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What the Bible Says About Truth

Overview

The Bible addresses truth across 91 verses, drawn from both the Old and New Testaments. These passages cluster most in Psalms, John and Proverbs. Closely related themes include Truth of God, the, Minister (1), Rulers and Commandments. Figures whose stories touch this theme include Jesus, Moses, Pontius Pilate and Hezekiah.

Key Bible verses about truth

Old Testament

Psalms

Psalms 31:5

Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.

Psalms 31:15

My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.

Psalms 33:4

For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.

Psalms 40:10

I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.

Psalms 51:6

Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

Psalms 57:3

He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. from the: or, he reproacheth him that

Psalms 57:10

For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.

Psalms 85:10

Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Psalms 85:11

Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.

Psalms 86:15

But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.

Psalms 89:14

Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face. habitation: or, establishment

Psalms 96:13

Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.

Psalms 98:3

He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Psalms 100:5

For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. to all: Heb. to generation and generation

Psalms 108:4

For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds. clouds: or, skies

Psalms 145:18

The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

Isaiah

Isaiah 25:1

O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

Isaiah 59:4

None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.

Isaiah 59:14

And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.

Isaiah 59:15

Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. maketh: or, is accounted mad it displeased: Heb. it was evil in his eyes

Isaiah 65:16

That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 5:3

O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.

Jeremiah 9:3

And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 9:5

And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity. deceive: or, mock

Jeremiah 9:9

Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Jeremiah 33:6

Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.

New Testament

John

John 1:14

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John 1:17

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

John 4:24

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

John 5:33

Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.

John 7:18

He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

John 8:31

Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

John 8:32

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

John 8:44

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. of his own: or, from his own will or disposition

John 8:45

And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

John 14:6

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

John 14:17

Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

John 16:13

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

John 17:17

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

John 17:19

And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. sanctified: or, truly sanctified

John 18:37

Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

John 18:38

Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 4:2

But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. dishonesty: Gr. shame

2 Corinthians 6:7

By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,

2 Corinthians 6:8

By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true;

2 Corinthians 7:14

For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth.

2 Corinthians 12:6

For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.

People in the Bible and truth

Biblical figures whose stories intersect with this theme.

In the Bible dictionary

Studying truth for yourself

  • Begin with Exodus 18:21, then read the passages below in canonical order.
  • Compare how Psalms, John and Proverbs each treat the theme.
  • Consider the lives of Jesus, Moses and Pontius Pilate and how their stories intersect with it.
  • Widen the study to related themes: Truth of God, the, Minister (1), Rulers and Commandments.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Bible say about truth?

The Bible addresses truth across 91 verses, drawn from both the Old and New Testaments. These passages cluster most in Psalms, John and Proverbs. Closely related themes include Truth of God, the, Minister (1), Rulers and Commandments. Figures whose stories touch this theme include Jesus, Moses, Pontius Pilate and Hezekiah.

How many Bible verses are about truth?

The Bible references truth in 91 verses (King James Version).

Where does the Bible first mention truth?

In canonical order, the first of these passages is Exodus 18:21: “Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:”

Which people in the Bible are associated with truth?

Jesus, Moses, Pontius Pilate, Hezekiah and Nebuchadnezzar.

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