Ten Sayings from the Bible, Part III

Here are another ten. These come from the New King James Version, unless otherwise noted.

  1. Head on a platter.
  2. Matthew 14:10-11

  3. Holier than thou.
  4. Isaiah 65:5
    5 Who say, â€˜Keep to yourself,
    Do not come near me,
    For I am holier than you!â€™
    These are smoke in My nostrils,
    A fire that burns all the day.

  5. How the mighty have fallen.
  6. 2 Samuel 2:19
    19 â€œThe beauty of Israel is slain on your high places!
    How the mighty have fallen!

  7. It is better to give than to receive.
  8. Acts 20:35
    35 I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, â€˜It is more blessed to give than to receive.â€™â€

  9. Lamb to the slaughter.
  10. Isaiah 53:7
    7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
    Yet He opened not His mouth;
    He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
    And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
    So He opened not His mouth.

  11. Let come what may.
  12. Job 13:13
    13 â€œHold your peace with me, and let me speak,
    Then let come on me what may!

  13. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.
  14. John 8:7
    7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, â€œHe who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.â€

  15. Letter of the law.
  16. 2 Corinthians 3:5-6

  17. Like a thief in the night.
  18. 1 Thessalonians 5:2

  19. Like mother, like daughter.
  20. Ezekiel 16:44
    44 â€œIndeed everyone who quotes proverbs will use this proverb against you: â€˜Like mother, like daughter!â€™

Ten Sayings from the Bible, Part II

Here are ten more common sayings that come from the Bible. All quoted from the New King James Version (NKJV) unless otherwise noted.

  1. Born yesterday.
  2. Job 8:9
    9 For we were born yesterday, and know nothing,
    Because our days on earth are a shadow.

  3. By the skin of my teeth.
  4. Job 19:20
    20 My bone clings to my skin and to my flesh,
    And I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.

  5. Crafty tongue.
  6. Job 15:5
    5 For your iniquity teaches your mouth,
    And you choose the tongue of the crafty.

  7. Crying into your drink.
  8. Psalm 102:9
    9 For I have eaten ashes like bread,
    And mingled my drink with weeping,

  9. Drop in the bucket.
  10. Isaiah 40:15
    And are counted as the small dust on the scales;

  11. Eat, drink, and be merry.
  12. Ecclesiastes 8:15

  13. Empty or hollow words.
  14. Job 35:13
    13 Surely God will not listen to empty talk,
    Nor will the Almighty regard it.

  15. Fly in the ointment.
  16. Ecclesiastes 10:1
    1 Dead flies putrefy the perfumerâ€™s ointment,
    And cause it to give off a foul odor;

  17. Gave up the ghost.
  18. Acts 12:23 (KJV)

  19. Go the extra mile.
  20. Matthew 5:41

Taking It With You

As I ponder this morning, I think about the saying, “you can’t take it with you when you go”. The more I think about that, the more I disagree. There are some things we can take with us. When we stand before the Lord, we’ll have packed two bags. One bag is filled with the bad things we’ve done in this life, the other with the good. That bag of good things is the only gift, sacrifice if you will, we have to present to our Savior in thanks and praise for what He offers us. What is in your bags? I know my “bad” bag currently outweighs the good. I think we should all work harder to pack more things in the good bag, not that we can “earn” Heaven (Ephesians 2:8-9), but because it demonstrates the love and faith we have in Christ (James 2:20). By packing the “good” bag, we can avoid be ashamed before Him (1 John 2:28).

When standing before the Lord, we may have to answer these questions. I think about some of my answers and am not pleased. How about you?

  • How many times could you have come to church and chose not to? (Hebrews 10:23-25)
  • How many times have you taught someone about Christ? (Colossians 3:16)
  • How well have you instructed your children about God? (Ephesians 6:4)
  • How many people have you helped come to know Christ? (Matthew 28:18-20)
  • How many times would someone think of you and think of the work of Jesus? (Matthew 5:16)
  • How well have you studied and learned the Bible? (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Ten Sayings from the Bible, Part I

Many everyday sayings or adages of wisdom come directly from the Bible. Sometimes we know more Scripture than we thought! Here are some examples.

