesses that believe…
14:17In this verse of Romans, Paul tells believers who were quarreling over food that the essence of the kingdom of God lies not in eating and drinking bu…
15:13A prayer-wish Paul addressed to the church in Rome, asking that "the God of hope" fill believers with joy and peace and make them abound in hope thro…
16:1–7In this passage near the close of Romans, Paul commends Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, and sends greetings to Prisca and Aquila, Junia…
16:20A promise and benediction that Paul adds near the end of his Epistle to the Romans, after urging his readers to beware of those who cause divisions. …

1 Corinthians 49

1:7In this verse Paul gives thanks that the Corinthian church, richly endowed with every spiritual gift, is waiting for the revelation of the Lord Jesus…
1:10In this verse Paul urges the divided church in Corinth to be united "in the same mind and in the same judgment." Because it opens the main body of 1 …
1:18"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God." This verse declares that the…
1:22–25In this passage Paul writes to the church at Corinth that "Christ crucified" is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks, but to those who…
2:2A verse in which Paul recalls that, when he first preached the gospel to the church at Corinth, he determined to know nothing except Jesus Christ and…
2:4–5A passage in which Paul tells the church at Corinth that his preaching of the gospel was carried out not through eloquence but in demonstration of th…
3:6–7In this passage Paul addresses the factions in the Corinthian church, saying that he planted and Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. It is fr…
3:11In this verse Paul tells the church at Corinth that its only foundation is the one already laid, Jesus Christ. The statement comes in the context of …
3:16–17A passage in which Paul tells the church in Corinth, "ye are the temple of God," and warns that God will destroy anyone who defiles that temple. It i…
5:9–10A passage in which Paul clarifies that his earlier instruction to the Corinthian church "not to company with fornicators" did not mean cutting off re…
6:9–10A passage that lists a series of sins and declares that the unrighteous "shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Disputes over the translation of two …
6:11A verse in which Paul tells the Corinthian believers that, in contrast to their sinful past, they have already been washed, sanctified, and justified…
6:15-18A passage in which Paul urges believers to flee fornication because the Christian's body is a member of Christ. Drawing on Genesis 2:24, he describes…
6:19–20This passage declares that "your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God," and that believers "are bought with a p…
7:10–15In this passage Paul answers the Corinthian church's questions about marriage, conveying the Lord's command against divorce and giving his own guidan…
7:12-16Paul's instructions to believers living with an unbelieving spouse: if the spouse is willing to stay, the believer should not separate, and if the sp…
8:4–6In this passage, Paul addresses the question of food sacrificed to idols by affirming that an idol is nothing and that there is one God, and he confe…
10:11–12In this passage Paul holds up the failures of Israel in the wilderness as a "mirror" (an example) and warns the Corinthian believers, who were confid…
10:13This verse teaches that God is faithful and "will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able," but will "make a way to escape." It is freque…
10:16–17In this passage Paul describes the cup and the bread of the Lord's Supper as a "communion" in the blood and body of Christ and states that the many w…
10:23–24A passage in which the apostle Paul states that "all things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient," teaching that Christian liberty is …
10:31The verse that reads, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." As a proof text for the first question o…
11:3A verse stating that the head of every man is Christ, "the head of the woman is the man," and the head of Christ is God. The meaning of "head" (kepha…
11:5In this verse Paul states that a woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head. The verse is frequently discussed in debat…
11:11-12A passage in which Paul, while addressing the question of head coverings in worship at the Corinthian church, states that "in the Lord" man and woman…
11:20-26In this passage, Paul rebukes the Corinthian church because the rich and the poor were divided at the Lord's Supper, and he passes on Jesus' words in…
11:27–29This passage teaches that whoever eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord "unworthily" is guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, and it call…
12:31 Corinthians 12:3 states the criterion Paul establishes at the outset of his teaching on spiritual gifts to the church at Corinth. He declares that …
12:4-11A passage in which Paul tells the church at Corinth that there are diversities of spiritual gifts but one Spirit who gives them, and that their purpo…
12:13In this verse Paul tells the church at Corinth that all believers, whatever their ethnic origin or social status, have been baptized by one Spirit in…
12:28A verse in which Paul lists the offices and gifts established in the church, beginning with apostles, prophets, and teachers. It is frequently cited …
12:31In this verse Paul urges the church at Corinth to "covet earnestly the best gifts" and promises to show them "a more excellent way." Because it bridg…
13:4–7A passage that begins "Charity suffereth long, and is kind" and uses fifteen verbs to describe what love does and does not do. It is the passage most…
13:8–10This passage declares that prophecies will fail, tongues will cease, and knowledge will vanish away, but love endures forever, and that "when that wh…
13:11–12In this passage from the "Love Chapter," Paul says that present knowledge is partial, like a child's speech or a dim reflection in a mirror, and that…
13:13The verse reads, "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity" (KJV). It is widely known as a summary of …
14:1-5A passage in which Paul compares tongues with prophecy and urges believers to desire prophecy all the more, since it edifies the church. It is freque…
14:34–35A passage instructing that women "keep silence in the churches" and that, if they wish to learn anything, they should ask their husbands at home. It …
15:3–4A summary of the gospel stating that Christ died for our sins "according to the scriptures," was buried, and rose again the third day. The passage is…
15:10In this verse the apostle Paul confesses that his becoming an apostle, and his having labored more than anyone else, are entirely owing to the grace …
15:12–20A passage in which Paul, responding to some members of the Corinthian church who denied the resurrection, argues that if Christ has not been raised, …
15:20–22A passage in which Paul, addressing Corinthian Christians who denied the resurrection, declares that Christ has risen as "the firstfruits of them tha…
15:22–26A passage in which Paul contrasts Adam with Christ to set out the order of the resurrection and the final destruction of death. It is frequently disc…
15:28A verse in 1 Corinthians 15, the chapter on the resurrection and the last things, stating that after all things have been subjected to the Son, the S…
15:29A verse that mentions "them which are baptized for the dead" and asks what such people will do if there is no resurrection. It is regarded as one of …
15:30–32A passage in which Paul argues that if there is no resurrection, his life of facing death every day is in vain. "I die daily" is widely quoted as an …
15:51–52A passage in which Paul declares that at Christ's return believers who have died will be raised with incorruptible bodies and believers who are still…
15:58The verse with which Paul concludes 1 Corinthians 15, his chapter on the resurrection. On the basis of the resurrection hope, it urges believers to s…
16:22A verse that Paul wrote in his own hand in the closing greetings of 1 Corinthians. It contains an "anathema" (curse) on anyone who does not love the …

