The Bible contains dozens of promises about healing from sickness. From Exodus to Revelation, Scripture reveals God as a healer who cares about your physical body, not just your soul. Jesus spent much of His earthly ministry healing the sick, demonstrating that physical healing matters to God.
Scripture like Exodus 15:26 declares "I am the LORD who heals you," while James 5:15 promises "the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well." These verses have sustained believers through tuberculosis, cancer, heart disease, and countless other illnesses for thousands of years. They work because God's Word carries power to strengthen faith when medical science reaches its limits.
This collection of 45 Bible verses about healing sickness will help you pray with confidence, build faith during treatment, and find comfort when you're afraid. Each verse includes commentary to help you understand what God is saying to you right now.
Why These Healing Scriptures Matter When You're Sick
Scripture does more than comfort your emotions during illness—it builds the faith necessary for healing. Romans 10:17 says "faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ." When you read and meditate on healing verses, you're not just reading words. You're feeding your spirit with truth that counters the fear and despair that sickness brings.
These verses remind you of God's character as a healer and His consistent pattern throughout Scripture of responding to faith with healing power. They shift your focus from the diagnosis to the Divine Physician. They give you specific promises to pray back to God, turning your desperate pleas into faith-filled declarations.
Physical healing in Scripture is never separated from spiritual wholeness. God heals bodies, but He's equally concerned with healing broken hearts, restoring relationships, and bringing peace to anxious minds. Many of these verses address multiple dimensions of healing because God sees you as a whole person, not just a collection of symptoms.
Old Testament Promises of Healing from Sickness
Exodus 15:26
"He said, 'If you listen carefully to the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.'"
This is the first time God reveals Himself as Jehovah Rapha—the LORD who heals. This isn't just a title; it's a covenant promise. God was establishing that healing is part of His nature, not an occasional favor He grants. When you're sick, you're not hoping a distant deity might notice your suffering. You're crying out to the God whose very identity includes being your healer.
Exodus 23:25
"Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you."
God directly links worship with physical health. This doesn't mean sickness is punishment for not worshiping enough—that's terrible theology. Rather, it shows that when God's people live in right relationship with Him, He actively works to remove sickness. The Hebrew word for "take away" implies forceful removal, like someone physically driving out an intruder. God doesn't passively allow healing; He aggressively removes what's harming you.
Deuteronomy 7:15
"The LORD will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you."
This promise reveals God's protective nature over His people. The diseases of Egypt represented the worst medical horrors of the ancient world. God was saying that His presence functions as a shield against disease. Your sickness may feel overwhelming, but it hasn't overcome God's ability to protect and heal you.
2 Kings 20:5
"Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, 'This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you.'"
Hezekiah was dying, and God sent this message through the prophet Isaiah. Notice that God didn't just hear the prayer—He saw the tears. Your suffering moves God's heart. He's not coldly evaluating whether you deserve healing. He sees your pain, counts your tears, and responds with compassion. This verse demolishes the lie that God is unmoved by your physical suffering.
Psalm 6:2
"Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am faint; heal me, LORD, for my bones are in agony."
David wasn't writing poetry for the sake of literature. He was genuinely sick, his body wracked with pain so severe he described his bones as being in agony. This verse gives you permission to be honest with God about how bad it hurts. You don't need to spiritualize your suffering or pretend you're stronger than you are. God already knows your pain, and He invites you to cry out for mercy and healing.
Psalm 30:2
"LORD my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me."
Past tense. David is looking back at a time when sickness threatened him, and God responded to his prayer with healing. This testimony serves as evidence that God does heal when His people call out. Your situation may look impossible, but God has a history of doing what doctors can't. This isn't false hope—it's biblical expectation based on God's consistent character.
Psalm 41:3
"The LORD sustains them on their sickbed and restores them from their bed of illness."
Two promises here: sustaining and restoring. God doesn't abandon you when you're bedridden. He sustains—meaning He provides strength for each difficult day even before complete healing comes. Then He restores, bringing you back from the edge. The Hebrew word for "restore" means to overturn or transform, like flipping something completely. God can take your bed of illness and transform it into a testimony of healing.
