Everyday Sayings From the Bible

Common Sayings from the Bible

• Nothing but skin and bones
  
  Job 19:19-20 All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me. I am nothing but skin and bones Job 19:19-20
• I escaped by the skin of my teeth
  
  All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me. I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth.
  Job 19:19-20
• There's a time and a place for everything
  
  There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven
  Eccl 3:1
• Going the extra mile
  
  If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
  Matthew 5:41
• United we stand, "divided we fall"
  
  Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand".
  Matthew 12:25
• Scapegoat
  
  Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the LORD and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat. Leviticus 16:9-10
  
• Red Sky at Night
  
  Jesus said: It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,' 3 and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.
  
  Matthew 16:2
• The writing on the wall
  
  In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace
  
  Daniel 5:5-6
• See below for even more Biblical Sayings in everyday use

Apparently Modern Expressions from the Bible

1. Twinkling of an eye
   
   We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. 1 Corinthians 15
2. A man after his own heart
   
   But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart 1 Samuel 13:14
3. Drop in the bucket
   
   Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket Drop in the bucket
   
4. Powers that Be
   
   The powers that be are ordeyned of God. Whosoever therfore resysteth power resisteth the ordinaunce of God
   
   Romans 13:2
5. The Greater the Knowledge the Greater the Pain
   For in the abundance of wisdom there is an abundance of vexation, so that he that increases knowledge increases pain.
   
   Ecclesiastes 1:18

Even More Sayings from the Bible

• A little bird told me
  
  Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird of the air may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say. Matthew 16:23
• Stumbling Block
  
  Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.
  Matthew 16:23
• Gentle answer turns away wrath
  
  A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.
  Proverbs 15:1 1
  
  Defuse someone's anger with a considered answer, almost always the best policy
• Time to be born and a time to die
  
  here is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven-- 2* A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
  
  This is also quoted in the film Blade Runner
• Rise and shine
  
  "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
  Isaiah 60:1
• Spare the rod, spoil the child
  
  He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him. Prov 13:24
  
  (Note this is sometimes misread to mean that you cannot harm a child by beating him no matter how hard and has actually led to deaths)
• A leopard cannot change its spots
  
  Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good Who are accustomed to doing evil Jeremiah 13:23
• Pride comes before a fall
  
  Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18
• Every day is miserable for the depressed, but a lighthearted man has a continual feast
  
  All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast.
  
  Proverbs 15:15
• By the sweat of your brow
  
  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return
  Gen 3:19
• Out of the mouths of babes
  
  Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger Psalm 8:2
• Bite the Dust
  
  They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust.
  
  Psalm 72
• The Blind Leading the Blind
  
  He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides . If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
  
  Matthew 15:13-14

Popular Sayings That Come From The Bible

• Eat Drink and Be Merry
  
  And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry
  
  Luke 12:19
• The blind leading the blind
  
  Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch
  
  Matthew 15:14
• Straight and narrow
  
  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
  
  Matthew 7:14
• It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God
  
  Matt. 19:24
  
  This one must have made the Pious Rich squirm throughout the ages!
• No man is a prophet in his own town
  
  Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own relatives, and in his own house." He could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people, and healed them. He marveled because of their unbelief.
  
  Mark 6:1-6
• Head on a Platter
  
  This refers to the unfortunate John the Baptist. And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou forthwith give me on a platter the head of John the Baptist
  
  Mark 6:25
• Tearing Your Hair Out
  
  This news made me so angry that I ripped my clothes and tore hair from my head and beard. Then I just sat in shock
  
  Ezra 9:3

Bible Quotes

Biblical Quotes

• The truth shall set you free
  
  john 8:32
• How are the mighty fallen
  
  2 Samuel 1:19

More Sayings from the Bible

1. He sold his birthright for a mess of pottage
   
   Genesis 25:31-34
2. A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult
   
   Proverbs 12:16
3. Pride comes before a fall
   
   Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
   
   Proverbs 16:18
4. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free
   
   John 8:32
5. Let he who has never sinned cast the first stone.
   
