We know many of you visiting our site have a favorite translation of the Bible—one that you are familiar with, have memorized, and internalized in your heart. We love that, and we want you to feel free to experience our stories using the translation of your choice.
To maintain a consistent voice throughout our resources, we would love to introduce you to a relatively new English translation: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB). Its name comes from Acts 17:11: "Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true."
Every Scripture passage featured in Significant Stories is from the BSB translation. We appreciate its clear, straightforward text that is equally helpful for public reading, deep study, and sharing with others.
For centuries, monks painstakingly crafted illuminated manuscripts — surrounding each page of scripture with gold leaf, cross-references, and scholarly glosses, transforming the text into something both beautiful and deeply understood. The word illuminated meant both made beautiful and made clear.
Illuminated Word Study carries that same intention into the digital age. We have carefully aligned centuries of scholarly work — lexicons, concordances, dictionaries, cross-references, and semantic analyses — so that every resource is always turned to the right page, presenting their intersection right inside each verse. Click any verse, and the text opens to reveal its deepest layers.
What's Inside
Illuminated Word Study brings together three study dimensions, all accessible from a single click on any verse:
Interlinear — Word-by-word alignment of the English translation with the original Greek and Hebrew, with multiple translation sources and manuscript tradition notes.
Word Study — Click any word to explore a vertical chain of progressive study stations: identity and pronunciation, scholarly definitions, grammatical parsing, an interactive distribution sparkline showing every occurrence across the Bible, etymological roots, and Septuagint bridge connections. The study header stays pinned below the scripture controls as you scroll.
Verse Study — Compare how the verse reads across four centuries of English translation, explore cross-references with a visual arc diagram spanning Genesis to Revelation, read dictionary articles about the people, places, and concepts mentioned, and see geographic locations on a parchment-styled map.
How to Use
Click any verse to open its Illuminated Word Study view.
Word order — Text boxes default to English word order. Click Greek (NT) or Hebrew (OT) to switch to the original language order.
Hover a word — Highlights the corresponding word in both columns.
Click a word — Opens detailed word study and keeps matching words highlighted in both columns.
Translation Sources
Each column has its own selector to switch between translation sources independently.
English column — Choose between BSB (Berean Standard Bible) and KJV (King James Version). BSB provides curated word-level alignment; KJV words are linked via Strong's numbers.
Original language column — Choose between BSB interlinear data and the independent source texts: Nestle 1904 (Greek NT) or OSHB (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, OT).
BSB + BSB — The only combination with a word-order sort toggle, since BSB has curated English-to-original word pairings.
Red letter — Words of Jesus appear in red in both BSB and KJV.
Word Study
Click any word to open its study panel — a vertical chain of six progressive stations that build from identity to context:
Identity — The word as it appears in the manuscript (inflected form), with transliteration, root form (shown with an arrow when different from the inflected form), Strong's number pill, and pronunciation guide.
Meaning — Brief definition (Dodson for Greek, Strong's for Hebrew), with expandable full scholarly entries from Abbott-Smith (Greek) or Brown-Driver-Briggs (Hebrew). Greek words also show Louw-Nida semantic domain categories.
Form — Parsing code with human-readable expansion, decoded morphology for Hebrew verb stems (OT) and Greek grammatical forms (NT), and manuscript variant indicators when editions disagree about a word's inclusion.
Across Scripture — An interactive sparkline showing every occurrence of the word across all 66 books of the Bible. Click any book bar to expand chapter-level detail, then click a chapter to see individual verse references with context from the BSB text. Verse references open the preview modal.
Roots — The etymological origin of the word, shown as inline mini study cards with their own identity, definition, and interactive sparkline. Root derivations work across testaments — a Greek word can trace back to a Hebrew origin.
Septuagint Bridge — For Hebrew words, shows the Greek translation chosen by the Septuagint translators, rendered as a mini study card with the Greek word's identity, definition, and NT distribution sparkline. This bridge connects the testaments — the same Greek word used in the Septuagint often reappears in the New Testament.
Additional notes:
Multiple Strong's — Some KJV words map to multiple original-language words. Each appears as an expandable section (first auto-expanded) with its own full study chain.