Psalm 103:2-3
"Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases."
Forgiveness and healing appear together because God cares about your whole person. Notice the word "all"—not some of your diseases or most of your diseases. All. God's healing power isn't limited to certain types of sickness. Cancer, diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune disorders—all fall under His authority. This verse destroys the idea that your particular illness is beyond God's ability to heal.
Psalm 107:20
"He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave."
God's word carries inherent healing power. When He speaks, things change at the cellular level. This verse describes people who were at death's door—grave is literal here—and God's word pulled them back. Your situation may be medically hopeless, but God's word operates independently of medical science. He can rescue you from the grave itself.
Psalm 147:3
"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."
Physical illness often breaks your heart, not just your body. The fear, the loss of control, the watching loved ones worry about you—it all creates emotional wounds alongside physical ones. God addresses both. The word "binds" is a medical term meaning to wrap a wound for healing. God personally attends to your injuries, both seen and unseen, with the care of a skilled physician.
Proverbs 4:20-22
"My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one's whole body."
Scripture isn't just spiritually beneficial—it produces physical health. The Hebrew word for "health" here means healing or medicine. God's words function as medicine for your body when you keep them in sight, in your ears, and in your heart. This is why meditating on healing scriptures isn't just a nice spiritual exercise. It's actually medicinal.
Isaiah 38:16
"Lord, by such things people live; and my spirit finds life in them too. You restored me to health and let me live."
King Hezekiah wrote this after God healed him from a fatal illness. He's testifying that God's intervention didn't just extend his life—it restored him to health. There's a difference between surviving and being healthy. God's healing is comprehensive, not partial. He doesn't leave you barely alive; He restores you to full health.
Isaiah 41:10
"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
Fear dominates when you're sick. Fear of pain, fear of death, fear of burdening your family. This verse commands you not to fear, but it doesn't leave you to manufacture courage on your own. God promises His presence, His strength, His help, and His upholding hand. You're not fighting this battle alone, and God's hand is righteous—meaning He does what's right, which includes healing you.
Isaiah 53:4-5
"Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed."
This prophecy about Jesus reveals that physical healing was purchased at the cross. Jesus didn't just die for your sins—He bore your pain and suffering. The wounds that tore His flesh bought your healing. When you pray for healing, you're not asking God to do something extra. You're claiming what Jesus already paid for. Your healing was included in the atonement.
Isaiah 57:18-19
"I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel's mourners, creating praise on their lips. Peace, peace, to those far and near, says the LORD. And I will heal them."
God sees your ways—meaning He understands exactly how you got sick, what you're going through, and how difficult this is. Despite seeing everything, His response is "I will heal them." Not "I might heal them" or "I'll heal them if they deserve it." He declares healing as His intention. The repetition of "peace, peace" emphasizes complete wholeness, not partial recovery.
Jeremiah 17:14
"Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise."
Jeremiah understood that God's healing is the only healing that matters. Doctors can treat symptoms, but when God heals, you're healed completely. This verse can become your prayer: "Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed." It's a declaration of dependence on God's healing power above all other sources. Your praise doesn't earn healing, but it positions your heart to receive what God wants to give.
Jeremiah 30:17
"But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD."
Two actions: restore and heal. Restoration implies bringing you back to what you were before sickness attacked. Healing implies making the wounds disappear. God promises both, and He declares it—meaning it's as certain as His character. The word "declares" carries the weight of an official royal decree. God has decreed your healing.
Jeremiah 33:6
"Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security."
God doesn't just remove sickness—He brings health. There's a difference. Health is the positive state of wellness, not merely the absence of disease. After healing, He adds abundant peace and security. Your recovery won't leave you anxious and fragile. God's healing includes emotional and mental restoration, giving you peace that removes the fear of sickness returning.
Psalms for Healing When Sick
Psalm 23:3-4
"He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me."
Serious illness feels like walking through the darkest valley, where death's shadow makes everything frightening. This psalm doesn't promise you'll avoid the valley—it promises God walks through it with you. His presence transforms the valley. The rod and staff are shepherd's tools for protection and guidance. God is actively protecting you and guiding you through this, not watching from a distance.