  1. A leopard cannot change his spots.
  2. Jeremiah 13:23

  3. A little bird told me.
  4. Ecclesiastes 10:20
    20 Do not curse the king, even in your thought;
    Do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom;
    For a bird of the air may carry your voice,
    And a bird in flight may tell the matter.

  5. A little bit here, a little bit there.
  6. Isaiah 28:10
    10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept,
    Line upon line, line upon line,
    Here a little, there a little.â€

  7. Apple of my eye.
  8. Deuteronomy 32:10
    10 â€œHe found him in a desert land
    And in the wasteland, a howling wilderness;
    He encircled him, He instructed him,
    He kept him as the apple of His eye.

    and also in

    Psalm 17:8
    8 Keep me as the apple of your eye;
    hide me in the shadow of your wings

  9. As good as gold.
  10. Job 23:10
    10 But He knows the way that I take;

  11. As old as the hills.
  12. Job 15:7
    7 â€œAre you the first man who was born?
    Or were you made before the hills?

  13. At wit’s end.
  14. Psalm 107:27
    And are at their witsâ€™ end.

  15. Bite the dust.
  16. Psalm 72:9
    9 Those who dwell in the wilderness will bow before Him,
    And His enemies will lick the dust.

  17. Blessed are the peacemakers.
  18. Matthew 5:9
    9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
    For they shall be called sons of God.

  19. Blind leading the blind.
  20. Matthew 15:14

You Never Mentioned Him to Me


When in the better land before the bar we stand,
How deeply grieved our souls will be;
If any lost one there should cry in deep despair,
“You never mentioned Him to me.”

You never mentioned Him to me,
You helped me not the way to see;
You met me day by day and knew I was astray,
Yet never mentioned Him to me.”





Problems with the NIV Bible

When I was a teenager, the Lutheran church put a NIV translation of the Bible in my hands, and I grew up with it. Years later, I received a New Kings James Version (NKJV) and started using it. Not long after, I heard that there were some problems with the NIV, and a couple were pointed out. I accepted that and put it in the back of my mind. Now, I’ve done some research and found that a lot more is wrong with the NIV than I even knew! I have found that some scholars are saying over 64,000 words are missing from the NIV! If that weren’t enough, some verses do not exist in the NIV at all.

Verses Missing from the NIV

  • Luke 17:36; 23:17
  • John 5:4
  • Romans 16:24
  • 1 John 5:7 (truncated)

Don’t believe me? Go to an online Bible resource like BibleGateway and look them up. Compare the NIV text with the NKJV, KJV, ASV, or NASB. Supporters of the NIV say these missing texts do not matter or that what they teach appear elsewhere. Do you want to rely on a Bible that is, without question, omitting portions? Revelation 22:18-19 gives you something to think about.

Also consider the NIV translation of John 3:16.


Now look at the NKJV of John 3:16.


Note that the word is “should”, not “shall” (this matches in the KJV, ASV, ESV, 21CKJV, and so on). Changing this one word can lead to some serious errors in Christian thought, such as “belief only” salvation (disproved in Matthew 7:19; John 15:8; John 15:10; John 15:14; Titus 1:16; Titus 2:7; Titus 3:8; 1 Peter 2:15; 1 Timothy 4:12; 1Timothy 6:18-19) or the thought that once a Christian you cannot loose salvation (disproved in Galatians 5:4; Hebrews 3:12-13; Hebrews 4:1; Hebrews 4:11; Hebrews 6:4-8; 2 Peter 2:20-21).

If you regularly use the NIV, I urge you to do some research on your own. Find out more about it. The Word of God is too important; don’t ignore these concerns without finding out for yourself!