35 Bible Verses about Guidance, Examples Of God's

And when Pharaoh released the people, God did not lead them the way of the land of the Philistines, though it [was] nearer, because God said, "Lest the people change their mind when they see war and return to Egypt." So God led the people around [by] the way of the desert [to] the {Red Sea}, and the {Israelites} went up in battle array from the land of Egypt.

And you shall remember all [of] the way that Yahweh your God led you [during] these forty years in the desert in order to humble you and to test you to know what [is] in your heart, whether you would [diligently] keep his commandments or not.

[so] Yahweh alone guided him, and {there was no foreign god accompanying him}.

And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: '{Long ago} your ancestors--Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor--lived beyond the river, and they served other gods. I took your ancestor Abraham from beyond the river and led him through all the land of Canaan, and I increased his offspring; I gave him Isaac,

Your way [was] through the sea, and your path through many waters. Yet your footprints were not discerned. You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

So he rebuked {the Red Sea}, and it dried up, and he led them through the deep as [through] a desert.

This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness [for] forty years.

The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and exalted the people during [their] stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it.

Yahweh is my shepherd; I will not lack [for anything]. In grassy pastures he makes me lie down; by quiet waters he leads me. He restores my life. He leads me in {correct paths} for the sake of his name.

Then he led out his people like sheep and guided them like a herd in the wilderness. And he led them safely and they were not afraid, but the sea covered their enemies. So he brought them to his holy territory, this mountain his right hand acquired.

He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather [the] lambs in his arm, and he will carry [them] in his bosom; he will lead those who nurse.

Then his people remembered the days of old, [of] Moses. Where [is] the one who led up them from [the] sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where [is] the one who puts {his Holy Spirit} inside him, {who made} his magnificent arm move {at} the right hand of Moses, {who divided} [the] waters {before them}, to make an everlasting name for himself, {who led} them through the depths? They did not stumble like horse in the desert;read more.
like cattle in the valley [that] goes down, the Spirit of Yahweh {gave him rest}, so you lead your people to make a magnificent name for yourself.

"Then I myself will gather together the remnant of my flock from all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their grazing place, and they will be fruitful, and they will become numerous.

[just] like [the] caring of a shepherd [for] his herd on the day when he is in the midst of his scattered flock. Thus I will look after my flock, and I will deliver them from all the places {to which they were scattered} on [the] day {of storm and stress}. And I will bring them out from the peoples, and I will gather them from the countries, and I will bring them to their soil, and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys, and in all of the settlements of the land.

And I myself taught Ephraim to walk; I took them in my arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I drew them {with human ties}, with the bands of love. I was to them like one who lifted up a yoke on their jaws, [though] I bent down to them [and] let them eat.

For this one the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

And they traveled through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in Asia. And [when they] came to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them. So going through Mysia, they went down to Troas.read more.
And a vision appeared to Paul during the night: a certain Macedonian man was standing there and imploring him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia [and] help us!" And when he had seen the vision, we wanted at once to go away to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

And he said, "O Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today and show loyal love to my master Abraham. Behold, I am standing by the spring of water, and the daughters of the men of the city are going out to draw water. And let it be [that] the girl to whom I shall say, 'Please, offer your jar that I may drink' and [who] says, 'Drink--and I will also water your camels,' she [is the one] you have chosen for your servant, for Isaac. By her I will know that you have shown loyal love to my master."read more.
And it happened [that] before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah--who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, the brother of Abraham--came out, and her jar [was] on her shoulder. Now the girl [was] very pleasing in appearance. [She was] a virgin; no man had known her. And she went down to the spring, filled her jar, and came up. And the servant ran to meet her. And he said, "Please, let me drink a little of the water from your jar." And she said, "Drink, my lord." And she quickly lowered her jar in her hand and gave him a drink. When she finished giving him a drink she said, "I will also draw water for your camels until they finish drinking." And she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran again to the well to draw water. And she drew water for all his camels. And the man [was] gazing at her silently to know [if] Yahweh had made his journey successful or not. And it happened [that] as the camels finished drinking the man took a gold ring of a half shekel in weight and two bracelets for her arms, ten shekels in weight, and said, "Please tell me, whose daughter [are] you? Is there a place [at] the house of your father for us to spend the night?" And she said to him, "I [am] the daughter of Bethuel, son of Milcah, whom she bore to Nahor." Then she said to him, "We have both straw and fodder in abundance, as well as a place to spend the night." And the man knelt down and worshiped Yahweh. And he said, "Blessed [be] Yahweh, God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld his loyal love and his faithfulness from my master. I [was] on the way [and] Yahweh led me [to] the house of my master's brother."