Psalm 34:17-19
"The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all."
Sickness crushes your spirit and breaks your heart. This psalm acknowledges that reality while promising God's closeness and deliverance. Notice it says "from them all"—not from some troubles, but all of them. Your sickness is included in "all." God hears your cry, stays close during your brokenness, and delivers you from every trouble, including the disease ravaging your body.
Psalm 46:1
"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble."
The word "ever-present" means God isn't just available when you pray—He's already there before you ask. When you wake at 3 AM afraid and in pain, God is present in that moment. He's not a help you have to summon; He's help that's already surrounding you. The sickness may be your trouble, but God is your refuge, your strength, and your immediate help.
Psalm 55:22
"Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken."
Sickness brings countless cares: medical bills, treatment schedules, side effects, family worries. This verse commands you to cast—literally throw—all those cares onto God. He'll sustain you, which means He'll provide everything you need to keep going. The promise that He won't let you be shaken means your foundation won't collapse even though sickness is attacking you. God holds you steady.
Psalm 73:26
"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
Honest assessment: your flesh may fail. Your heart may give out. This psalm doesn't deny the reality of physical deterioration. But it declares that God is the strength of your heart—not biological strength, but spiritual strength that transcends physical weakness. Even if your body fails, God remains your portion, your inheritance, your everything. This verse sustains people through terminal illness by anchoring hope beyond physical healing.
Psalm 91:14-16
"Because he loves me, says the LORD, I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation."
God's rescue, protection, presence, deliverance, honor, long life, and salvation—all promised to those who love Him. This isn't a formula where loving God equals never getting sick. It's a promise that when trouble comes, God responds with multiple forms of intervention. The promise of long life directly addresses diseases that threaten to cut life short. God intends to satisfy you with length of days.
Psalm 116:3-8
"The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came over me; I was overcome by distress and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the LORD: 'LORD, save me!' The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The LORD protects the unwary; when I was brought low, he saved me. Return to your rest, my soul, for the LORD has been good to you. For you, LORD, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling."
The psalmist faced death—actual medical death, not metaphorical difficulty. Death's cords entangled him, meaning he was trapped with no way out. His response was simple: he called on God's name. God's compassion moved Him to save. If you're facing a disease that could kill you, this psalm is your testimony in advance. God can deliver you from death itself.
Psalm 118:17
"I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done."
Declaration of faith in the face of death. This isn't denial of how sick you are—it's prophetic faith that God will bring you through. You're declaring ahead of healing that you will live, not die. This kind of bold faith-statement shifts the spiritual atmosphere and positions you to receive God's healing. Your future includes proclaiming God's goodness, which requires you to survive this illness.
Psalm 119:50
"My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life."
God's promises don't just encourage you emotionally—they preserve your life. The word "preserve" means to keep alive, to maintain life. When you cling to God's promises about healing during sickness, those promises actively work to keep you alive. This is why meditating on Scripture during illness isn't optional—it's how you cooperate with God's life-preserving power.
Psalm 138:7
"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life. You stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes; with your right hand you save me."
Sickness is an enemy, a foe attacking your life. God stretches out His hand against it. His right hand—the hand of power and authority—saves you. This imagery is military: God is fighting the disease on your behalf. You're not in this battle alone, trying to survive through willpower. God's hand is actively engaged against whatever is trying to kill you.
Jesus Healing the Sick in the Gospels
Matthew 4:23
"Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people."
Every disease. Every sickness. Jesus didn't pick and choose which illnesses He would heal based on how bad they were or who deserved it. If someone was sick, Jesus healed them. This establishes healing as central to Jesus' ministry, not peripheral. The kingdom of God includes physical healing, and Jesus demonstrated that everywhere He went.
Matthew 8:16-17
"When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 'He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.'"
Jesus healed all the sick, not some. Matthew connects this to Isaiah 53, showing that Jesus' healing ministry was the fulfillment of prophecy about bearing our diseases. Jesus didn't just bear your sins on the cross—He bore your diseases. Every cancer cell, every virus, every chronic condition—He carried them so you wouldn't have to.
Matthew 9:35
"Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness."
