64 Bible Verses about Watchfulness, Of Believers

Be serious and keep watch; the Evil One, who is against you, goes about like a lion with open mouth in search of food;

And keep watch over your heart with all care; so you will have life.

Be on the watch for false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inside they are cruel wolves.

Give your mind to my words, you who are without wisdom among the people; you foolish men, when will you be wise?

Take my teaching and be wise; do not let it go. Happy is the man who gives ear to me, watching at my doors day by day, keeping his place by the pillars of my house.

And Jesus said to them in answer, Take care that you are not tricked. For people will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and a number will be turned from the true way through them.

And he said to them, Take care to be on the watch against the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.

Now, it is my desire, brothers, that you will take note of those who are causing division and trouble among you, quite against the teaching which was given to you: and keep away from them.

Be on the watch, unmoved in the faith, and be strong like men.

Keep watch with prayer, so that you may not be put to the test: the spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is feeble.

Keep watch with prayer, so that you may not be put to the test; the spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is feeble.

So keep watch on yourselves with care; for you saw no form of any sort on the day when the voice of the Lord came to you in Horeb out of the heart of the fire:

So that the Lord may give effect to what he said of me, If your children give attention to their ways, living uprightly before me with all their heart and their soul, you will never be without a man to be king in Israel.

And he said to them, Take care to keep yourselves free from the desire for property; for a man's life is not made up of the number of things which he has.

And he said to his disciples, It is necessary for causes of trouble to come about, but unhappy is he by whom they come. It would be well for him if a great stone was put round his neck and he was dropped into the sea, before he made trouble for any of these little ones. Give attention to yourselves: if your brother does wrong, say a sharp word to him; and if he has sorrow for his sin, let him have forgiveness.

So let him who seems to himself to be safe go in fear of a fall.

Brothers, if a man is taken in any wrongdoing, you who are of the Spirit will put such a one right in a spirit of love; keeping watch on yourself, for fear that you yourself may be tested.

Only take care, and keep watch on your soul, for fear that the things which your eyes have seen go from your memory and from your heart all the days of your life; but let the knowledge of them be given to your children and to your children's children;

Only take great care to do the orders and the law which Moses, the Lord's servant, gave you; to have love for the Lord your God and to go in all his ways; and to keep his laws and to be true to him and to be his servants with all your heart and with all your soul.

And keep the orders of the Lord your God, walking in his ways, keeping his laws and his orders and his rules and his words, as they are recorded in the law of Moses; so that you may do well in all you do and wherever you go,

For this reason there is the more need for us to give attention to the things which have come to our ears, for fear that by chance we might be slipping away.

See that you give ear to his voice which comes to you. For if those whose ears were shut to the voice which came to them on earth did not go free from punishment, what chance have we of going free if we give no attention to him whose voice comes from heaven?

And so the words of the prophets are made more certain; and it is well for you to give attention to them as to a light shining in a dark place, till the dawn comes and the morning star is seen in your hearts;

But we made our prayer to God, and had men on watch against them day and night because of them.

And I said to them, Do not let the doors of Jerusalem be open till the sun is high; and while the watchmen are in their places, let the doors be shut and locked: and let the people of Jerusalem be put on watch, every one in his watch, opposite his house.

I said, I will give attention to my ways, so that my tongue may do no wrong; I will keep my mouth under control, while the sinner is before me.

He who keeps a watch on his mouth keeps his life; but he whose lips are open wide will have destruction.

He who keeps watch over his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles.

If a man seems to have religion and has no control over his tongue but lets himself be tricked by what is false, this man's religion is of no value.

Even so the tongue is a small part of the body, but it takes credit for great things. How much wood may be lighted by a very little fire! And the tongue is a fire; it is the power of evil placed in our bodies, making all the body unclean, putting the wheel of life on fire, and getting its fire from hell. For every sort of beast and bird and every living thing on earth and in the sea has been controlled by man and is under his authority;read more.
But the tongue may not be controlled by man; it is an unresting evil, it is full of the poison of death.

For it is said, Let the man who has a love of life, desiring to see good days, keep his tongue from evil and his lips from words of deceit:

My eyes are turned to the Lord at all times; for he will take my feet out of the net.

O my strength, I will put my hope in you; because God is my strong tower.

To you my eyes are lifted up, even to you whose seat is in the heavens.

You who give good news to Zion, get up into the high mountain; you who give good news to Jerusalem, let your voice be strong; let it be sounding without fear; say to the towns of Judah, See, your God!

But as for me, I am looking to the Lord; I am waiting for the God of my salvation: the ears of my God will be open to me.

And there was then in Jerusalem a man whose name was Simeon; and he was an upright man, fearing God and waiting for the comfort of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was on him.

Give yourselves to prayer at all times, keeping watch with praise; And making prayer for us, that God may give us an open door for the preaching of the word, the secret of Christ, for which I am now in chains;

Take care, keep watch with prayer: for you are not certain when the time will be.

But keep watch at all times with prayer, that you may be strong enough to come through all these things and take your place before the Son of man.

