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
Exodus
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:
And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Psalms
Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.
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.
Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
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
For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.
Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face. habitation: or, establishment
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.
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.
For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. to all: Heb. to generation and generation
For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds. clouds: or, skies
The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
Proverbs
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.
The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.
Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.
Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaketh right.
Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy.
Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Isaiah
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.
None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
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
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
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.
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.
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
Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.
Daniel
Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.
But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince. holdeth: Heb. strengtheneth himself
New Testament
John
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.
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.
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.
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
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
And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
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.
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.
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. sanctified: or, truly sanctified
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.
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.
Romans
But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,
I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
1 Corinthians
Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. the feast: or, holyday
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; in the truth: or, with the truth
2 Corinthians
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
By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true;
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.
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.
Galatians
Ephesians
Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
2 Thessalonians
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
1 Timothy
Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.
But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. ground: or, stay
Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. Perverse: or, Gallings one of another
2 Timothy
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. reprobate: or, of no judgment reprobate: or, of no judgment
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
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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