2 Corinthians 21

3:3-6In this passage Paul calls the Corinthian believers "the epistle of Christ" and declares that his sufficiency for ministry comes from God and that th…
3:17In this verse, set within his contrast between the old covenant and the new, Paul says that "the Lord is that Spirit" and that "where the Spirit of t…
3:18In this verse, Paul describes the ministry of the new covenant and states that believers, beholding the glory of the Lord with unveiled face, are pro…
4:7In this verse Paul says that the "treasure" of the gospel has been placed in "earthen vessels," that is, frail human beings, and declares that the po…
4:16In this verse Paul, amid the sufferings he endures as an apostle, declares, "though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.…
4:18A verse in which Paul explains why he does not lose heart amid suffering: he looks not at the things which are seen, which are temporary and pass awa…
5:8In this verse the apostle Paul confesses his desire to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. It is frequently cited in discussions of th…
5:17A verse declaring that if anyone is in Christ, he is "a new creature"; old things are passed away, and all things are become new. It is cherished as …
5:18–20Paul's declaration that God has reconciled people to himself through Christ and has entrusted believers with the ministry and the word of reconciliat…
5:21A verse in which Paul states that the sinless Christ was made sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in him. It is freque…
6:14This verse reads, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." In Korean churches it is the verse most often cited in discussions of marria…
7:1A verse in which Paul urges the Corinthian church, on the basis of God's promises, to cleanse themselves from the defilement of flesh and spirit and …
8:9A verse in which Paul, urging a collection for the saints in Jerusalem, says that Christ, though rich, became poor for the sake of believers. It is f…
8:13–15A passage in which the apostle Paul, urging the collection for the church in Jerusalem, explains that its purpose is not to burden one party but to b…
9:6–8In this passage Paul uses the image that one reaps as one sows to urge the church in Corinth, as it prepared its collection for the saints in Jerusal…
9:7A verse instructing each person to give as he has decided in his heart, "not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." It is a k…
10:3–5A passage in which the apostle Paul, answering those who disparaged him, declares that his warfare is waged not by worldly means but by the power of …
12:2–4In this passage Paul recounts, in the third person, an experience from fourteen years earlier in which he was caught up to the "third heaven" and int…
12:7–10In this passage Paul confesses that he was given a "thorn in the flesh" to keep him from pride. He prayed three times for its removal but received th…
12:9In this verse the Lord answers Paul, who had prayed three times for his thorn in the flesh to be removed: "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my st…
13:13The benediction with which the apostle Paul closes 2 Corinthians, invoking together the grace of Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Ho…

