Today in my Psalms reading I came to Psalm 100:5 (NIV): “For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” I was curious as to how many times “his love endures forever” is found in the Bible, so I looked it up. In the New International Version (NIV) it is 43 times.
I was intrigued by how different translations use different words for the basic idea of God’s “steadfast love/faithfulness/lovingkindness/mercy” – a concept from the Hebrew word hesed that Michael Card explores extensively in his book Inexpressible: Hesed and the Mystery of God’s Lovingkindness (which I highly recommend). So, I looked that up. In the King James Verision (KJV) “His mercy endureth for ever” is found 43 times. The New Living Translation (NLT) uses “His faithful love endures forever” 43 times. The Amplified Version (AMP) says “His lovingkindness endures forever,” the God’s Word Translation (GW) says “His mercy endures forever,” the New American Standard Bible (NASB) says “His faithfulness is everlasting,” and the English Standard Version (ESV) uses “his steadfast love endures forever.” No matter what word or combination of words expresses the basic idea of hesed, they are quickly followed by the idea that it “endures forever” and is everlasting.
ENDURE
FOREVER
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1 ESV)