19 Bible Verses About My Future (ESV)

29:1 These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. 2 This was after King Jeconiah and the queen mother, the eunuchs, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metal workers had departed from Jerusalem. 3 The letter was sent by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. It said: 4 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. 7 But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. 8 For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, 9 for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the LORD.

10 “For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

15 “Because you have said, ‘The LORD has raised up prophets for us in Babylon,’ 16 thus says the LORD concerning the king who sits on the throne of David, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your kinsmen who did not go out with you into exile: 17 ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, behold, I am sending on them sword, famine, and pestilence, and I will make them like vile figs that are so rotten they cannot be eaten. 18 I will pursue them with sword, famine, and pestilence, and will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, a terror, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, 19 because they did not pay attention to my words, declares the LORD, that I persistently sent to you by my servants the prophets, but you would not listen, declares the LORD.’ 20 Hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles whom I sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon: 21 ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall strike them down before your eyes. 22 Because of them this curse shall be used by all the exiles from Judah in Babylon: “The LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire,” 23 because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and they have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them. I am the one who knows, and I am witness, declares the LORD.’”

24 To Shemaiah of Nehelam you shall say: 25 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: You have sent letters in your name to all the people who are in Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, 26 ‘The LORD has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to have charge in the house of the LORD over every madman who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and neck irons. 27 Now why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who is prophesying to you? 28 For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, “Your exile will be long; build houses and live in them, and plant gardens and eat their produce.”’”

29 Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: 31 “Send to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah of Nehelam: Because Shemaiah had prophesied to you when I did not send him, and has made you trust in a lie, 32 therefore thus says the LORD: Behold, I will punish Shemaiah of Nehelam and his descendants. He shall not have anyone living among this people, and he shall not see the good that I will do to my people, declares the LORD, for he has spoken rebellion against the LORD.’”

Of David.

37:1   Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
    be not envious of wrongdoers!
2   For they will soon fade like the grass
    and wither like the green herb.
3   Trust in the LORD, and do good;
    dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
4   Delight yourself in the LORD,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5   Commit your way to the LORD;
    trust in him, and he will act.
6   He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
    and your justice as the noonday.
7   Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
    fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
    over the man who carries out evil devices!
8   Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
    Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
9   For the evildoers shall be cut off,
    but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.
10   In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
    though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
11   But the meek shall inherit the land
    and delight themselves in abundant peace.
12   The wicked plots against the righteous
    and gnashes his teeth at him,
13   but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
    for he sees that his day is coming.
14   The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows
    to bring down the poor and needy,
    to slay those whose way is upright;
15   their sword shall enter their own heart,
    and their bows shall be broken.
16   Better is the little that the righteous has
    than the abundance of many wicked.
17   For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
    but the LORD upholds the righteous.
18   The LORD knows the days of the blameless,
    and their heritage will remain forever;
19   they are not put to shame in evil times;
    in the days of famine they have abundance.
20   But the wicked will perish;
    the enemies of the LORD are like the glory of the pastures;
    they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.
21   The wicked borrows but does not pay back,
    but the righteous is generous and gives;
22   for those blessed by the LORD shall inherit the land,
    but those cursed by him shall be cut off.
23   The steps of a man are established by the LORD,
    when he delights in his way;
24   though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
    for the LORD upholds his hand.
25   I have been young, and now am old,
    yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
    or his children begging for bread.
26   He is ever lending generously,
    and his children become a blessing.
27   Turn away from evil and do good;
    so shall you dwell forever.
28   For the LORD loves justice;
    he will not forsake his saints.
  They are preserved forever,
    but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
29   The righteous shall inherit the land
    and dwell upon it forever.
30   The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
    and his tongue speaks justice.
31   The law of his God is in his heart;
    his steps do not slip.
32   The wicked watches for the righteous
    and seeks to put him to death.
33   The LORD will not abandon him to his power
    or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.
34   Wait for the LORD and keep his way,
    and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
    you will look on when the wicked are cut off.
35   I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,
    spreading himself like a green laurel tree.
36   But he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
    though I sought him, he could not be found.
37   Mark the blameless and behold the upright,
    for there is a future for the man of peace.
38   But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
    the future of the wicked shall be cut off.
39   The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;
    he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
40   The LORD helps them and delivers them;
    he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
    because they take refuge in him.

9   The heart of man plans his way,
    but the LORD establishes his steps.

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

5   Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
6   In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.

18   “Remember not the former things,
    nor consider the things of old.
19   Behold, I am doing a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
  I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.

9 But, as it is written,

  “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined,
  what God has prepared for those who love him”—

15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

6   Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
  and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
    forever.

3   He is like a tree
    planted by streams of water
  that yields its fruit in its season,
    and its leaf does not wither.
  In all that he does, he prospers.

4   May he grant you your heart’s desire
    and fulfill all your plans!

6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.