Galatians 24

1:8–9In this passage Paul declares twice that anyone who preaches a gospel other than the one he preached should be accursed, whether that person is the a…
1:15–16In this passage, Paul reflects on his calling, saying that God set him apart before he was born and called him by grace to preach the gospel to the G…
2:16Paul's declaration that a person is justified not by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. The verse is frequently cited as a central ba…
2:20The verse reads, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Regarded as the most intense expression of un…
3:2In this verse Paul asks the Galatian believers whether they received the Holy Spirit by keeping the law or by hearing the gospel and believing it. It…
3:6–9In this passage Paul quotes Genesis 15:6 to argue that, just as Abraham was counted righteous by faith, Gentiles who believe are likewise Abraham's c…
3:10-14A passage in which Paul states that no one can be justified by doing the works of the law, and that Christ bore the curse as a substitute on the cros…
3:24A verse in which Paul says that the law served as a "schoolmaster" (Korean Revised Version: *mongak seonsaeng*; New Korean Revised Version: "elementa…
3:26–29A passage in Paul's letter to the churches of Galatia declaring that those who belong to Christ through faith and baptism are children of God and hei…
3:28Galatians 3:28 declares that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither bond nor free, "neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ …
4:4Paul's declaration that, at the time God appointed, he sent his Son to be born as a human being and under the law. The verse distills the doctrine of…
4:9–11In this passage Paul rebukes the Galatian believers who, after coming to know God, were turning back to serve the "weak and beggarly elements" and to…
4:13–14A passage in which Paul recalls that his "infirmity of the flesh" was the occasion for his first preaching of the gospel to the Galatians, and that t…
5:1A verse in which Paul urges the churches of Galatia to stand fast in the freedom Christ has given them and not to submit again to the "yoke of bondag…
5:6Paul's statement that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but only "faith which worketh by love." Because it shows the relations…
5:14A verse in which Paul states that the whole law is fulfilled in the single commandment, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." It is frequently …
5:16–21A passage in which Paul tells the churches of Galatia that those who walk in the Spirit will not fulfill the lust of the flesh, describes the conflic…
5:22–23This passage names love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance as "the fruit of the Spirit." It is a key t…
6:1Paul's exhortation that believers who walk by the Spirit should gently restore a brother who has fallen into a fault, while watching themselves lest …
6:7"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The verse is widely known for the principle that one reap…
6:8–10A passage in which Paul, drawing on the principle that one reaps what one sows, urges the Galatian churches to live by the Spirit and to do good with…
6:14Near the end of his letter to the churches of Galatia, Paul declares that, unlike those who glory in circumcision, he glories only in the cross of Ch…
6:15Paul's declaration that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters, but only "a new creature," that is, a new creation. Because the verse conden…
6:16Galatians 6:16 is the benediction with which Paul closes the Epistle to the Galatians, invoking peace and mercy on those who walk according to "this …

Ephesians 24

1:3Ephesians 1:3 is a verse praising God for having blessed believers with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. It introduces the …
1:4–5A passage stating that God "hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world" and predestined us in love to adoption as children. It is a key…
1:11A verse from the opening doxology of Ephesians in which Paul states that believers have been made God's inheritance in Christ, according to the purpo…
2:1-3This passage states that people, before coming to faith, were "dead" in trespasses and sins and were "by nature the children of wrath." It is frequen…
2:8–9A passage declaring, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should b…
2:10Following the preceding verses (Ephesians 2:8-9), which state that salvation comes by grace rather than by works, this verse declares that those who …
2:14-17A passage stating that Christ, through the cross, broke down "the middle wall of partition" between Jews and Gentiles, made the two into "one new man…
2:20A verse in which Paul tells Gentile believers that they are the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ…
4:3–6In this passage the apostle Paul urges the church at Ephesus to keep "the unity of the Spirit" and lists "seven ones": one body, one Spirit, one hope…
4:8–10A passage that cites a psalm to say that Christ ascended on high and gave gifts to men, and explains that he had previously descended into "the lower…
4:11–12This passage states that Christ gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers so that the saints might be equipped for the work of m…
4:13–16A passage describing the church growing in the unity of the faith and of knowledge toward the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ, and, a…
4:22–24A passage in Ephesians that exhorts believers to put off the "old man" and to put on the "new man," which is created after God. It is frequently cite…
4:28Ephesians 4:28 urges the person who stole to stop stealing and to work honestly with his own hands so that he will have something to share with those…
5:5A verse warning that no whoremonger, unclean person, or covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. It…
5:18"And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit" (KJV). It is a key verse on being filled with the Holy Spirit and is f…
5:19-21This passage describes how being filled with the Spirit (5:18) is expressed through song, thanksgiving, and mutual submission. It is often cited as a…
5:21-25A passage in the Pauline epistles that exhorts wives to submit to their husbands and husbands to love their wives as Christ gave himself for the chur…
5:22-25A passage that moves from "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord" to "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also love…
5:31–32A passage in which Paul quotes the "one flesh" saying of Genesis 2:24 and compares the union of husband and wife to the relationship between Christ a…
6:4Ephesians 6:4 exhorts fathers not to provoke their children to wrath but to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It is frequently…
6:5–9An exhortation to servants and masters within the household code of Ephesians. Servants are told to serve faithfully "as to the Lord," and masters ar…
6:10-18A passage near the end of Ephesians that describes the believer's struggle as a fight not against human beings but against evil spiritual forces. It …
6:12"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against sp…

