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So also, He says in another Psalm: ‘You will not let Your Holy One see decay.’
Acts 13:35 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Therefore he says also in another psalm, ‘You will not allow your Holy One to see decay.’
  • KJV Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
  • NKJV Therefore He also says in another Psalm: ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’
  • NASB Therefore, He also says in another Psalm: ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.’
  • NLT Another psalm explains it more fully: ‘You will not allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.’

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Another psalm declares, You will not let your Holy One see decay. Scripture foretold that the Messiah's body would not corrupt.

Overview

Paul cites Psalm 16, the same text Peter used at Pentecost (Acts 2:27), to prove the Messiah's resurrection from prophecy. The Holy One whose flesh would not decay points beyond David to Christ. This scriptural argument shows the resurrection was God's plan announced long beforehand.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Ps 16:10For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
  • Acts 2:27–31because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
  • Acts 13:36–37For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep. His body was buried with his fathers and saw decay.
  • John 3:36Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”
  • Luke 2:26The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
  • Ps 49:9that he should live on forever and not see decay.
  • Ps 89:48What man can live and never see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
  • Heb 11:5By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God.
  • John 8:51Truly, truly, I tell you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (8)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Acts videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Acts 13:35YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ActsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.

How Acts 13:35 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.