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Once I have sworn by my holiness, I will not lie to David.
Psalms 89:35 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
  • BSB Once and for all I have sworn by My holiness—I will not lie to David—
  • NKJV Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David:
  • NASB “Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David.
  • NLT I have sworn an oath to David, and in my holiness I cannot lie:

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

God has sworn by His own holiness that He will not lie to David.

Overview

God grounds His promise in an oath sworn by His holiness, the strongest possible assurance. Because God cannot lie, the Davidic promise is absolutely sure. The same oath-bound faithfulness undergirds our hope in Christ (Heb. 6:13-18; Titus 1:2).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 8

  • Ps 132:11Yahweh has sworn to David in truth. He will not turn from it: “I will set the fruit of your body on your throne.
  • Heb 6:13For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself,
  • Titus 1:2in hope of eternal life, which God, who can’t lie, promised before time began;
  • Heb 6:17In this way God, being determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath;
  • Amos 4:2The Lord Yahweh has sworn by his holiness that behold, “The days shall come on you that they will take you away with hooks, and the last of you with fish hooks.
  • Ps 110:4Yahweh has sworn, and will not change his mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
  • Amos 8:7Yahweh has sworn by the pride of Jacob, “Surely I will never forget any of their works.
  • 2 Th 2:13But we are bound to always give thanks to God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

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

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 89:35YouTube · 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 PsalmsMatthew 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

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 89:35 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 Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.