Philippians 15

1:6Philippians 1:6 is the verse in which Paul expresses his confidence that God, who began a "good work" in the Philippian believers, will carry it on t…
1:21–23In this passage Paul, writing as a prisoner, describes his inner conflict between life and death. The words "For to me to live is Christ, and to die …
1:29A verse in which Paul tells the church at Philippi that they have been graciously granted not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for him. I…
2:5-8A passage stating that Christ, though equal with God, "made himself of no reputation" (literally, "emptied himself"), took upon him the form of a ser…
2:9–11A passage teaching that after Christ humbled himself even unto death on the cross, God exalted him so that every being would confess him as Lord. As …
2:12–13A passage that places the exhortation "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" alongside the declaration that "it is God which worketh i…
2:15Paul's exhortation to the Philippian believers to live as blameless children of God in the midst of "a crooked and perverse nation" and to shine as l…
3:3In this verse Paul warns against those who insist on circumcision and declares that believers who worship by the Spirit, glory in Christ, and put no …
3:7–10A passage in which the apostle Paul confesses that he counts the Jewish credentials he once prized as "loss" and "dung" compared with the knowledge o…
3:13–14In this passage the apostle Paul confesses that he has not yet been made perfect and says that, forgetting what lies behind, he presses on toward the…
4:4–6A passage in which the apostle Paul urges the church at Philippi to rejoice, to show gentleness, and to pray with thanksgiving instead of being anxio…
4:6–7An exhortation not to be anxious about anything but to pray with thanksgiving, with the promise that the peace of God will guard the heart and mind. …
4:11-13In this passage Paul thanks the church at Philippi for its support and declares that he has learned to be content in every circumstance. Verse 13 is …
4:13Philippians 4:13 records Paul's confession, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." It is among the most beloved verses in the K…
4:19"But my God shall supply all your need" is a promise made by the apostle Paul. Cherished as a verse of comfort about God as provider, it has also bee…

Colossians 13

1:15–17A passage that celebrates Christ as the image of the invisible God and as the Creator and Sustainer of all things. Because of the phrase "the firstbo…
2:16–17Paul's instruction that no one should judge believers in matters of food and drink or with regard to a festival, a new moon, or the Sabbath. Because …
3:3–4A passage stating that Christians have already died, that their life is hidden with Christ in God, and that when Christ appears they will appear with…
3:10A verse stating that believers have put off the old man and put on the new man, who is continually being renewed after the image of the Creator. It i…
3:11Colossians 3:11 declares that for the "new man" in Christ, distinctions of ethnicity, religious tradition, culture, and social status cannot serve as…
3:14In this verse, after urging the Colossian believers to put on a series of virtues like garments, Paul tells them to add love over all of them. Becaus…
3:16A verse in Colossians that exhorts believers to let the word of Christ dwell in them richly, to teach one another, and to praise God with thanksgivin…
3:17An exhortation from Paul to the church at Colossae to do everything in word and deed in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God through him.…
3:18–19The opening of the household code in Colossians, this passage exhorts wives to submit to their husbands and husbands to love their wives and not trea…
3:21Colossians 3:21 is a verse in the household code of Colossians that exhorts fathers not to provoke their children to anger. Paired with 3:20, which s…
3:23An exhortation that reads, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." It is one of the best-known verses connecting on…
4:1A verse at the close of the household code in Colossians that commands masters to give their servants what is "just and equal," on the ground that ma…
4:2In this verse Paul urges the church at Colossae to continue steadfastly in prayer and to be watchful with thanksgiving. Because it joins perseverance…

1 Thessalonians 6

1:3In this verse Paul says that he gives thanks as he remembers the Thessalonian believers' "work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope." I…
4:11-12In this passage Paul urges the church at Thessalonica to live quietly, mind their own affairs, and work with their own hands. It is frequently cited …
4:13-14A passage in which Paul urges the church at Thessalonica not to grieve over believers who have already died "even as others which have no hope," and …
4:16–17This passage states that when the Lord descends from heaven, the dead will rise first, and those who are alive will be caught up in the clouds to mee…
5:1–11A passage in which Paul urges believers, since the day of the Lord comes "as a thief in the night," to live watchfully and soberly as children of lig…
5:16–18A passage containing three exhortations, "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks," together with the statement that "this…

