The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
Parallel translations
- WEB ‘Yahweh bless you, and keep you.
- BSB ‘May the LORD bless you and keep you;
- NKJV “The Lord bless you and keep you;
- NASB ¶The Lord bless you, and keep you;
- NLT ‘May the Lord bless you and protect you.
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 line of the blessing asks the Lord to bless and protect His people.
Overview
This opening petition seeks God's active favor ('bless') and His watchful protection ('keep'). It grounds Israel's well-being not in their own strength but in the Lord's gracious care. Every true blessing flows from God, who guards His people now and forever in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- 1 Th 5:23And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Ps 121:4–7Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
- Phil 4:7And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
- Jude 1:24Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
- Isa 42:6I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
- Ps 91:11For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
- Deut 28:3–6Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.
- John 17:11And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
- Ps 134:3The LORD that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Zion.
- 1 Sam 2:9He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.
- Ruth 2:4And, behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The LORD be with you. And they answered him, The LORD bless thee.
- Phil 4:23The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
- Ps 17:8Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
- Eph 6:24Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.
- 1 Pet 1:5Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
- Ps 28:9Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever.
- 1 Cor 14:16Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?
- Isa 27:3I the LORD do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.
- Rev 1:4–5John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 6:24 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 Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.