What is the Bible?
A visual exploration of how the Bible speaks about itself.
Hover over any verse reference to read the Scriptures.
Light
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105)
Psalm 119:130 / 2 Peter 1:19 / Proverbs 6:23 / Isaiah 8:20 / John 1:1-5 / Genesis 1:3
Sword
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…” (Ephesians 6:17)
Revelation 2:12 / Hebrews 4:12
Fire
Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD… (Jeremiah 23:29a)
Jeremiah 5:14 / Jeremiah 20:9 / Deuteronomy 4:12
Hammer
…and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29b)
Breath of God
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16)
John 20:22 / 2 Thessalonians 2:8
Honey
How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Psalm 119:103)
Psalm 19:10
Seed
Now the parable is this; the seed is the word of God. (Luke 8:11)
1 Peter 1:22-23 / James 1:21 / Mark 4:20
Medicine
He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. (Psalm 107:20)
Proverbs 4:20-22
Spirit
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit…(John 6:63a)
Zechariah 7:12 / Ezekiel 36:27
Life
…and they are life." (John 6:63b)
Proverbs 4:20-22 / Proverbs 7:2 / Ezekiel 20:11 / Deuteronomy 6:24 / Deuteronomy 32:46-48 / Psalm 119:37,50,93 / Philippians 2:15b-16a / John 1:1-5 / John 8:51
Water
Husbands love your wives...that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word... (Ephesians 5:25-26)
Amos 8:11 / Matthew 5:6
Food
Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15:16)
Hebrews 6:5 / Deuteronomy 8:3 / Matthew 4:3-4 / Job 23:12 / Hebrews 5:12-14
Milk
…like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation (1 Peter 2:2)
Hebrews 5:12-14
Mirror
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. (James 1:22-25)
Gold
[The law of the LORD is] more to be desired…than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. (Psalm 19:10)
Psalm 119:127 / Proverbs 7:1 / Psalm 119:14,162
Silver
The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times. (Psalm 12:6)
Psalm 119:72 / Proverbs 8:10
Judge
The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. (John 12:48)
Hebrews 4:12-13 / Hosea 6:5 / Prov. 30:5-6 / Galatians 1:7-8 / Rev. 22:18-19
Law and Commandment
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul…making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever…and righteous altogether. (Psalm 19:7-9)
1 John 2:7-8
Rain and Snow
…For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11)
Anchor and Hope
We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 6:16-20)
Micah 2:7
Bible Attributes
Less visual, but equally extraordinary ways the Bible describes itself.
The Word CREATES
By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (Hebrews 11:3)
Romans 10:17 / John 1:1-5
The Word DESTROYS
For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. (2 Peter 3:5)
Joel 2:11a / Zephaniah 2:5
The Word is HOLY and SANCTIFIES US
Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. (John 15:3)
John 17:17 / 1 Timothy 4:5 / Psalm 119:11 / Leviticus 20:8 / Psalm 119:71) / 1 Kings 8:61 / 1 Timothy 6:3 / Acts 4:31 / Acts 20:32
The Word is ALIVE and ACTIVE
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
Matthew 8:8 / Acts 12:24 / Acts 13:49 / Acts 19:20 / 1 Corinthians 1:18 / Philippians 2:16 / 1 John 2:14 / 1 Peter 1:23 / 2 Timothy 2:9
The Word is NEAR
But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. (Deuteronomy 30:14) / Psalm 119:151
The Word is our DELIGHT
I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word… (Psalm 119:16) / Psalm 119:24, 97, 129, 167, 171
The Word SUSTAINS and GUIDES US
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3)
Psalm 119:18 / Ezekiel 11:20 / Psalm 119:54 / Psalm 119:101, 133 / Romans 15:4 / Joshua 3:9 / Isaiah 66:1-2 / Exodus 15:26 / Deuteronomy 4:1 / Deuteronomy 6:2 / John 15:10 / 1 John 3:24 / 2 John 1:9 / 2 John 1:1-2 /Psalm 48:14
The Word is ETERNAL and FOREVER
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life (John 6:68)
Psalm 119:44, 89, 111-112, 144, 152 / Psalm 111:7-8 / John 12:50 / 1 Peter 1:2 / Psalm 119:160 / Luke 21:33
The Word is TRUTH
Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. (Proverbs 30:5 / 2 Samuel 22:31)
John 17:17 / Ephesians 1:13 / Colossians 1:5 / 2 Samuel 7:28 / Psalm 119:151, 160 / James 1:18 / Titus 1:9 / 2 Timothy 2:15
The Word is WISDOM
Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. …Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. (Psalm 119:98-100, 104)
Colossians 3:16 / Proverbs 1:1-3 / Proverbs 2:6 / Deuteronomy 4:6
The Word is PERFECT and UNFAILING
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul (Psalm 19:7)
1 Kings 8:56 / James 1:25 / Joshua 21:45
The Word is GOOD
…and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come (Hebrews 6:5)
Micah 2:7 / Proverbs 4:2 / Deuteronomy 10:12-14