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Psalm 16:5
The LORD assigned my portion and my cup. You made my lot secure.
3As for the saints who are on the earth, they are the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.
4Their sorrows shall be multiplied who give gifts to another god. Their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take their names on my lips.
5The LORD assigned my portion and my cup. You made my lot secure.
6The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Yes, I have a good inheritance.
7I will bless the LORD, who has given me counsel. Yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons.
Notice
The assigned portion and cup put life's share in God's hands, while the secure lot expresses confidence in the care of the one who gives.
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 23:5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over.Both psalms describe provision through a cup: one assigned by the LORD, the other running over at a table prepared amid enemies.
Psalm 73:26My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.Both passages connect a portion with God; Psalm 73 names God himself as that portion when flesh and heart fail.
Psalm 142:5I cried to you, LORD. I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”Both speakers address the LORD about their portion, with Psalm 142 naming him as both refuge and portion among the living.
Lamentations 3:24“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul. “Therefore I will hope in him.”Portion language expresses trust in both passages: the psalm credits the LORD with provision, and Lamentations grounds hope in him.
Psalm 119:57The LORD is my portion. I promised to obey your words.Both connect the LORD with a portion, while Psalm 119 joins that confession to a promise to obey his words.
Deuteronomy 32:9For the LORD’s portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.Both use portion and lot language, though Deuteronomy describes God's people as his share rather than the share he assigns a person.
Numbers 18:20The LORD said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance …Both speak of a portion determined by the LORD; Numbers addresses Aaron and names God himself as his portion and inheritance.
Jeremiah 10:16The portion of Jacob is not like these; for he is the maker of all things; and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance. The LORD of Armies is his name.Both connect portion language with the LORD, whom Jeremiah also names as the maker of all things.
Isaiah 53:12Therefore I will give him a portion with the great. He will divide the plunder with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was counted with …Both speak of an assigned portion, though Isaiah connects that gift with suffering, bearing sins, and intercession.
Acts 5:31God exalted him with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins.The link is broad: both credit God with decisive action, though Acts speaks of exaltation and forgiveness rather than an assigned portion.
Galatians 4:7So you are no longer a bondservant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.Both describe a share received from God, with Galatians naming the heir's standing as a son through Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.The shared thread is assurance: the psalm speaks of a secured lot, while Corinthians speaks of enemies being brought underfoot.
Where this verse fits
Gratitude. envy and comparison. fear for the future.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Trust has a named foundation here: YHWH assigns the portion and cup, and the psalmist credits him with making his lot secure.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).