And Balaam said to Balak, "Station yourself at your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps Yahweh will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell to you." So he went [to] a barren height. And God met with Balaam, and he said to him, "I have arranged seven altars, and I have offered a bull and a ram on the altar. Yahweh put a word in the mouth of Balaam and said, "Return to Balak, and you must speak thus."read more.
So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab. And he lifted up his oracle and said, "From Aram Balak lead me, from the mountains of the east the king of Moab, 'Go for me, curse Jacob, and go, denounce Israel.' How can I curse [whom] God has not cursed, and how can I denounce [whom] Yahweh has not denounced?

Then Gideon said to God, "In order to see that you will deliver Israel by my hand, just as you have said, I will place a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and all of the ground [is] dry, I will know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, just as you have said." And it was so. He arose early the next day and squeezed the fleece, and he wrung out dew from the fleece, a full drinking bowl of water.read more.
And Gideon said to God, "{Do not let your anger burn} against me; let me speak once more. Please let me test once more with the fleece; let the fleece be dry, and let there be dew on the ground." And God did so that night; only the fleece was dry, and dew was on all the ground.

The {Israelites} went up and wept before Yahweh until evening and inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Should we again draw near from the battle against the descendants of Benjamin, our relatives?" And Yahweh said, "Go up against them." And the {Israelites} drew near to the descendants of Benjamin on the second day. And Benjamin went out from Gibeah to meet them on the second day, and they struck down the {Israelites} again, eighteen thousand men to the ground; all of these [were] {sword-wielding}.read more.
And all the {Israelites} and all the troops went up and came to Bethel and wept; and they sat there before Yahweh and fasted on that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before Yahweh. And the {Israelites} inquired of Yahweh (In those days the ark of the covenant of God [was] there, and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, [was] standing {before it} [to minister] in those days), saying, "Should we go out once more to battle against the descendants of Benjamin our relatives, or should we stop?" And Yahweh said, "Go up tomorrow; I will give them into your hand."

They wandered in the wilderness, in a desert. They could find no way to a city to inhabit. Hungry and thirsty, their soul grew faint within them. Then they cried out to Yahweh in their trouble. He delivered them from their distressesread more.
and led them by a straight way to get to a city to inhabit.

But he said to him, "Look, a man of God [is] in this town, and the man [is] honored. All that he says certainly comes true. So then let us go there; perhaps he will tell us about our journey on which we have gone." So Saul said to his servant, "Look, we may go, but what should we bring to the man? For the bread [is] gone from our bags, and there [is] no present to bring to the man of God. What [do we have] with us?" The servant again answered Saul and said, "Look, {I have} in my hand a quarter shekel of silver! I will give it to the man of God so that he will tell us our way."read more.
(Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he would say: "Come, let us go up to the seer." For the prophet of today was formerly called a seer.) So Saul said to his servant, "{Your suggestion is a good one}. Come, let us go." And they went to the town where the man of God [was].

So Samuel brought near all the tribes of Israel, and the tribe of Benjamin was selected by lot. Then he brought near the tribe of Benjamin according to its families, and the family of Matri was selected by lot. Then Saul the son of Kish was chosen, and they sought him, but he could not be found. So they inquired again of Yahweh, "{Did the man come here}?" And Yahweh said, "Look, he [is] hiding himself among the baggage."read more.
So they ran and took him from there, and when he took his stand among the people, he was taller than all the people from his shoulders and up. Then Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see him whom Yahweh has chosen? For there is no one like him among all the people!" And all the people shouted and said, "Long live the king!"

Now they told David, "Look, [the] Philistines [are] fighting in Keilah and they [are] raiding the threshing floors." So David inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Shall I go and attack these Philistines?" And Yahweh said to David, "Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah." But David's men said to him, "Look, we [are] afraid here in Judah. {How much more} [if] we go [to] Keilah to the battle lines of [the] Philistines?"read more.
So David again inquired of Yahweh, and Yahweh answered him and said, "Get up, go down [to] Keilah, for I [am] giving [the] Philistines into your hand. So David and his men went to Keilah and fought with [the] Philistines. They drove off their livestock and {dealt them a heavy blow}. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, "Please bring the ephod here for me." So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. And David inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Should I pursue after this band [of raiders]? Will I overtake them?" He said to him, "Pursue [them], for you will certainly overtake them, and you will certainly rescue them."

It happened after this that David inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Shall I go up into one of the cities of Judah?" And Yahweh said to him, "Go up." David asked, "Where shall I go up?" And he said, "To Hebron."

Now [the] Philistines had come, and they spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. And David inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Shall I go up to the Philistines? Will you give them into my hands?" Yahweh said to David, "Go up, for {I will certainly give} [the] Philistines into your hand."

