What Does the Bible Say About Anger Management?

Ephesians 4:26-27 ESV / 294 helpful votes

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.

James 1:19-20 ESV / 258 helpful votes

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Proverbs 29:11 ESV / 221 helpful votes

A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.

James 1:20 ESV / 149 helpful votes

For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Proverbs 19:11 ESV / 142 helpful votes

Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

Ecclesiastes 7:9 ESV / 114 helpful votes

Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.

Proverbs 15:18 ESV / 101 helpful votes

A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.

Colossians 3:8 ESV / 95 helpful votes

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Proverbs 15:1 ESV / 85 helpful votes

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

James 4:1-2 ESV / 81 helpful votes

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.

Proverbs 14:17 ESV / 77 helpful votes

A man of quick temper acts foolishly, and a man of evil devices is hated.

Ephesians 4:26 ESV / 69 helpful votes

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

Ephesians 4:31 ESV / 67 helpful votes

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

Proverbs 16:32 ESV / 67 helpful votes

Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

James 1:19 ESV / 59 helpful votes

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

Proverbs 22:24 ESV / 57 helpful votes

Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man,

Proverbs 12:16 ESV / 54 helpful votes

The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult.

Galatians 5:19-20 ESV / 45 helpful votes

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,

Matthew 5:22 ESV / 45 helpful votes

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

Ephesians 4:27 ESV / 44 helpful votes

And give no opportunity to the devil.

Proverbs 29:22 ESV / 44 helpful votes

A man of wrath stirs up strife, and one given to anger causes much transgression.

Luke 6:31 ESV / 41 helpful votes

And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

Psalm 37:8-9 ESV / 35 helpful votes

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

1 John 2:1-29 ESV / 34 helpful votes

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: ...

James 3:1-12 ESV / 28 helpful votes

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! ...

Proverbs 27:4 ESV / 28 helpful votes

Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?

Ecclesiastes 3:8 ESV / 26 helpful votes

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

James 1:1-27 ESV / 23 helpful votes

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ...

1 Timothy 2:1-2 ESV / 19 helpful votes

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

Romans 12:21 ESV / 19 helpful votes

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-22 ESV / 16 helpful votes

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; ...

Proverbs 21:15 ESV / 16 helpful votes

When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.

Hebrews 11:1-40 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. ...

Philippians 4:4-6 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

1 Corinthians 1:1-31 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— ...

Colossians 3:13 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Luke 21:8-9 ESV / 14 helpful votes

And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.”

Ephesians 2:1-22 ESV / 13 helpful votes

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ...

Proverbs 14:29 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.

1 Samuel 25:22 ESV / 12 helpful votes

God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him.”

Romans 8:2 ESV / 11 helpful votes

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

Romans 1:18 ESV / 11 helpful votes

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

2 Timothy 1:1-4:22 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. ...

Malachi 2:16 ESV / 9 helpful votes

“For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the Lord, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the Lord of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless.”

Lamentations 5:16 ESV / 8 helpful votes

The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned!

1 Samuel 24:8 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Afterward David also arose and went out of the cave, and called after Saul, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and paid homage.

Revelation 8:1-13 ESV / 7 helpful votes

When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. ...

Isaiah 51:17 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering.

2 Chronicles 20:20 ESV / 7 helpful votes

And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.”

Proverbs 15:5 ESV / 6 helpful votes

A fool despises his father's instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent.

1 Samuel 25:3 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite.

1 Peter 2:23 ESV / 5 helpful votes

When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

Revelation 15:1-8 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and amazing, seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is finished. And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire—and also those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, ...

Bible Verses about Anger Management