Manuscripts — 934 New Testament words are annotated with manuscript tradition data, indicating which critical editions include or omit the word.
Manuscript Traditions
The New Testament was hand-copied for centuries before the printing press. Scholars compare thousands of surviving manuscripts to reconstruct the original text. Different editorial teams weigh the manuscript evidence differently, producing distinct critical editions. When a word shows a manuscript marker, it means these editions disagree about whether that word belongs in the text.
TR — Textus Receptus. The "received text" compiled in the 16th century, based on late Byzantine manuscripts. The basis for the King James Bible and other Reformation-era translations.
BYZ — Byzantine Majority Text. Represents the reading found in the majority of surviving Greek manuscripts, which are predominantly from the Byzantine tradition.
RP — Robinson-Pierpont. A modern Byzantine majority text that follows the consensus reading of the Byzantine manuscript family.
WH — Westcott-Hort. A pioneering 19th-century critical text that prioritized the earliest Alexandrian manuscripts, shifting scholarship away from the Textus Receptus.
NE — Nestle. An early critical text that became the foundation for the Nestle-Aland editions. Based on comparing multiple 19th-century critical texts.
NA — Nestle-Aland. The standard modern critical text (currently in its 28th edition). Used by most Bible translators and scholars worldwide. Published by the German Bible Society.
SBL — SBL Greek New Testament. A critical text published by the Society of Biblical Literature, offering an alternative to the NA text with a transparent editorial methodology.
ECM — Editio Critica Maior. The most comprehensive critical apparatus available, cataloging variants from virtually all known manuscripts. An ongoing project by the Institute for New Testament Textual Research.
Definitions
Each word's definition draws from multiple scholarly lexicons, layered from brief to detailed.
Brief definition — A concise gloss of the word's meaning. Greek words use the Dodson lexicon; Hebrew words use Strong's definitions.
Full Definition — Expand to see a comprehensive scholarly entry. Greek words draw from Abbott-Smith's Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), with grammatical analysis, sense distinctions, and scripture references. Hebrew words draw from Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB, 1906), the standard reference Hebrew lexicon, with etymological and contextual detail.
Pronunciation — A phonetic guide to how the original word sounds.
Semantic Domains
Additional linguistic context appears below the definition depending on whether the word is Greek or Hebrew.
Greek words — Louw-Nida domains — Shows which conceptual category the word belongs to in the Louw-Nida Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains. Unlike traditional alphabetical lexicons, Louw-Nida organizes words by meaning — so words for "speak," "write," and "proclaim" all appear together under "Communication." This helps you find related words and understand a word's place in the broader semantic landscape. There are 93 top-level domains covering all NT vocabulary.
Hebrew words — LXX equivalents — Shows how the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint, abbreviated LXX) rendered this Hebrew word. For example, the Hebrew אֱלֹהִים (Elohim, "God") was translated as θεός (theos) in the LXX. Click the Greek Strong's number to see its full occurrence data. The LXX translation choices are significant because New Testament authors, writing in Greek, often drew their Old Testament quotations from the Septuagint rather than translating directly from Hebrew.
Lexicon Sources
The definition and enrichment data draws from these scholarly sources:
Dodson — The Dodson Greek Lexicon. Brief, accessible definitions for 5,400+ Greek Strong's numbers. Provides the concise gloss shown for every Greek word.
Strong's — Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. James Strong's numbering system (1890) assigns a unique number to every Hebrew and Greek root word in the Bible. The Hebrew definitions from Strong's provide brief glosses for 8,600+ words.
Abbott-Smith — A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (G. Abbott-Smith, 1922). A scholarly one-volume lexicon with detailed sense analysis, grammatical notes, and extensive cross-references to classical and Septuagint usage. Covers 5,300+ Greek entries.
BDB — A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Brown, Driver, Briggs, 1906). The standard reference lexicon for Biblical Hebrew for over a century. Entries include etymology, cognate languages, and detailed analysis of how each word is used across the Old Testament. Matched to 5,600+ Strong's numbers.