Repetition of "every disease and sickness" emphasizes that no illness was beyond Jesus' healing power. Villages had people with every imaginable condition—leprosy, paralysis, blindness, fever, chronic bleeding. Jesus healed them all. Your particular diagnosis isn't too difficult for Him. If He healed every disease then, His power hasn't diminished now.
Matthew 10:1
"Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness."
Jesus transferred His healing authority to His disciples. They weren't special—they were ordinary fishermen and tax collectors. But Jesus gave them authority over every disease and sickness. This authority didn't die with the apostles. Believers today still carry authority to pray for the sick. Your prayers for healing aren't powerless wishes—they carry Jesus' delegated authority.
Mark 1:40-41
"A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, 'If you are willing, you can make me clean.' Jesus was indignant. He reached out his hand and touched the man. 'I am willing,' he said. 'Be clean!'"
The leper questioned whether Jesus was willing to heal him. Jesus' response—"I am willing"—settles the question forever. God is willing to heal you. You don't need to wonder if healing is God's will. Jesus stated it clearly. His willingness to heal hasn't changed. Every sick person who came to Jesus was healed because He was willing. He's still willing.
Mark 5:34
"He said to her, 'Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.'"
The woman with chronic bleeding touched Jesus' cloak, and power went out from Him to heal her. Jesus attributed her healing to her faith, not His mood or special circumstances. Your faith matters. It doesn't earn healing, but it creates the spiritual connection through which God's power flows. Jesus also told her to go in peace—healing includes freedom from the anxiety and suffering that accompanied the disease.
Luke 4:40
"At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them."
Jesus laid hands on each sick person individually. He didn't heal them as a group or from a distance. He touched them personally. This reveals God's personal care for you in your sickness. You're not a number in a hospital system or a statistic in a medical study. God sees you individually and cares about your specific suffering.
Luke 5:17
"One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick."
The power of the Lord was present to heal. This wasn't Jesus' own power—it was God's power working through Him. The same power is available when you pray. The Holy Spirit carries the same healing power that worked through Jesus. You're not hoping God might send power. His healing power is already present and available.
Luke 8:43-48
"And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. 'Who touched me?' Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, 'Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.' But Jesus said, 'Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.'"
Twelve years of medical failure couldn't stop this woman from believing Jesus could heal her. Her condition was chronic and humanly incurable. She touched Jesus, and power immediately flowed to heal her. The same power that healed her is available to you. Chronic illness, failed treatments, and doctor's pessimism don't limit God's healing power. One touch of His power changes everything.
John 9:1-3, 6-7
"As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' 'Neither this man nor his parents sinned,' said Jesus, 'but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him...After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man's eyes. 'Go,' he told him, 'wash in the Pool of Siloam' (this word means 'Sent'). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing."
Jesus demolished the idea that sickness is punishment for sin. The disciples assumed someone sinned to cause the blindness. Jesus said no—the blindness existed so God's power could be revealed through healing. Your sickness isn't punishment. It's an opportunity for God to display His glory through healing you. This man was born blind, had never seen anything, yet Jesus restored sight he'd never had. God can restore what was never there and heal what seems permanent.
New Testament Healing Scriptures
Acts 10:38
"How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him."
Sickness is described as being "under the power of the devil," showing that disease is part of Satan's kingdom, not God's. God's will is to heal all who are under this power. Jesus didn't heal selectively—He healed all who were oppressed by sickness. This establishes healing as God's consistent will, not His occasional mood. If God was with Jesus in healing then, God is with you in seeking healing now.
Romans 8:11
"And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you."
The same Spirit who resurrected Jesus lives in you. Resurrection power dwells in your physical body. The word "mortal" acknowledges your body can die, but the Spirit gives life to it. This life isn't just spiritual—it's physical life given to your mortal body. The power that defeated death can heal any disease. Cancer, heart failure, organ damage—none of these can withstand resurrection power.
2 Corinthians 12:9
"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."
Paul prayed for healing from his "thorn in the flesh," and God's answer was that His grace was sufficient. This doesn't mean God refuses to heal—Paul's thorn may not have been physical illness. But it does show that God's power works through weakness. When you're sick and weak, you're positioned for God's power to be most evident. Your weakness isn't disqualifying—it's the perfect condition for God's strength to manifest.
