Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
Parallel translations
- WEB Stand therefore, having the utility belt of truth buckled around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
- KJV Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
- BSB Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed,
- NKJV Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
- NLT Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness.
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
The first pieces of armor are truth, like a belt holding everything together, and righteousness, like a breastplate guarding the heart. It matters because integrity and right standing protect the believer's core.
Overview
Drawing on Old Testament imagery of the LORD and his Messiah as a warrior (cf. Isaiah 11:5; 59:17), Paul applies God's own armor to the believer. The belt of truth speaks of sincerity and commitment to God's revealed truth that holds one's life together; the breastplate of righteousness guards the vital organs. Faithful Christians have noted this includes both the imputed righteousness of Christ that is our standing and the practical righteousness of a holy life that gives no foothold to the enemy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Isa 59:17He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head. He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a mantle.
- 1 Th 5:8But let us, since we belong to the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and, for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
- Isa 11:5Righteousness will be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his waist.
- Luke 12:35“Let your waist be dressed and your lamps burning.
- 2 Cor 6:7in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
- 1 Pet 1:13Therefore prepare your minds for action, be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ —
- Eph 5:9for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth,
- Rev 9:17Thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those who sat on them, having breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the horses’ heads resembled lions’ heads. Out of their mouths proceed fire, smoke, and sulfur.
- Rev 9:9They had breastplates, like breastplates of iron. The sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots, or of many horses rushing to war.
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Every spiritual blessing is 'in Christ,' the head over all things for the church, in whom Jew and Gentile are made one new man by his blood.
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Original language
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