Louw-Nida — Greek-English Lexicon Based on Semantic Domains (Louw & Nida, 1988). Rather than alphabetical, this lexicon groups 5,300+ Greek words by meaning into 93 conceptual domains. Semantic domain data is sourced from the MACULA Greek linguistic annotations of the Nestle 1904 text.
LXX — Septuagint Greek equivalents. For 4,100+ Hebrew words, shows which Greek word the Septuagint translators chose, with occurrence counts. Sourced from the MACULA Hebrew linguistic annotations, which align the Masoretic Hebrew text with the Septuagint Greek.
Verse Study
Below the interlinear columns, tabs provide additional study resources for the selected verse.
Compare Translations
Click "Compare Translations" below the interlinear columns to see how the verse reads across four centuries of English translation.
Phrase alignment — A five-column grid aligning corresponding phrases from KJV (1611), ERV (1885), ASV (1901), WEB (2000), and BSB (2020) row by row, with yellow highlighting for phrases that differ from KJV.
Word-level differences — Expand the collapsible section to see each translation with word-level difference highlighting. Green highlights words that differ from KJV. Blue highlights words new to a later translation that weren't in its predecessor.
Word sync — Clicking a word in the interlinear columns outlines the same word across the compare panel, so you can trace it through all five translations.
Cross References
Click "Cross References" to see other passages related to this verse, shown in two views:
Arc diagram — A Bible-span visualization showing the verse's position across all 66 books. Arcs above the axis represent outgoing references (this verse points to), arcs below represent incoming references (other verses that point here). Arc color indicates which testament the other end is in — blue for Old Testament, red for New Testament. Section labels (Law, History, Poetry, etc.) mark groups along the axis. Hover any arc to see the reference; click to preview the passage.
Word-aware filtering — When you select a word in the interlinear, the arc diagram and reference lists automatically highlight cross-referenced passages where that same original-language word (Strong's number) appears. Bright arcs lead to chapters containing the word you're studying; dimmed arcs lead elsewhere. This reveals which cross-references share vocabulary with your selected word — connecting lexical study to cross-reference exploration. The filter clears when you deselect the word.
Most Referenced — The top 5 cross-references ranked by community votes (outgoing and incoming merged), representing the strongest connections recognized by scholars and readers.
Related Passages — Additional voted references beyond the top 5, collapsed by default.
Extended References — Unvoted references from the source data, for exhaustive study. Each tier shows direction labels ("Outgoing" / "Incoming") when both exist.
Click any reference — Opens a verse preview showing the passage text, with an option to navigate to the full chapter.
Dictionary
Click "Dictionary" to see encyclopedia entries for people, places, and concepts mentioned in the verse.
First-sentence previews — Each entry shows a brief preview of its opening sentence, so you can quickly scan what a term refers to before expanding.
Collapsible entries — Click a term to expand its full article. Entries range from brief definitions to multi-paragraph treatments with historical context.
Scripture links — References within dictionary articles are clickable, opening a verse preview of the cited passage.
Map
When a verse mentions identifiable places, click "Map" to see them on a parchment-styled map with terrain shading.
Place markers — Gold dots for settlements, blue for water features, triangles for mountains. Click a marker to highlight the corresponding place card.
Place cards — Each card shows the ancient name, modern identification, place type, and how many times the location appears across scripture. Click a card to fly to that marker on the map.
Data source — Geographic data from OpenBible Geocoding (CC-BY 4.0), covering 1,300+ ancient places with coordinates based on modern archaeological identifications.
Timeless Reflections
Below the study tabs, a collapsible "Timeless Reflections" section provides commentary from two public domain works spanning three centuries of biblical scholarship, presented as collapsible accordion sections.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown Commentary (1871) — Scholarly and critical verse-by-verse analysis with grammatical observations and cross-references. Includes section introductions (Pentateuch, Poetical, Prophetical books), chronological reference tables (Parables, Miracles, Paul's Life), book introductions with author attribution (Jamieson, Fausset, or Brown), and section heading labels.
