Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Parallel translations
- KJV Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
- BSB Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
- NKJV Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
- NASB Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
- NLT Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.
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
Heaven and earth will pass away, but Jesus' words will never pass away. His word is more enduring than the universe itself.
Overview
Jesus places his own words on a level with the eternal word of God, claiming a divine authority that outlasts all creation. This is a staggering assertion of his deity and the trustworthiness of everything he has spoken. Believers can stake their lives on his promises, for though the cosmos itself will dissolve, the words of Christ stand forever.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Isa 40:8The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever.”
- Isa 51:6Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look on the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish away like smoke, and the earth will wear out like a garment; and its inhabitants will die in the same way: but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will not be abolished.
- Matt 24:35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
- Luke 21:33Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.
- Matt 5:18For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished.
- Ps 102:25–27Of old, you laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the work of your hands.
- Heb 1:10–12And, “You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the works of your hands.
- Num 23:19God is not a man, that he should lie, nor the son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it good?
- Ps 19:7Yahweh’s law is perfect, restoring the soul. Yahweh’s testimony is sure, making wise the simple.
- 2 Tim 2:13If we are faithless, he remains faithful. For he can’t deny himself.”
- Josh 23:14–15“Behold, today I am going the way of all the earth. You know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which Yahweh your God spoke concerning you. All have happened to you. Not one thing has failed of it.
- Titus 1:2in hope of eternal life, which God, who can’t lie, promised before time began;
- Zech 1:6But my words and my decrees, which I commanded my servants the prophets, didn’t they overtake your fathers? “Then they repented and said, ‘Just as Yahweh of Armies determined to do to us, according to our ways, and according to our practices, so he has dealt with us.’”
- 2 Pet 3:10–12But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
- Rev 20:11I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 13:31 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.