With prayers and deep desires, making requests at all times in the Spirit, and keeping watch, with strong purpose, in prayer for all the saints,

But the end of all things is near: so be serious in your behaviour and keep on the watch with prayer;

Be watching, then! for you have no knowledge on what day your Lord will come. But be certain of this, that if the master of the house had had knowledge of the time when the thief was coming, he would have been watching, and would not have let his house be broken into. Be ready then; for at a time which you have no thought of the Son of man will come.

Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins, the friends of the bride, who took their lights, and went out with the purpose of meeting the husband. And five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For the foolish, when they took their lights, took no oil with them.read more.
But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lights. Now the husband was a long time in coming, and they all went to sleep. But in the middle of the night there is a cry, The husband comes! Go out to him. Then all those virgins got up, and made ready their lights. And the foolish said to the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lights are going out. But the wise made answer, saying, There may not be enough for us and you; it would be better for you to go to the traders and get oil for yourselves. And while they went to get oil, the master came; and those who were ready went in with him to the feast: and the door was shut. After that the other virgins came, saying, Lord, Lord, let us in. But he made answer and said, Truly I say to you, I have no knowledge of you. Keep watch, then, because you are not certain of the day or of the hour.

But of that day or that hour no one has knowledge, not even the angels in heaven, or the Son, but the Father. Take care, keep watch with prayer: for you are not certain when the time will be. It is as when a man who is in another country for a time, having gone away from his house, and given authority to his servants and to everyone his work, gives the porter an order to keep watch.read more.
So you are to keep watch: because you are not certain when the master of the house is coming, in the evening, or in the middle of the night, or at the cock's cry, or in the morning; For fear that, coming suddenly, he sees you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all, Keep watch.

Be ready, dressed as for a journey, with your lights burning. And be like men who are looking for their lord, when he comes back from the bride-feast; so that when he comes to the door, it will be open to him quickly. Happy are those servants who are watching when the lord comes; truly I say to you, he will make himself their servant and, placing them at the table, he will come out and give them food.read more.
And if he comes in the second division of the night or in the third, and they are watching for him, happy are those servants. But be certain of this, that if the master of the house had had knowledge of the time when the thief was coming, he would have been watching, and would not have let his house be broken into. So be ready: for the Son of man is coming at a time when you are not looking for him.

Truly I say to you, This generation will not come to an end till all things are complete. Heaven and earth will come to an end, but my words will not come to an end. But give attention to yourselves, for fear that your hearts become over-full of the pleasures of food and wine, and the cares of this life, and that day may come on you suddenly, and take you as in a net:read more.
For so it will come on all those who are living on the face of all the earth. But keep watch at all times with prayer, that you may be strong enough to come through all these things and take your place before the Son of man.

But you, my brothers, are not in the dark, for that day to overtake you like a thief: For you are all sons of light and of the day: we are not of the night or of the dark. So then, let us not take our rest as the others do, but let us be self-controlled and awake.read more.
For those who are sleeping do so in the night; and those who are the worse for drink are so in the night; But let us, who are of the day, be serious, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and on our heads, the hope of salvation.

(See, I come as a thief. Happy is he who is watching and keeps his robes, so that he may not go unclothed, and his shame be seen.)

But give honour to Christ in your hearts as your Lord; and be ready at any time when you are questioned about the hope which is in you, to give an answer in the fear of the Lord and without pride;

Take care then how you are living, not as unwise, but as wise; Making good use of the time, because the days are evil.

Be wise in your behaviour to those who are outside, making good use of the time. Let your talk be with grace, mixed with salt, so that you may be able to give an answer to everyone.

Then comes Jesus with them to a place named Gethsemane, and says to his disciples, Be seated here, while I go over there for prayer. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and became sad and very troubled. Then says he to them, My soul is very sad, even to death: keep watch with me here.read more.
And he went forward a little, and falling down on his face in prayer, he said, O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup go from me; but let not my pleasure, but yours be done. And he comes to the disciples, and sees that they are sleeping, and says to Peter, What, were you not able to keep watch with me one hour?

So then, as we have the chance, let us do good to all men, and specially to those who are of the family of the faith.

Make clear to them that they are to put themselves under rulers and authorities, to do what they are ordered, to be ready for every good work,

The sinners are watching the upright man, desiring to put him to death.

And from that day Saul was looking with envy on David.

Then in that night Saul sent men to David's house to keep watch on him so as to put him to death in the morning: and David's wife Michal said to him, If you do not go away to a safe place tonight you will be put to death in the morning.

He is waiting in the dark places of the towns: in the secret places he puts to death those who have done no wrong: his eyes are secretly turned against the poor.

For numbers of them say evil secretly in my hearing (there is fear on every side): they say, Come, let us give witness against him; all my nearest friends, who are watching for my fall, say, It may be that he will be taken by deceit, and we will get the better of him and give him punishment.

And from that time he was watching for a chance to give him into their hands.

And they were watching him to see if he would make him well on the Sabbath day, so that they might have something against him.

But Saul got knowledge of their design. And they kept watch day and night on the roads out of the town, so that they might put him to death:

Be on the watch, and make strong the rest of the things which are near to death; because as judged by me your works have not come up to God's measure. Keep in mind, then, the teaching which was given to you, and be ruled by it and have a change of heart. If then you do not keep watch, I will come like a thief, and you will have no knowledge of the hour when I will come on you.