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary (1706) — Full unabridged devotional and pastoral reflections with hierarchical sections: volume preface, Bible/Testament/section introductions, book introduction, chapter introduction, and verse commentary.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary (1706) — Condensed edition with book introduction, chapter outline, and verse commentary.
Verse Study Sources
TSK — Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Originally compiled by R.A. Torrey (1834–1928), the TSK is one of the most extensive cross-reference systems ever produced, with 344,000+ verse-to-verse connections across both testaments. References are ranked by community votes from the OpenBible.info project.
Easton's — Easton's Bible Dictionary (M.G. Easton, 1897). A classic reference with 3,900+ entries covering biblical names, places, customs, and theological concepts. Articles include extensive scripture citations linking entries to relevant passages throughout the Bible. Indexed to 22,000+ verse references for contextual lookup.
Translations
The comparison spans five translations that represent the major milestones in English Bible translation. Each built upon its predecessors while incorporating advances in manuscript scholarship.
KJV (1611) — King James Version. Commissioned by King James I and produced by 47 scholars. Translated from the Textus Receptus (Greek NT) and the Masoretic Text (Hebrew OT). Its language shaped English literature for centuries and remains the most widely printed Bible in history.
ERV (1885) — English Revised Version. The first major scholarly revision of the KJV, undertaken by a committee of British scholars over 14 years. Incorporated readings from older manuscripts discovered since 1611, including Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, which predated the Byzantine manuscripts used for the KJV by several centuries.
ASV (1901) — American Standard Version. The American counterpart to the ERV, produced by the American revision committee. Known for consistently rendering the divine name as "Jehovah" and for more literal renderings than the ERV. Valued for study due to its word-for-word translation philosophy.
WEB (2000) — World English Bible. A public domain modern English translation based on the ASV, updated for contemporary readability while maintaining the ASV's literal translation philosophy. Replaces "Jehovah" with "Yahweh" for the divine name and uses modern pronouns throughout. An ongoing community-driven project freely available without copyright restrictions.
BSB (2020) — Berean Standard Bible. A modern translation based on the Nestle-Aland/UBS critical text (Greek NT) and the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (Hebrew OT). Balances literal accuracy with readability, incorporating over a century of additional manuscript discoveries and textual scholarship since the ASV.
The original-language source texts used in the interlinear view:
Nestle 1904 — Novum Testamentum Graece. Eberhard Nestle's Greek New Testament, a critical text that became the foundation for all subsequent Nestle-Aland editions. Now in the public domain, making it freely available for digital scholarship.
OSHB — Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible. A digital edition of the Westminster Leningrad Codex, the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible (dated 1008 CE). Includes full morphological parsing and lemma data for each word.
Data Completeness
The study data is comprehensive but not exhaustive. Here is a summary of coverage and known gaps.
Interlinear words — 441,000+ BSB words with original-language alignment covering all 31,086 verses. 382,000 KJV words, 138,000 Nestle 1904 Greek words, and 304,000 OSHB Hebrew words are linked via Strong's numbers.
Brief definitions — Available for all 14,196 Strong's numbers in the lexicon (5,500+ Greek via Dodson, 8,600+ Hebrew via Strong's).
Full definitions (Greek) — Abbott-Smith covers 5,300+ of 5,500 Greek entries (97%). A small number of rare or variant forms lack deep entries.
Full definitions (Hebrew) — BDB covers 5,600 of 8,600+ Hebrew entries (65%). The gap is primarily proper nouns and rare forms where BDB entries could not be matched to Strong's numbers. Coverage was improved using the OpenScriptures Lexical Index for direct BDB-to-Strong's mapping.
Louw-Nida domains — Available for 5,300+ Greek Strong's numbers (97%). Sourced from MACULA Greek annotations of the Nestle 1904 text.
LXX equivalents — Available for 4,100 of 8,600+ Hebrew Strong's numbers (47%). Not all Hebrew words appear in passages that have Septuagint parallels, and some particles and grammatical words lack meaningful Greek equivalents.
Cross-references — 344,000+ verse-to-verse connections. Most verses have at least one cross-reference, though some less-referenced passages may have none.