2 Thessalonians 3

2:3–4A passage in which Paul tells the church at Thessalonica that before "the day of the Lord" there will come an apostasy (a falling away from the faith…
3:7–9A passage in which Paul and his companions, though entitled to support from the Thessalonian church, worked night and day to provide for themselves a…
3:10"If any would not work, neither should he eat" is Paul's command to the church at Thessalonica. Although it was meant to correct idleness within the …

1 Timothy 13

1:9–10In this passage Paul tells Timothy that the law is made not for the righteous but for the lawless and for sinners, and he gives a catalog of sins. It…
2:4This verse states that God "will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." It is a perennial text in the debate between…
2:5–6A passage stating that there is only one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all. It is frequently c…
2:11–12"Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. … But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man." This passage is centr…
2:13–15A passage that cites the order of creation and Eve's deception as the reason for the preceding verse's restriction on women teaching, and states that…
3:2This verse lists "the husband of one wife" among the qualifications of a bishop (church leader). Interpreters disagree over whether the phrase prohib…
3:12A verse requiring that a deacon be "the husband of one wife" and manage his household well. It is frequently cited and debated in discussions of poly…
4:12A verse in which Paul urges his young coworker Timothy not to let anyone look down on him because of his youth, but to be an example to the believers…
5:9First Timothy 5:9 sets out the conditions for enrolling a widow on the list of those the church would care for: she must be at least sixty years old …
6:6–9First Timothy 6:6–9 corrects the attitude that treats godliness as a means of financial gain and declares that godliness accompanied by contentment i…
6:9–10A passage in which Paul warns Timothy that the desire to be rich and the love of money lead people away from the faith. Because it identifies not mon…
6:10A warning that "the love of money is the root of all evil." Interpreters frequently stress that the verse targets the love of money rather than money…
6:17–19A passage in which Paul instructs Timothy to teach the rich in the church. It urges them to place their hope in God rather than in wealth and to devo…

2 Timothy 7

1:7A verse in which Paul tells Timothy that God has given not a spirit of fear but a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind (self-control). It is widel…
1:9A verse stating that God saved and called people not on the basis of their works but on the basis of the grace given them in Christ before the world …
2:13A verse declaring that even when people are unfaithful, the Lord remains faithful and cannot act against his own nature. It is often quoted as a prom…
2:20–21A passage in which Paul tells Timothy that whoever purges himself from false teaching and unrighteousness will become a vessel unto honour, meet for …
3:15A verse in which Paul reminds Timothy that the Scriptures he had known from childhood are able to make him wise unto salvation through faith in Chris…
3:16–17A passage declaring that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God" and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruct…
4:7–8In this passage Paul, facing death, looks back on his life as an athlete who has finished a race and looks ahead to the "crown of righteousness" he w…

Titus 5

1:5–9In this passage Paul instructs Titus, whom he had left in Crete, to appoint elders in every city, and he lists the qualifications of an elder or over…
2:13A verse that speaks of the "blessed hope" for which believers wait, namely the glorious appearing of Christ. It is frequently cited in Christological…
3:1A verse in which Paul instructs Titus to remind the Cretan believers to be subject to rulers and authorities and to be ready for every good work. It …
3:5A verse stating that salvation comes not from human works of righteousness but from God's mercy, and that it was accomplished "by the washing of rege…
3:10In this verse Paul instructs Titus to keep away from a person who causes division after admonishing him once or twice. It is often cited as a basis f…

Philemon 1

1:6Philemon 1:6 records Paul's prayer that the "communication" (fellowship) of Philemon's faith may work powerfully, bringing him to the knowledge of ev…