   John 8:7
   
   One of the most beautiful quotes in the Bible and one we should all remember!
6. Apple of his Eye
   
   In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye
   
   Appears twice
   
   Deuteronomy 32:10
   
   Zechariah 2:8
7. Can the Leopard Change his Spots
   
   Jeremiah 13:23
8. East of Eden
   
   So Cain went out from the LORD's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
   
   Genesis 4:16
9. A man after his own heart
   
   But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD's command.
   
   1 Samuel 13:14
10. Filthy Lucre
    
    Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous (phrase occurs in two other verses)
    
    1 Timothy 3:3
11. Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we will die
    
    Isaiah 22:13
12. I'll pin him to the wall
    
    The next day an evil [a] spirit from God came forcefully upon Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the harp, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand 11 and he hurled it, saying to himself, "I'll pin David to the wall" But David eluded him twice
    
    1Sam 18:10-11
13. Stranger in a strange land
    And Moses was content to dwell with the man and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land
    
    Exodus 2: 21-22
14. Flesh Pots
    
    Flesh Pots in the Bible literally means "pots of meat" it is today used as a simile for "luxurious living"
    
    And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.
    
    EXOD 16:3
15. Quo Vadis
    
    Simon Peter asked him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus replied, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later."
    
    Quo vadis? is a Latin phrase meaning "Where are you going?"
    
    john 13:36
16. Envy and wrath shorten the life
    
    Envy and wrath shorten the life, and carefulness bringeth age before the time.
    Ecclesiasticus 30:24
17. Seek and Ye Shall Find
    
    Matthew 7:7
18. A law unto himself
    Cannot locate this at present
19. Absent in body, but present in spirit
    
    Colossians 2:5

Bet You Didn't Know That Came from The Bible!

1. At my wit's end
   
   They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wits' end.
   
   Psalm 107:27
2. Listen to advice and accept correction, then in the end you will be wise.
   
   Proverbs 19:20
3. You Don't Know the Half of It
   
   When the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon.
   Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard
   
   1 Kings 10: 7
4. Nothing new under the sun
   
   What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun
   
   ECC 1:9
5. Writing On the Wall
   
   In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote
   
   Daniel 5:5
6. Knees Knocking Together
   
   Then the king's face grew pale and his thoughts alarmed him, and his hip joints went slack and his knees began knocking together
   
   Daniel 5:6
7. United We Stand, Divided We Fall
   
   And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: Matthew 12:25

Inspirational Sayings from The Bible

Motivational Expersions from the Bible

1. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom; and with all thy getting get understanding.
   
   Proverbs, 4. 7
2. Wisdom is better than rubies.
   
   Proverbs, 8. 11.
3. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.
   
   Proverbs, 17. 22
4. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.
   Proverbs, 22. 1
5. Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it.
   
   Proverbs, 22. 6
6. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
   
   Matthew 7:7

The Sayings Often Used in Sermons

The ones people know come from the Bible

1. A thorn in the flesh
   
   To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. St Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:7
2. A voice crying in the Wilderness
   
   The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
   
   Isaiah 40:3 also Matthew 4:1-11
3. Turn the Other Cheek
   
   If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also!
   
   This is one of the statements from Jesus which was a revolutionary change from previous religions and existing cultures
   
   Matthew 5:39 and Luke 6:29
4. No man can serve two masters
   
   No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon
   
   Matthew 6:24
5. Reap What You Sow
   
   Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows
   Galatians 6:7
6. Thou Shalt Love thy Neighbor as Thyself
   
   Matthew 22:39 and in many other passages
7. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
   
   Matthew 7:3
8. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me
   
   Philippians 4:13
9. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
   
   Matthew 19:6
10. Get thee behind me, Satan
    
    Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.
    Matthew 16:23

Saying still to Add

Famous Quotes from the Bible

Bible Quotations

1. "A merry heart does good like a medicine; but a broken spirit dries the bones."
   Proverbs 17:22
2. "Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity."
   Ecclesiastes 1:2
3. "For in much wisdom is much grief, and increase of knowledge is increase of sorrow."
   Ecclesiastes 1:18
4. No one can serve two masters.
   Matthew 6: 24
5. Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.
   Matthew 7:1