Key verses
Verses that change lives
In the Set to Seek Bible reader, these verses are marked in colour in every translation and every language, with a label you can tap to see why each one matters. The words of Jesus are printed in red, the way red-letter Bibles have printed them since 1899.
The Gospel
How a person is saved — the heart of the whole book.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
The whole Bible in one sentence: a love, a gift, a condition and a promise.
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 3:23
Everyone — no exceptions and no ranking. The bad news that makes the good news necessary.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 6:23
Wages are earned; a gift is not. Sin pays out death. God gives life.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
God did not wait for us to improve. The proof of His love came while we were at our worst.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Ephesians 2:8
By grace, through faith, not of yourselves. Salvation is received, never achieved.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 14:6
Not a way among many — the way. His most exclusive claim, and His most generous invitation.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Romans 10:9
How to respond, in one verse: say it with your mouth, believe it in your heart.
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Acts 4:12
No other name. Peter said it to the same council that had condemned Jesus weeks before.
A promise
Something God has said He will do. Hold Him to it.
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Isaiah 41:10
Five promises in one verse: I am with thee, I am thy God, I will strengthen, I will help, I will uphold.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Jeremiah 29:11
Spoken to exiles facing seventy years away from home. God's good intent holds through the long wait, not only after it.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
Not that all things are good — that God works all things together for good, for those who love Him.
But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19
All your need — not every want — from riches that do not run out.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28
An open invitation to the exhausted. Rest is the gift, not the reward.
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Hebrews 13:5
In the Greek the negatives are stacked for emphasis: I will never, no never, leave thee.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:23
Written in the rubble of a destroyed city. His mercies are renewed each morning, like manna.
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31
Waiting on the LORD is not doing nothing. It is where new strength comes from.
How to live
A command worth building a life on.
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Matthew 22:37
The first and great commandment: all your heart, all your soul, all your mind.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Matthew 22:39
And the second is like it. Jesus says the whole law and the prophets hang on these two.
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Micah 6:8
What the LORD requires, in one sentence: do justly, love mercy, walk humbly.
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5
Trust with the whole heart — and stop leaning on your own understanding.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 12:2
Change comes through a renewed mind, not a tighter grip.
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:32
Forgive the way you have been forgiven. That is the measure, and it is a high one.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Matthew 28:19
The Great Commission. Every disciple is sent — nobody is only a spectator.
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
Colossians 3:23
Ordinary work, done for the Lord, becomes worship.
Prayer
How to talk to God, from God's own word.
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Philippians 4:6
Anxiety is traded for prayer — with thanksgiving attached.
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Matthew 6:9
How Jesus taught His disciples to begin: Our Father.
Pray without ceasing.
1 Thessalonians 5:17
Pray without ceasing — a posture you live in, not a marathon you run.
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
James 5:16
Confess to one another, pray for one another — and healing follows.
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Jeremiah 33:3
Call, and He answers — with more than you knew to ask for.
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
1 John 5:14
Confidence in prayer rests on asking according to His will.
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
Psalm 46:10
Be still. Sometimes prayer has to begin by stopping.
And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
Mark 1:35
Jesus Himself rose before daylight to pray alone. If He needed it, so do we.
Who you are
What is true of you in Christ, whatever you feel today.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17
A new creation — not a repaired version of the old one.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20
Crucified with Christ, and Christ living in me. The old self is not improved; it is replaced.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Romans 8:1
No condemnation. The verdict is already in.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
John 1:12
Receive Him, and you are given power — the right — to become a son or daughter of God. Not earned: given.
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1 Peter 2:9
Chosen, royal, holy, His own — so that you would show His praises.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10
His workmanship, made for good works He prepared before you arrived.
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
Psalm 139:14
Fearfully and wonderfully made — and the soul can know it right well.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Romans 8:37
More than conquerors — not through our strength, but through Him that loved us.
Set to seek
The verses this app is named for.
Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?
John 1:38
The first words Jesus speaks in John's Gospel are a question: What seek ye? Everyone who opens this app is being asked it.
And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
2 Chronicles 20:3
The verse this app is named for. Afraid, the king set his face to seek the LORD.