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Verily, Verily, I Say unto You
By Janet Lisonbee

“Verily, verily, I say unto you” was a phrase often used by Jesus Christ. Verily means “in truth; as a matter of truth or fact; in deed, fact, or reality; really, truly. Frequently used, almost entirely, as an emphatic affirmation of the truth of the statement.”¹

Knowing that Jesus Christ is the source of truth and cannot lie [Ether 3:12], does He really need to use this phrase to emphasize that He is telling the truth?

The NIV Bible translates this phrase, “I tell you the truth.” Perhaps because we are so familiar with the phrase, we do not realize that it is designed to be emphatic. We should pay special attention to the “verily, verily” phrases and even the singular “verily” should alert us to something that Jesus especially wants us to know.

There are about 90 of the “verily, verily” phrases and more than 250 uses of “verily, I say unto you” in the scriptures. The Old Testament, however, does not contain this phrase and it is only written in the four Gospels of the New Testament. The book of John is the only one that “verily, verily” occurs, whereas Matthew, Mark and Luke use the phrase “Verily, I say unto you.” Both the singular and plural “verily” are in the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. Almost all the “verily” phrases in the scriptures are spoken by Jesus Christ.

There are 36 passages in the Doctrine and Covenants that say, “Verily, thus saith the Lord,” with most of them at the beginning of a section. This makes sense because the Lord wanted the members of the Church to know that the revelation truly came from Him. Similarly, when addressing revelations to individuals, the Lord would often say, for example, “Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Thomas.”² The emphasis was to let that person know that truly this revelation was for him from the Lord.

In studying how the word “verily” has been used, it seems that there are different reasons for the emphasis of truth. One reason would be analogous to a teacher or a coach on the first day of class for the new year. He or she would lay out the rules to the class, along with the consequences. Amid the possible groans among the students, the teacher then would say something to the effect, “Hey, these are the rules and the consequences. I am not kidding. This is real.” We, as children of God, often complain about the rules and the consequences and Jesus Christ is telling us that they are real. For example,

Verily, verily, I say that I would that ye should do alms unto the poor; but take heed that ye do not your alms before men to be seen of them; otherwise ye have no reward of your Father who is in heaven. [3 Nephi 13:1]

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be meted unto you. [3 Nephi 14:1]

Keep my commandments continually, and a crown of righteousness thou shalt receive. And except thou do this, where I am you cannot come. And verily,verily, I say unto you, that this is my voice unto all. [Doc. & Cov. 25:15-16]

It is interesting to note that in many of the “verily, verily” phrases, Jesus Christ is telling us about Himself. He wants us to know emphatically that He is real and what He can do for us is real. In his book Believing Christ, Stephen Robinson said the problem is that we believe in Christ, but we do not believe Christ. We need to believe what He says is true. He means what He says.

Not only must we believe that he is who he says he is, we must also believe that he can do what he says he can do. We must not only believe in Christ, we must also believe Christ when he says he can clean us up and make us celestial.³

Here are some of the “verily, verily” phrases that Christ uses to tell us about Himself and what He can really do for us:

Verily, verily I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. [John 6:32]
Verily, verily I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. [John 6:47]
Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. [John 12:24]
And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God …Verily, verily I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and I bear record of it from the Father. [3 Nephi 11:35]
Verily, verily I say unto you, that as many as receive me, to them will I give power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on my name. [Doc. & Cov. 11:30]

Another reason for the emphasis of truth would be to get our attention, to wake us up to the reality of our situation. Sometimes, when my children were younger and I asked them to do something, I would get ignored or they would say they would do it in a few minutes as those minutes turned into hours.

It was when I said, “I really mean it!” that they knew I really did! I had to reach the “verily, verily” stage in order to get their attention. Many of the “verily, verily” phrases are in connection with the second coming of Jesus Christ and the need to prepare.

Wherefore, be faithful, praying always, having your lamps trimmed and burning, and oil with you, that you may be ready at the coming of the bridegroom — for behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, that I come quickly. [Doc. & Cov. 33:18]
But behold, verily, verily, I say unto you that mine eyes are upon you. I am in your midst and ye cannot see me; but the day soon cometh that ye shall see me, and know that I am; for the veil of darkness shall soon be rent, and he that is not purified shall not abide the day. Wherefore, gird up your loins and be prepared. [Doc. & Cov. 38:7]

Jesus Christ is warning us that we should not procrastinate our preparation to meet Him, for we know not the hour when we will be brought into His presence through death. Our personal second coming may be sooner than we think!

Some of the “verily, verily” phrases are calls to repentance. Often we are ignorant of our sins and are deceived in feeling justified for our actions. Jesus wants us to know that certain behaviors or perceptions need to be changed. For example,

Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention. [3 Nephi 11:29]
Verily, verily, I say unto you my servants, that inasmuch as you have forgiven one another your trespasses, even so I, the Lord, forgive you ... For of him unto whom much is given, much is required; and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation. [Doc. & Cov. 82:1, 3]

Other uses of the “verily, verily” phrases are important instructions directed to the disciples and followers of Jesus Christ.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth.” [3 Nephi 12:13]
Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the light of this people. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. [3 Nephi 12:14]
Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do. [3 Nephi 27:21]
Verily, verily, I say unto you, as I said unto my disciples, where two or three are gathered together in my name, as touching one thing, behold, there will I be in the midst of them — even so am I in the midst of you. Fear not to do good … for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore if ye so good ye shall also reap good for your reward. [Doc. & Cov. 6:32-33]
Verily, verily, I say unto you, the field is white already to harvest; wherefore, thrust in your sickles, and reap with all your might, mind, and strength. [Doc. & Cov. 33:7]

These are just samples of the many uses of the “verily” phrases. As we read the scriptures, let’s pay attention to the “verily” phrases for “they become an internal highlighter within the text itself. Instead of a yellow marker or a red pencil, Jesus is marking our scriptures with His own highlighting system. In the same way that Mormon uses ‘and thus we see that’ to point out some of the essential doctrines, Jesus repeats ‘verily, verily’ to draw our attention to what really counts.” ⁴

1 The Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 1987 ed.”

2 Doctrine & Covenants 112:1

3 Robinson, Steven, Believing Christ, pg.10

4 Wonderful comment by Clyde L. Livingston of St. Louis, Missouri, after previewing my article before publication