Dictionary — 3,900+ Easton's entries indexed to 22,000+ verse references. Coverage focuses on named persons, places, and key concepts. Many verses (especially those without named entities) will not have dictionary entries.
Manuscript variants — 934 New Testament words are annotated with manuscript tradition data. This covers the most significant textual variants but is not a complete critical apparatus.
KJV Morphology — Decoded morphology descriptions for all KJV words that have morphology codes. 136 Tyndale House codes covering Hebrew and Aramaic verb stems (OT), plus Robinson codes for Greek grammatical forms including declension suffixes (NT).
Commentaries — Two public domain commentaries spanning three centuries of biblical scholarship. Out of 31,086 total verses:
JFB (1871) — ~19,800 entries: verse commentary covering 30,637 verses (98.6%), 7 section introductions (4 prose essays + 3 chronological reference tables with scope-based retrieval), 49 book introductions with author attribution, and ~1,750 section heading labels extracted from the source text. Authored by Robert Jamieson (Genesis–Esther), A.R. Fausset (Job–Malachi, 1 Corinthians–Revelation), and David Brown (Matthew–Romans).
MH Complete (1706) — ~5,600 entries (4,300 verse-range + 66 volume prefaces + 7 scoped intro levels + 66 book introductions + 1,170 chapter summaries) covering 31,086 verses (100%). Complete coverage of all verses. Every book shows hierarchical intro levels: Holy Bible preface, Testament introduction, and section introduction (for Pentateuch, Historical, Minor Prophets, and Gospels).
MH Concise (1706) — ~5,200 entries (4,049 verse-range + 66 book introductions + 1,054 chapter outlines) covering 31,022 verses (99.8%) across 66 books. Remaining 64 uncovered verses are confirmed absent from the source text.
Map — 1,300+ ancient places geocoded to 8,700+ verse references. The Map tab appears only for verses that mention identifiable geographic locations. Coverage depends on OpenBible's identification database; some place names in poetic or metaphorical contexts may not be geocoded.
Red letter — Words of Jesus are marked in both BSB and KJV across the four Gospels, Acts, and Revelation. Coverage relies on the source data's attribution of direct speech.
Open Data & Attributions
All study data is sourced from open, freely available scholarly projects. The following attributions are provided in accordance with the Creative Commons licenses under which these works are shared. All licensed data has been parsed, reformatted, and integrated into our study database; no source data is redistributed in its original form.
Berean Standard Bible — Produced by Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. Dedicated to the public domain. berean.bible
1Blessed 1 are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the Law of the LORD.2Blessed are those who keep His testimonies and seek Him with all their heart.3They do no iniquity; they walk in His ways.4You have ordained Your precepts, that we should keep them diligently.5Oh, that my ways were committed to keeping Your statutes!6Then I would not be ashamed when I consider all Your commandments.7I will praise You with an upright heart when I learn Your righteous judgments.8I will keep Your statutes; do not utterly forsake me.
BETH
9How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to Your word.10With all my heart I have sought You; do not let me stray from Your commandments.11I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.12Blessed are You, O LORD; teach me Your statutes.13With my lips I proclaim all the judgments of Your mouth.14I rejoice in the way of Your testimonies as much as in all riches.15I will meditate on Your precepts and regard Your ways.16I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.
GIMEL
17Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may live and keep Your word.18Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law.19I am a stranger on the earth; do not hide Your commandments from me.20My soul is consumed with longing for Your judgments at all times.21You rebuke the arrogant— the cursed who stray from Your commandments.22Remove my scorn and contempt, for I have kept Your testimonies.23Though rulers sit and slander me, Your servant meditates on Your statutes.24Your testimonies are indeed my delight; they are my counselors.
DALETH
25My soul cleaves to the dust; revive me according to Your word.26I recounted my ways, and You answered me; teach me Your statutes.27Make clear to me the way of Your precepts; then I will meditate on Your wonders.28My soul melts with sorrow; strengthen me according to Your word.29Remove me from the path of deceit and graciously grant me Your law.30I have chosen the way of truth; I have set Your ordinances before me.31I cling to Your testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put to shame.32I run in the path of Your commandments, for You will enlarge my heart.