Hebrews 31

1:1–3The three opening verses of the Epistle to the Hebrews declare that the God who spoke through the prophets has at last spoken through his Son. The pa…
1:10-12A passage that quotes Psalm 102:25-27 to declare that the "Lord" who made the heavens and the earth is the Son and that, unlike the created order, wh…
2:3-4A passage in which the author of Hebrews warns readers not to neglect "so great salvation." It states that this salvation was first spoken by the Lor…
2:14–17A passage explaining that Christ took on the same flesh and blood as human beings in order to destroy the devil, who held the power of death, and to …
2:18A verse stating that because Jesus himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted. It links the true humanity of Jesu…
3:13Hebrews 3:13 urges believers to exhort one another daily while the opportunity called "To day" remains, so that none may be hardened through the dece…
4:9–11This passage declares that a "rest" still remains for the people of God and urges believers to labor to enter that rest. It is frequently cited in di…
4:12Hebrews 4:12 declares that the word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit…
4:14–16Hebrews 4:14–16 presents the ascended Jesus as the "great high priest" who knows our weaknesses and declares that believers may therefore come boldly…
5:7–9A passage that states that Jesus Christ, in the days of his flesh, prayed with tears, learned obedience through suffering, and, having been made perf…
6:4–6A warning that those who were once enlightened and made partakers of the Holy Spirit cannot be renewed again unto repentance if they fall away. It is…
8:6–13In this passage the author of Hebrews quotes the "new covenant" prophecy of Jeremiah 31 to present Jesus Christ as the mediator of a better covenant …
9:27Hebrews 9:27 states that human beings die once and afterward face judgment. Although the verse serves as an analogy explaining Christ's once-for-all …
10:1A verse that calls the Old Testament law and its annually repeated sacrifices "a shadow of good things to come." It is frequently cited as a key basi…
10:25The verse exhorts believers, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another," and to do so …
10:26–31A passage in Hebrews that sternly warns against apostasy (the abandonment of faith). Because of the words "if we sin wilfully... there remaineth no m…
10:38A verse in which the author of Hebrews quotes Habakkuk 2:3–4 to urge believers under persecution to endure in faith to the end. It is frequently disc…
11:1The verse reads, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." It opens Hebrews 11, the chapter on faith. Transl…
11:3Hebrews 11:3 opens the "by faith" list in Hebrews 11 and declares that through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God. It…
11:6A verse stating that without faith it is impossible to please God, and that whoever comes to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards thos…
11:8–12Hebrews 11:8–12 presents Abraham and Sarah as examples of faith: trusting God's promise, they set out, lived in tents, and received offspring in old …
11:13–16A passage stating that the patriarchs of faith died without receiving all that had been promised, yet regarded themselves as strangers on the earth a…
11:17–19A passage in the roll of the faithful in Hebrews 11 that treats Abraham's offering of Isaac. It is regarded as an example of faith in the resurrectio…
11:33–38The concluding section of Hebrews 11, which lists both the victories won by people of faith and the sufferings and martyrdoms they endured. It is fre…
12:1–2A passage that likens the Christian life to a race and urges believers, remembering the witnesses of faith, to lay aside every weight and sin and to …
12:6–11Hebrews 12:6–11 describes the hardships believers endure as "chastening," the discipline by which a father trains his children, and states that its p…
12:28A verse in Hebrews that urges believers, who have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken, to be thankful (or "to have grace") and to serve God with…
13:5–6This passage exhorts believers not to love money and to be content with what they have. As the ground for this exhortation, it cites God's promise ne…
13:8Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever," is a confession of faith. It is a representative verse on the unchanging n…
13:15-16A passage that presents the sacrifices believers are to offer after Christ's once-for-all sacrifice as the praise of their lips and as doing good and…
13:21Hebrews 13:21 is the second half of the benediction that closes the Epistle to the Hebrews (13:20–21). It asks that God equip believers to do his wil…

James 14

1:2-4James 1:2-4 is a passage that urges believers to count it all joy when they encounter various temptations (trials). Because of its progression, in wh…
1:5–6James 1:5–6 urges anyone who lacks wisdom to ask God, who gives generously, in faith and without doubting. It is often cited in discussions of prayin…
1:6–7James 1:6–7 instructs believers to ask God for wisdom in faith, without doubting, and compares the one who doubts to a wave of the sea driven by the …
1:12–14James 1:12–14 promises that the one who endures trials will receive "the crown of life" and states that the temptation leading to sin comes not from …
2:1–4James 2:1–4 is a passage instructing believers in Christ not to show partiality between the rich and the poor in their assembly. It is frequently cit…
2:15-17A passage in which James uses the example of a fellow believer who is poorly clothed and hungry, and who receives only kind words without having his …
2:21–24A passage that cites Abraham's offering of Isaac to argue that a person is "justified by works, and not by faith only." Because it appears to conflic…
2:24James 2:24 reads, "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." Because it appears to conflict with Paul's teaching of j…
4:2–3A passage in James 4 that rebukes quarrels within the community as arising from selfish desire and gives two reasons why believers do not receive wha…
4:7James 4:7 is the exhortation in the Epistle of James that if believers submit to God and resist the devil, the devil will flee from them. It is frequ…
4:11-12A passage in the Epistle of James teaching that to speak evil of or judge a brother is to judge the law, and that God alone is lawgiver and judge. It…
4:13–15James 4:13–15 rebukes those who, though they cannot know what tomorrow will bring, boast of their plans for trade and travel while leaving God out of…
5:14–15This passage instructs the sick to call for the elders of the church, who are to pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The…
5:16–18A passage that urges believers to pray for one another when sick and to confess their sins to one another, citing the prayer of Elijah as an example.…