All of the prophets [were] likewise prophesying, saying, "Go up [to] Ramoth-Gilead and triumph, and Yahweh will give it into the hand of the king." Then the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, "Please now, the words of the prophet are {unanimously} favorable to the king. Please let your words be as one word with them, and speak favorably." Then Micaiah said, "{As Yahweh lives}, surely only as Yahweh speaks to me, that will I speak."read more.
When he came to the king, the king asked him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to the battle, or shall we refrain?" He said to him, "Go up and triumph, and Yahweh will give [it] into the hand of the king." Then the king said to him, "How many times must I make you swear that you shall not tell me [anything] but truth in the name of Yahweh?" So he said, "I saw all of Israel scattering to the mountains, like the sheep without a shepherd. Yahweh also said, 'There are no masters for these, let them return in peace, each to his house.'" Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not say to you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but disaster?" And he said, "Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh. I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne with all the hosts of heaven standing beside him from his right hand and from his left [hand]. And Yahweh said, 'Who will entice Ahab so that he will go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?' Then {this one was saying one thing and the other one was saying another}. Then a spirit came out and stood before Yahweh and said, 'I will entice him,' and Yahweh said to him, 'How?' He said, 'I will go out and I will be a false spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he said, 'You shall entice and succeed, go out and do so.' So then, see that Yahweh has placed a false spirit in the mouth of all of these your prophets, and Yahweh has spoken disaster concerning you."

"Go, inquire of Yahweh for me and for the people and for all of Judah concerning the words of this scroll [that was] found. For the wrath of Yahweh that is kindled against us [is] great because our ancestors did not listen to the words of this scroll to do according to all that is written concerning us!" So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah the son of Harhas, the keeper of the robes. Now she [was] living in Jerusalem in the second district. Then they spoke to her, and she said to them, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, 'Say to the man who sent you to me,read more.
"Thus says Yahweh, 'Look I am bringing evil to this place and upon its inhabitants, [according to] all of the words of that scroll that the king of Judah has read because they have abandoned me and they have burned incense to other gods, provoking me to anger with all of the works of their hands. My wrath shall be kindled against this place and not be quenched.'" And to the king of Judah who sent all of you to inquire of Yahweh, thus you shall say to him, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, '[Concerning] the words that you have heard, because you have a responsive heart, and you humbled yourself before Yahweh when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants to become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before my face, I have also heard, declares Yahweh. Therefore look, I am gathering you to your ancestors, and you shall be gathered to your tombs in peace. Your eyes will not see all of the disaster that I am bringing onto this place.'" '" Then they {reported the word} to the king.

And he said, "Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat, thus says Yahweh to you: 'Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed before this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they are coming up the ascent of Ziz. And you will find them at the end of the valley facing the desert of Jeruel. [There will be] no [need] for you to fight in this [battle]. Take your stand! Stand and see the deliverance of Yahweh among you, O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out before them and Yahweh [will be] with you.'"

The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur, the son of Malchiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah, the priest, {saying}, "Please inquire [of] Yahweh on behalf of us, for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon [is] fighting against us. Perhaps Yahweh will do with us according to all his miraculous acts, so that he may go up from against us." Then Jeremiah said to them, "Thus you shall say to Zedekiah:read more.
'Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: "Look, I [am] about to turn back the weapons of war that [are] in your hands, [with] which you [are] fighting against them, the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are laying siege to you from outside the wall, and I will gather them into the center of this city. And I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand, and with strong arm, and in {anger}, and in fury, and in great wrath. And I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both humankind and animal; by a great plague they will die. And {afterward}," {declares} Yahweh, "I will give Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and those who remain in this city from the plague, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their lives, and he will strike them with [the] {edge} of [the] sword. He will not take pity on them, and he will not have compassion, nor will he show compassion." '

Then [the] Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem, so Saul assembled all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. When Saul saw the army of [the] Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly. And Saul inquired of Yahweh, but Yahweh did not answer him, not by dreams or by the Urim or by the prophets.read more.
So Saul said to his servants, "Search for me {a woman who is a medium} so that I may go to her and inquire of her." His servants said to him, "Look [there is] a woman who [is] a medium in Endor."

"For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, [the] source of living water, to hew out for themselves cisterns, cracked cisterns that can hold no water. [Is] Israel a slave? Or {a slave born in a house}? Why has he become plunder? [The] young lions have roared against him, they have {raised} their voices. And they have made his land as horror; his cities are destroyed, {without} an inhabitant.read more.
Moreover, people of Memphis and Tahpanhes will {shave} your skull. Did you not do this to yourself, [by] forsaking Yahweh, your God, at the time of your leading in the way?

{And then}, when Jeremiah had finished speaking to all the people all the words of Yahweh their God, for which Yahweh their God had sent him to them with all these words, Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the insolent men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, "You [are] telling a lie! Yahweh our God did not send you, {saying}, 'You must not go [to] Egypt to dwell as aliens there.' But Baruch the son of Neriah [is] inciting you against us in order to give us into the hand of the Chaldeans, to kill us and to deport us [to] Babylon."read more.
So Johanan the son of Kareah and all the commanders of the armies, and all the people did not listen to the voice of Yahweh to stay in the land of Judah.