HE
33Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, and I will keep them to the end.134Give me understanding that I may obey Your law, and follow it with all my heart.35Direct me in the path of Your commandments, for there I find delight.36Turn my heart to Your testimonies and not to covetous gain.37Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word.138Establish Your word to Your servant, to produce reverence for You.39Turn away the disgrace I dread, for Your judgments are good.40How I long for Your precepts! Revive me in Your righteousness.
WAW
41May Your loving devotion come to me, O LORD, Your salvation, according to Your promise.42Then I can answer him who taunts, for I trust in Your word.43Never take Your word of truth from my mouth, for I hope in Your judgments.44I will always obey Your law, forever and ever.45And I will walk in freedom, for I have sought Your precepts.46I will speak of Your testimonies before kings, and I will not be ashamed.47I delight in Your commandments because I love them.48I lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I love, and I meditate on Your statutes.
ZAYIN
49Remember Your word to Your servant, upon which You have given me hope.50This is my comfort in affliction, that Your promise has given me life.51The arrogant utterly deride me, but I do not turn from Your law.52I remember Your judgments of old, O LORD, and in them I find comfort.53Rage has taken hold of me because of the wicked who reject Your law.54Your statutes are songs to me in the house of my pilgrimage.55In the night, O LORD, I remember Your name, that I may keep Your law.56This is my practice, for I obey Your precepts.
HETH
57The LORD is my portion; I have promised to keep Your words.58I have sought Your face with all my heart; be gracious to me according to Your promise.59I considered my ways and turned my steps to Your testimonies.60I hurried without hesitating to keep Your commandments.61Though the ropes of the wicked bind me, I do not forget Your law.62At midnight I rise to give You thanks for Your righteous judgments.63I am a friend to all who fear You, and to those who keep Your precepts.64The earth is filled with Your loving devotion, O LORD; teach me Your statutes.
TETH
65You are good to Your servant, O LORD, according to Your word.66Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I believe in Your commandments.67Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now I keep Your word.68You are good, and You do what is good; teach me Your statutes.69Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep Your precepts with all my heart.70Their hearts are callous and insensitive,1 but I delight in Your law.71It was good for me to be afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes.72The law from Your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.
YODH
73Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding to learn Your commandments.74May those who fear You see me and rejoice, for I have hoped in Your word.75I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.76May Your loving devotion comfort me, I pray, according to Your promise to Your servant.77May Your compassion come to me, that I may live, for Your law is my delight.78May the arrogant be put to shame for subverting me with a lie; I will meditate on Your precepts.79May those who fear You turn to me, those who know Your testimonies.80May my heart be blameless in Your statutes, that I may not be put to shame.
KAPH
81My soul faints for Your salvation; I wait for Your word.82My eyes fail, looking for Your promise; I ask, “When will You comfort me?”83Though I am like a wineskin dried up by smoke, I do not forget Your statutes.84How many days must Your servant wait?1 When will You execute judgment on my persecutors?85The arrogant have dug pits for me in violation of Your law.86All Your commandments are faithful; I am persecuted without cause—help me!87They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken Your precepts.88Revive me according to Your loving devotion, that I may obey the testimony of Your mouth.
LAMEDH
89Your word, O LORD, is everlasting; it is firmly fixed in the heavens.90Your faithfulness continues through all generations; You established the earth, and it endures.91Your ordinances stand to this day,1 for all things are servants to You.92If Your law had not been my delight, then I would have perished in my affliction.93I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have revived me.94I am Yours; save me, for I have sought Your precepts.95The wicked wait to destroy me, but I will ponder Your testimonies.96I have seen a limit to all perfection, but Your commandment is without limit.
MEM
97Oh, how I love Your law! All day long it is my meditation.98Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are always with me.99I have more insight than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation.100I discern more than the elders, for I obey Your precepts.101I have kept my feet from every evil path, that I may keep Your word.102I have not departed from Your ordinances, for You Yourself have taught me.103How sweet are Your words to my taste— sweeter than honey in my mouth!104I gain understanding from Your precepts; therefore I hate every false way.