1 Peter 18

1:1–2The opening greeting of 1 Peter addresses Christians scattered across five regions of Asia Minor as "elect" strangers and brings together the work of…
1:18–19First Peter 1:18–19 states that the price by which believers were set free from the futile way of life inherited from their forefathers was not silve…
1:23A verse stating that the believer's new birth has come about through incorruptible seed, that is, the living and abiding word of God. It is frequentl…
2:5A verse stating that believers, as "lively stones," are built up into a spiritual house and become a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices to…
2:9A verse that calls believers "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people." It is the principal text for the Reformati…
2:12First Peter 2:12 urges Christians living amid persecution and slander to conduct themselves with good works so that unbelievers may glorify God. It i…
2:13–17An exhortation in First Peter urging Christians to submit to rulers and human institutions "for the Lord's sake" and not to use their freedom as a co…
2:23First Peter 2:23 states that Christ, though reviled and made to suffer, did not retaliate but committed his cause to God, who judges righteously. The…
2:24A verse stating that Christ bore our sins in his own body on the cross so that believers might turn from sin and live righteously. Drawing on Isaiah …
2:25In this verse the apostle Peter tells suffering believers that they, who were once like sheep going astray, have now returned to Christ, "the Shepher…
3:1–7A household-code passage that exhorts wives to be in subjection to their husbands so that unbelieving husbands may be won by their conduct, and exhor…
3:18A verse stating that Christ, the just, died once for the unjust in order to bring people to God. It is frequently cited in support of the doctrine of…
3:19–20This passage states that Christ, by the Spirit, "preached unto the spirits in prison." Because it is unclear when Christ preached, to whom, and what …
3:21A verse that compares the waters of Noah's flood to baptism, calling baptism "the like figure" that "doth also now save us." Because denominations un…
4:6This verse states that the gospel was preached also to the dead so that, though judged in the flesh, they might live according to God in the spirit. …
4:10–11First Peter 4:10–11 urges believers to use the gifts each has received to serve one another as stewards of God's grace. It is frequently cited in tea…
5:7A verse that urges suffering believers to cast all their anxieties on God, on the ground that God cares for them. It is widely quoted as a word of co…
5:8–9A passage near the end of 1 Peter that urges believers in the midst of suffering to be sober and vigilant and to resist by faith the devil, who, like…

2 Peter 8

1:5–10A passage that urges believers to add to their faith, in turn, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love, and …
1:19Second Peter 1:19 likens the word of prophecy to a lamp shining in a dark place and urges readers to take heed to that word until the day of Christ's…
1:20–21A passage stating that the prophecy of Scripture did not originate in human will but was spoken from God by people carried along by the Holy Spirit. …
2:4–5A passage that cites the angels who sinned and the flood of Noah as examples showing that judgment will surely come upon false teachers. It is freque…
2:9A verse in a passage warning against false teachers, stating that the Lord delivers the godly out of temptation and reserves the unjust under punishm…
2:20–22A passage that warns, with reference to false teachers and those they have led astray, that anyone who becomes entangled again in the pollutions of t…
3:8–9A passage declaring that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day, and that the Lord is not slack concerning His …
3:10–13A passage declaring that the day of the Lord will come as a thief and that the heavens and the earth will be dissolved by fire, while believers look …

1 John 18

1:7–10A passage teaching that even those who have fellowship with God deceive themselves if they say they have no sin, and that if they confess their sins,…
1:9"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." This verse is a leading text on…
2:1–2A passage expressing the hope that believers will not sin, while declaring that if they do sin, Jesus Christ the righteous is their "advocate" with t…
2:19First John 2:19 addresses the departure from the community of those called "antichrists," stating that their leaving revealed that they had never bee…
3:2This verse states that believers are already children of God and that, when he appears, they will be like him and will see him as he is. It is freque…
3:8This verse states that whoever commits sin is of the devil and that the Son of God appeared in order to destroy the works of the devil. It is frequen…
3:17–18This passage teaches that if a person who has material possessions ignores a brother in need, the love of God cannot be said to dwell in him, and it …
4:2–3This passage makes the confession that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh the criterion for distinguishing the Spirit of God from the spirit of antic…
4:7–8A passage that begins "Beloved, let us love one another" and closes with "for God is love." Widely cherished as a rare expression that describes the …
4:9–12A passage in First John stating that God's love was revealed when He sent His Son into the world as the propitiation for our sins, and that those who…
4:16First John 4:16 confesses that believers have known and believed the love of God, declares that "God is love," and teaches that God and the one who d…
4:181 John 4:18 is a verse stating that when God's love is made perfect in the believer, the fear of judgment is removed. It is frequently cited in discu…
4:20–21This passage declares that anyone who claims to love God while hating his brother is a liar, showing that love for God and love for one's brother can…
5:6A verse declaring that Jesus Christ came "by water and blood," testifying that both his baptism and his death on the cross were real. Interpreters di…
5:7–8This passage states that there are three that bear witness: the Spirit, the water, and the blood. Some Latin manuscripts and later translations add t…
5:14–15A passage expressing confidence that God hears those who ask according to his will. It is frequently cited as a basis for answered prayer, and interp…
5:16First John 5:16 urges believers to pray for a brother who is sinning, while setting apart a "sin unto death." Because the verse does not identify tha…
5:211 John 5:21 is the final verse of the First Epistle of John, in which the author addresses his readers as "little children" and urges them to keep th…

