Topical Study
Some of the most repeated lines in English are attributed to the Bible without being in it, and some that are in it are quoted in ways their context does not support. This page separates the two, shows how to check a quotation in a few seconds, and gathers eight passages worth quoting precisely. If you came looking for verses by subject, the topic pages gather those.
Many sayings attributed to the Bible are not in it, and the quotes that are carry more weight when you know their context.
Scripture
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
The verse sits inside a conversation with Nicodemus about being born again, and its 'whosoever' answers the question of who is included. It is the most quoted verse in the New Testament, and quoting it whole matters because its subject is what God gave rather than what a person must achieve.
He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah answers a question about what God requires with three things: justice, mercy and a humble walk. The verses just before it refuse the idea that larger and larger sacrifices could settle the matter.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
The instruction is to trust and not to lean on your own understanding, with the promise that God will direct your paths. The verses that follow temper the reading: the writer goes on to describe wisdom in terms of discipline and correction rather than the absence of difficulty.
But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.
The verse closes a chapter addressed to people who felt abandoned, and promises renewed strength to those who wait. 'Wait' is the operative word, and the chapter's argument is about God's enduring character rather than about a quick recovery.
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
'I can do all things through him that strengtheneth me' is usually quoted about achievement. In its paragraph it is Paul's statement about contentment in hunger and in abundance alike, and about having learned both to be abased and to abound.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.
The promise of a future and a hope was written to exiles told to settle in Babylon for seventy years. It is genuine, and reading verses 4 to 14 shows it is a long promise rather than a quick one.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
The instruction to seek first the kingdom comes at the end of a passage about anxiety and provision. The promise concerns what is added, and it is set against the alternative of being anxious about food and clothing.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
The verse contrasts being conformed to this age with being transformed by the renewing of the mind. It follows the appeal in verse 1 to present the body as a living sacrifice, so the two verses are normally read as a single thought.
Have questions about these verses? Ask for context, a prayer, or to compare this passage in the translation versions we serve, such as BSB or KJV.
Scripture Cards
The phrase covers two different things: verses of Scripture, which can be located precisely, and memorable lines of Christian origin that were never in the Bible at all. Most confusion about Bible quotes comes from treating the second kind as the first.
There is also a third category that causes the most trouble: real verses that have been shortened or reworded until the quotation says something the passage does not. These are the hardest to spot, because searching for the words confirms that the words exist.
'God helps those who help themselves' is the best known. Versions of the idea appear in Greek and English proverb collections, and Benjamin Franklin printed it in Poor Richard's Almanack. It is a proverb about industry, and it sits uneasily beside passages about grace.
'This too shall pass' comes from Persian and later English proverb tradition. 'Cleanliness is next to godliness' is from a sermon by John Wesley. 'God works in mysterious ways' is a line from a hymn by William Cowper, not a verse, and the nearest biblical idea is expressed very differently in Isaiah 55:8-9.
None of these is harmful in itself. The difficulty is that quoting them as Scripture gives them an authority the Bible has not given them, which makes them hard to disagree with.
'Money is the root of all evil' is the most frequent example. 1 Timothy 6:10 says the love of money is a root of many kinds of evil — three changes from the popular version, each of which shifts the meaning from a thing to a disposition.
'Pride goeth before a fall' compresses Proverbs 16:18, which says that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. 'Spare the rod and spoil the child' is not in the Bible at all; Proverbs 13:24 is about discipline and is not a proverb about physical punishment as such.
In each case the shortened version is easier to repeat and less precise to argue with. The remedy is the same as for any quotation: look up the reference.
Search the text, not the internet's memory of it. Use the search on this site or any concordance with the wording as you have it. If nothing comes back, try the nearest phrase you are confident about, then read the verse in its chapter.
Two checks settle most cases. First, does the reference exist, and is the wording as you have it in any major translation? Second, when you read the surrounding paragraph, does the passage mean what the quotation claims? The second check catches misused verses that pass the first.
Jeremiah 29:11 is quoted as a general promise of a comfortable future; it was addressed to exiles facing seventy years, and the surrounding verses tell them to settle down and wait.
Philippians 4:13 is quoted about winning and achieving; in context Paul is describing contentment in hunger and in need. Proverbs 3:5-6 is quoted as a guarantee of clear direction; the chapter goes on to describe wisdom as discipline. Matthew 18:20 is quoted about church gatherings; the verse sits inside teaching about restoring a brother who has sinned.
The verses are true. What is untrue is the use to which they are put when the paragraph is dropped.
Give the reference — book, chapter, verse — and name the translation the first time you quote it, because wordings differ. If you are compressing a verse, say so; if you are paraphrasing, say that instead.
When you quote a promise, quote the condition if the passage has one, and when you quote a warning, quote the audience if it is specific. Those two habits remove most of the ways a quotation misleads.
Short passages that carry their own context are the best candidates: Micah 6:8, John 3:16, Romans 12:1-2, Psalms 23:1, Lamentations 3:22-23, Matthew 6:33, and the two great commandments in Matthew 22:37-39.
A verse learned whole is harder to misquote than a phrase learned in pieces, and learning the reference along with the words is what makes it checkable later.
Lord, keep me from putting words in your mouth. Teach me to quote your word accurately, in its context, and for your sake rather than for my own point. Amen.
Pray this in ChatNo. Versions of the saying appear in Greek and English proverb collections, and Benjamin Franklin popularised it in Poor Richard's Almanack. The nearest biblical teaching is about grace rather than self-reliance (Ephesians 2:8-9).
John 3:16 is the most widely quoted in the New Testament; Psalms 23:1 and Micah 6:8 are among the most quoted from the Old. Popularity is a poor guide to meaning, since the most quoted verses are also the most frequently cropped.
It is not. The line comes from Persian and later English proverb tradition. The closest biblical idea is that present troubles are temporary relative to what is promised (2 Corinthians 4:17), which is a different claim.
Search the wording you have; if nothing returns, search the phrase you are most confident about, then read the whole paragraph around the verse. The paragraph is what catches quotations that are real but misused.
A verse is a numbered unit of the text that can be located exactly. A 'quote' may be a verse, a paraphrase of one, or a Christian-sounding saying that is not in the Bible at all.
Because translations work from the original languages with different priorities — some follow the wording closely, others aim for equivalent effect in modern English. The reference stays the same while the English changes, which is why naming your translation matters when you quote.
What a verse is, how the numbering came about, and how to cite one.
Verse cards for sharing, and how to keep the context with the line.
How the major translations differ, and how to compare a quote side by side.
Check any quotation against the full text by book and chapter.
Quotations from Christian writers and teachers, kept distinct from Scripture.
Verse lists grouped by subject.
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