100 Bible Verses about Confessing Sins

1 John 1:9 ESV / 334 helpful votes

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

James 5:16 ESV / 295 helpful votes

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Proverbs 28:13 ESV / 169 helpful votes

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

Psalm 32:5 ESV / 165 helpful votes

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

1 Timothy 2:5 ESV / 134 helpful votes

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

John 20:19-24 ESV / 88 helpful votes

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” ...

Acts 19:18 ESV / 76 helpful votes

Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices.

John 20:23 ESV / 74 helpful votes

If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

1 John 2:1 ESV / 70 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.

Romans 7:15-25 ESV / 63 helpful votes

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. ...

2 Samuel 12:13 ESV / 60 helpful votes

David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

Matthew 3:6 ESV / 55 helpful votes

And they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

Matthew 9:6-8 ESV / 53 helpful votes

But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Psalm 51:1-19 ESV / 53 helpful votes

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. ...

Matthew 18:18 ESV / 51 helpful votes

Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Hebrews 4:16 ESV / 50 helpful votes

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Romans 10:9 ESV / 49 helpful votes

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Acts 3:19 ESV / 48 helpful votes

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,

Romans 3:23 ESV / 41 helpful votes

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Acts 17:30 ESV / 38 helpful votes

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

James 4:17 ESV / 37 helpful votes

So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Leviticus 5:5 ESV / 37 helpful votes

When he realizes his guilt in any of these and confesses the sin he has committed,

Psalm 32:3 ESV / 36 helpful votes

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

1 Timothy 6:12 ESV / 35 helpful votes

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Romans 10:10 ESV / 35 helpful votes

For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Mark 1:5 ESV / 35 helpful votes

And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

Matthew 16:19 ESV / 32 helpful votes

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

James 4:8 ESV / 31 helpful votes

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV / 31 helpful votes

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Psalm 41:4 ESV / 30 helpful votes

As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me; heal me, for I have sinned against you!”

Psalm 38:18 ESV / 30 helpful votes

I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.

2 Corinthians 5:18 ESV / 29 helpful votes

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;

Romans 6:23 ESV / 29 helpful votes

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Acts 2:38 ESV / 29 helpful votes

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV / 29 helpful votes

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

1 John 1:6-7 ESV / 28 helpful votes

If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Galatians 2:20 ESV / 28 helpful votes

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

1 John 1:7 ESV / 27 helpful votes

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Psalm 32:1-11 ESV / 27 helpful votes

A Maskil of David. Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah ...

Acts 16:31 ESV / 24 helpful votes

And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Matthew 10:32 ESV / 24 helpful votes

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,

Psalm 69:5 ESV / 24 helpful votes

O God, you know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.

Psalm 19:12 ESV / 24 helpful votes

Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.

Revelation 3:3 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

Leviticus 26:40 ESV / 23 helpful votes

“But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me,

2 Peter 3:9 ESV / 22 helpful votes

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

John 20:22 ESV / 22 helpful votes

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

John 20:22-23 ESV / 22 helpful votes

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

John 20:21-23 ESV / 22 helpful votes

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

John 3:16 ESV / 22 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Daniel 9:5 ESV / 22 helpful votes

We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.

Numbers 5:7 ESV / 22 helpful votes

He shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong.

1 John 4:15 ESV / 21 helpful votes

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

James 5:19-20 ESV / 21 helpful votes

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

James 4:7-10 ESV / 21 helpful votes

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Romans 3:23-24 ESV / 21 helpful votes

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Matthew 9:6 ESV / 21 helpful votes

But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.”

Hebrews 10:10 ESV / 20 helpful votes

And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV / 20 helpful votes

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Luke 17:3-4 ESV / 20 helpful votes

Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

1 Peter 2:9 ESV / 19 helpful votes

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Romans 10:9-10 ESV / 19 helpful votes

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

John 20:21 ESV / 19 helpful votes

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

Revelation 1:6 ESV / 18 helpful votes

And made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

John 20:1-31 ESV / 18 helpful votes

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. ...

John 14:6 ESV / 18 helpful votes

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Luke 13:3 ESV / 18 helpful votes

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

Mark 11:25 ESV / 18 helpful votes

And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

Matthew 9:8 ESV / 18 helpful votes

When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Matthew 6:12 ESV / 18 helpful votes

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

1 John 1:8 ESV / 17 helpful votes

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Titus 3:5 ESV / 17 helpful votes

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

Acts 10:43 ESV / 17 helpful votes

To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Daniel 9:4 ESV / 17 helpful votes

I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,

Jeremiah 3:13 ESV / 17 helpful votes

Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the Lord your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the Lord.

Isaiah 55:6-7 ESV / 17 helpful votes

“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Isaiah 43:25 ESV / 17 helpful votes

“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.

Psalm 51:1-5 ESV / 17 helpful votes

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Leviticus 26:40-42 ESV / 17 helpful votes

“But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

Colossians 1:1-29 ESV / 16 helpful votes

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, ...

Galatians 5:19-21 ESV / 16 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, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Romans 2:4 ESV / 16 helpful votes

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

1 Peter 2:5-9 ESV / 15 helpful votes

You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Hebrews 13:15 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.

Colossians 3:5-6 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

Ephesians 5:18 ESV / 15 helpful votes

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

John 9:31 ESV / 15 helpful votes

We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.

Matthew 5:19 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Revelation 1:1-20 ESV / 14 helpful votes

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ...

1 John 1:7-9 ESV / 14 helpful votes

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Colossians 4:1-18 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison— that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. ...

John 3:16-17 ESV / 14 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Matthew 16:1-28 ESV / 14 helpful votes

And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed. When the disciples reached the other side, they had forgotten to bring any bread. ...

Revelation 2:5 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

Hebrews 4:14-15 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

2 Corinthians 7:9-10 ESV / 13 helpful votes

As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Psalm 51:1 ESV / 13 helpful votes

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

1 John 5:16 ESV / 12 helpful votes

If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that.

Romans 6:4 ESV / 12 helpful votes

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Psalm 51:3 ESV / 12 helpful votes

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

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