2 John 1

1:6Second John 1:6 states that love consists in walking according to God's commandments, and that the commandment is to walk in love, as the readers hav…

3 John 2

1:2"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth" is an epistolary greeting. The verse is wid…
1:3–4Third John 1:3–4 is the passage in which the elder rejoices at hearing that Gaius walks "in the truth" and declares, "I have no greater joy than to h…

Jude 1

1:24The opening verse of the doxology that concludes the Epistle of Jude. It confesses that God keeps believers from falling and will present them faultl…

Revelation 28

1:6The doxology at the opening of John's letter to the seven churches, which confesses that Christ has made believers "a kingdom and priests." It is fre…
1:8A declaration near the opening of the Book of Revelation in which God identifies himself as "Alpha and Omega," the one "which is, and which was, and …
1:16A verse describing the figure "like unto the Son of man" (the risen Christ) in the vision John saw on Patmos. Interpretations differ on the meaning o…
2:7The closing verse of the letter to the church in Ephesus, which promises that the one who overcomes to the end will eat of the tree of life in the pa…
2:8–11The letter from the risen Christ to the church in Smyrna in the Book of Revelation, which encourages a suffering church without any rebuke. Because o…
2:10The words addressed to the church in Smyrna: "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." The verse calls believers to be pre…
3:19A verse from the letter to the church in Laodicea in which Christ says that he rebukes and chastens those he loves, and commands zeal and repentance.…
3:20Revelation 3:20 records Christ's words, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, …
7:3Revelation 7:3 is the verse in which another angel cries out to the four angels who have been given power to hurt the earth, telling them to do no ha…
7:4This verse states that the number of those sealed from all the tribes of Israel was "an hundred and forty and four thousand." Interpreters disagree o…
7:9-17Revelation 7:9-17 is a vision of a countless multitude from every nation, clothed in white robes, praising God for salvation before his throne. Inter…
11:4A verse that identifies the "two witnesses" of Revelation 11 as "the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks." The imagery is drawn from the vision…
12:9In the vision of war in heaven in Revelation 12, the great dragon is cast down to the earth and identified as "that old serpent," the Devil, and Sata…
13:1–10In this passage John sees in a vision a "beast rising up out of the sea" that receives authority from the dragon, blasphemes God, and persecutes the …
13:16-18In this passage the beast that rises out of the earth causes all people to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads, so that no one m…
14:1-5A vision of the 144,000 standing with the Lamb on Mount Zion and singing a new song. Interpreters disagree about the identity of the 144,000, and the…
14:9–11The third angel's warning that whoever worships the beast and its image and receives its mark will drink of the wine of the wrath of God. The passage…
18:20–21This passage calls on heaven and the saints to rejoice over the fall of Babylon the great and records a mighty angel casting a stone like a millstone…
20:1–3John's vision in which an angel seizes the dragon, that is, Satan, and shuts him in the bottomless pit for a thousand years. Because it is the first …
20:4–6A passage describing how the martyrs and those who had not worshiped the beast "lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." It is the only text …
20:7–15A vision in which Satan, released after the thousand years are completed, gathers Gog and Magog for a final battle and is destroyed, after which the …
21:1–4A vision of a new heaven and a new earth, the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, and God dwelling with his people and wiping away every tear. A…
21:5Revelation 21:5 is the verse in Revelation's vision of the new heaven and the new earth in which the One seated on the throne declares, "Behold, I ma…
21:12–14A vision in which the names of the twelve tribes of Israel are written on the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem and the names of the twelve apostles …
21:23–24A vision in the Book of Revelation in which the New Jerusalem has no need of the sun or moon, because the glory of God gives it light and the Lamb is…
22:17In this verse from the final chapter of the Bible, the Spirit and the bride (the church) say "Come," and the thirsty are invited to take the water of…
22:18–19A warning that whoever adds to or takes away from the words of the prophecy of this book will have the plagues added to him, or his part taken away f…
22:20In this verse the church answers Christ's promise, "Surely I come quickly," with the prayer "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." It is the last prayer …