Philippians 2:27
"Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow."
Epaphroditus, Paul's coworker, was so sick he almost died. God had mercy and healed him. This shows that even faithful believers get seriously ill, but God's mercy responds with healing. Your sickness doesn't mean you lack faith or that God is angry with you. It means you need God's mercy, and this verse shows He gives it. God healed Epaphroditus to spare Paul sorrow—God cares about the emotional pain your illness causes loved ones.
James 5:14-15
"Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven."
This is the New Testament instruction for healing prayer. Call the church elders. Anoint with oil. Pray in faith. The result is promised: the sick person will be made well. The Lord will raise them up. This isn't maybe or possibly—it's stated as fact. The prayer of faith heals. If you're sick, follow these instructions. Don't suffer in isolation. Bring the church into your battle.
1 Peter 2:24
"He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."
Past tense: you have been healed. Not you will be healed or you might be healed. Your healing was accomplished at the cross two thousand years ago. Jesus' wounds purchased your healing just as definitively as they purchased your forgiveness. When you pray for healing, you're not begging God to do something new. You're claiming what Jesus already finished.
3 John 2
"Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well."
John's prayer for his friend included physical health and general wellbeing. This shows that praying for physical health is godly and appropriate. God cares about your body's health as much as your soul's health. You're not being carnal or unspiritual by asking God to heal your body. John prayed for it, and you should too.
Revelation 21:4
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
Ultimate healing comes in eternity. In the new creation, sickness won't exist. Death will be destroyed. Pain will be gone. This verse comforts those whose healing doesn't come in this life. It's not the healing you pray for now, but it's the healing that's guaranteed. If your sickness ends in death, death isn't the end. Complete healing awaits in the resurrection, where disease can never touch you again.
How to Pray These Healing Verses Over Your Sickness
Scripture becomes powerful when you pray it, not just read it. Take these healing verses and turn them into personal prayers. For example, pray Psalm 103:3 this way: "Lord, Your Word says You forgive all my sins and heal all my diseases. I'm asking You to heal this sickness in my body. You healed diseases then, and I believe You can heal mine now."
Don't just pray once. Meditate on healing scriptures daily. Write them on cards and keep them visible. Read them aloud. The repetition isn't because God needs to hear it multiple times—it's because your faith needs to hear it multiple times. Faith grows as you feed it Scripture.
Combine Scripture with specific requests. Tell God exactly what's wrong and what you need. "Father, the doctors found cancer in my lungs. I'm praying Jeremiah 30:17 over myself: 'I will restore you to health and heal your wounds.' I'm asking You to remove this cancer and restore my lungs to full health."
Pray with others. James 5 instructs sick people to call the elders. Don't fight alone. The prayer of agreement carries power. Let other believers stand with you in faith, speak healing scriptures over you, and refuse to accept sickness as the final answer.
Stay in faith even when symptoms persist. Healing sometimes comes instantly, sometimes gradually. Keep declaring God's promises regardless of what you feel or see. Your sickness may be screaming at you, but God's Word speaks louder. Choose to believe Scripture over symptoms.
Conclusion
God hasn't changed. The same power that healed lepers, opened blind eyes, and raised the dead still operates today. Your sickness isn't too severe, too chronic, or too unusual for God to heal. He's still Jehovah Rapha, the LORD who heals you.
These 45 scriptures represent God's clear will to heal the sick. Jesus demonstrated it throughout His ministry. The cross purchased it. The Holy Spirit provides power for it. Your responsibility is to believe God's Word and ask for healing with faith.
Some healings come instantly. Others develop gradually as you keep believing. A few don't come in this life but wait for the resurrection. Trust God's wisdom in the timing and method of your healing, but never stop believing He has the power and the desire to make you well.
Keep these verses close during doctor appointments, treatments, and difficult nights. Let them build your faith when fear tries to overwhelm you. Pray them over yourself and let others pray them over you. God's Word doesn't return empty—it accomplishes what He sends it to do, including healing your body from sickness.
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