Dei Verbum, which translates to “Word of God” in Latin, is one of the key documents of the Second Vatican Council, issued by the Catholic Church in 1965. It addresses the Church’s understanding of divine revelation and the role of scripture in the life of the Church. Dei Verbum emphasizes that God reveals Himself through both sacred scripture and sacred tradition, with scripture being inspired by the Holy Spirit and faithfully interpreted by the Church. It stresses the importance of scripture study, interpretation, and reverence for the Word of God as a means to deepen one’s faith and relationship with God.

Below are a few key verses from Dei Verbum with a refection and prayer.

Dei Verbum, No. 11

Therefore “all Scripture is divinely inspired and has its use for teaching the truth and refuting error, for reformation of manners and discipline in right living, so that the man who belongs to God may be efficient and equipped for good work of every kind”…

Dei Verbum, No. 15

The Old Testament is a store of sublime teachings about God, sound wisdom about human life, and a wonderful treasury of prayers, and in them, the mystery of our salvation is present in a hidden way’…

Dei Verbum, No. 16

God, the inspirer, and author of both Testaments, wisely arranged that the New Testament be hidden in the Old and the Old be made manifest in the New…

Dei Verbum, No. 17

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. (Rom 1:16)…

Dei Verbum, No. 2

In His Goodness and Wisdom God chose to reveal Himself and to make known to us the hidden purpose of His will (see Eph. 1:9) by which, through Christ, the Word made flesh, man might in the Holy Spirit have access to the Father and come to share in the divine nature…

Dei Verbum, No. 21

“For the word of God is living and active” (Heb. 4:12) and “it has the power to build you up and give you your heritage among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32; see 1 Thess. 2:13)…

Dei Verbum, No. 26

Therefore, through the reading and study of the sacred books “the word of God may spread rapidly and be glorified and the treasure of revelation, entrusted to the Church, may more and more fill the hearts of men…

Dei Verbum, No. 5

The obedience of faith” (Rom. 16:26; see 1:5; 2 Cor 10:5-6) “is to be given to God who reveals, an obedience by which man commits his whole self freely to God. To bring about an ever deeper understanding of revelation the same Holy Spirit constantly brings faith to completion by His gifts…

Dei Verbum, No. 7

Christ commissioned the Apostles to preach to all men that Gospel which is the source of all saving truth and moral teaching, and to impart to them heavenly gifts…

Dei Verbum, No. 9

For Sacred Scripture is the word of God in as much as it is consigned to writing under the inspiration of the divine Spirit Sacred Tradition takes the word of God entrusted by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and hands it on to their successors in its full purity…