NUN
105Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.106I have sworn and confirmed that I will keep Your righteous judgments.107I am severely afflicted, O LORD; revive me through Your word.108Accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me Your judgments.109I constantly take my life in my hands, yet I do not forget Your law.110The wicked have set a snare for me, but I have not strayed from Your precepts.111Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.112I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes, even to the very end.
SAMEKH
113The double-minded I despise, but Your law I love.114You are my hiding place and my shield; I put my hope in Your word.115Depart from me, you evildoers, that I may obey the commandments of my God.116Sustain me as You promised, that I may live; let me not be ashamed of my hope.117Uphold me, and I will be saved, that I may always regard Your statutes.118You reject all who stray from Your statutes, for their deceitfulness is in vain.119All the wicked on earth You discard like dross; therefore I love Your testimonies.120My flesh trembles in awe of You; I stand in fear of Your judgments.
AYIN
121I have done what is just and right; do not leave me to my oppressors.122Ensure Your servant’s well-being; do not let the arrogant oppress me.123My eyes fail, looking for Your salvation, and for Your righteous promise.124Deal with Your servant according to Your loving devotion, and teach me Your statutes.125I am Your servant; give me understanding, that I may know Your testimonies.126It is time for the LORD to act, for they have broken Your law.127Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, even the purest gold.128Therefore I admire all Your precepts and hate every false way.
PE
129Wonderful are Your testimonies; therefore I obey them.130The unfolding of Your words gives light; it informs the simple.131I open my mouth and pant, longing for Your commandments.132Turn to me and show me mercy, as You do to those who love Your name.133Order my steps in Your word; let no sin rule over me.134Redeem me from the oppression of man, that I may keep Your precepts.135Make Your face shine upon Your servant, and teach me Your statutes.136My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not obeyed.
TZADE
137Righteous are You, O LORD, and upright are Your judgments.138The testimonies You have laid down are righteous and altogether faithful.139My zeal has consumed me because my foes forget Your words.140Your promise is completely pure; therefore Your servant loves it.141I am lowly and despised, but I do not forget Your precepts.142Your righteousness is everlasting and Your law is true.143Trouble and distress have found me, but Your commandments are my delight.144Your testimonies are righteous forever. Give me understanding, that I may live.
KOPH
145I call with all my heart; answer me, O LORD! I will obey Your statutes.146I call to You; save me, that I may keep Your testimonies.147I rise before dawn and cry for help; in Your word I have put my hope.148My eyes anticipate the watches of night, that I may meditate on Your word.149Hear my voice, O LORD, according to Your loving devotion; give me life according to Your justice.150Those who follow after wickedness draw near; they are far from Your law.151You are near, O LORD, and all Your commandments are true.152Long ago I learned from Your testimonies that You have established them forever.
RESH
153Look upon my affliction and rescue me, for I have not forgotten Your law.154Defend my cause and redeem me; revive me according to Your word.155Salvation is far from the wicked because they do not seek Your statutes.156Great are Your mercies, O LORD; revive me according to Your ordinances.157Though my persecutors and foes are many, I have not turned from Your testimonies.158I look on the faithless with loathing because they do not keep Your word.159Consider how I love Your precepts, O LORD; give me life according to Your loving devotion.160The entirety of Your word is truth, and all Your righteous judgments endure forever.
SIN and SHIN
161Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart fears only Your word.162I rejoice in Your promise like one who finds great spoil.163I hate and abhor falsehood, but Your law I love.164Seven times a day I praise You for Your righteous judgments.165Abundant peace belongs to those who love Your law; nothing can make them stumble.166I wait for Your salvation, O LORD, and I carry out Your commandments.167I obey Your testimonies and love them greatly.168I obey Your precepts and Your testimonies, for all my ways are before You.
TAW
169May my cry come before You, O LORD; give me understanding according to Your word.170May my plea come before You; rescue me according to Your promise.171My lips pour forth praise, for You teach me Your statutes.172My tongue sings of Your word, for all Your commandments are righteous.173May Your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen Your precepts.174I long for Your salvation, O LORD, and Your law is my delight.175Let me live to praise You; may Your judgments sustain me.176I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments.