What Does the Bible Say About Forgiveness?

Ephesians 4:32 ESV / 194 helpful votes

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Matthew 12:31 ESV / 192 helpful votes

Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Mark 11:25 ESV / 152 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 5:43-48 ESV / 94 helpful votes

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? ...

1 John 1:9 ESV / 86 helpful votes

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

Colossians 3:13 ESV / 76 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 6:27-37 ESV / 63 helpful votes

“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. ...

Matthew 5:7 ESV / 58 helpful votes

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Luke 17:4 ESV / 54 helpful votes

And if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Romans 12:19-21 ESV / 49 helpful votes

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Matthew 18:21-35 ESV / 48 helpful votes

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. ...

Luke 6:37 ESV / 42 helpful votes

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;

Matthew 6:12 ESV / 40 helpful votes

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

Romans 12:14 ESV / 33 helpful votes

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

Matthew 6:14-15 ESV / 30 helpful votes

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 5:39-41 ESV / 28 helpful votes

But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

James 5:16 ESV / 26 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.

Matthew 18:21-22 ESV / 26 helpful votes

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.

Proverbs 24:17 ESV / 25 helpful votes

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,

1 John 1:8 ESV / 24 helpful votes

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

Romans 12:17 ESV / 24 helpful votes

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.

Luke 17:3 ESV / 24 helpful votes

Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him,

Ecclesiastes 7:21 ESV / 24 helpful votes

Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you.

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV / 23 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.

Genesis 33:11 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” Thus he urged him, and he took it.

Luke 23:34 ESV / 22 helpful votes

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.

Proverbs 20:22 ESV / 22 helpful votes

Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.

1 Timothy 1:7 ESV / 21 helpful votes

Desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

John 13:34 ESV / 20 helpful votes

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.

Mark 11:25-27 ESV / 19 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.” And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him,

Matthew 6:24 ESV / 19 helpful votes

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Philemon 1:10-18 ESV / 18 helpful votes

I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. ...

Matthew 6:15 ESV / 18 helpful votes

But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Proverbs 19:11 ESV / 18 helpful votes

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

1 John 2:12 ESV / 17 helpful votes

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.

Proverbs 24:29 ESV / 17 helpful votes

Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done.”

Luke 11:4 ESV / 16 helpful votes

And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”

1 Peter 3:9 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.

James 2:8 ESV / 15 helpful votes

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well.

Acts 2:38 ESV / 15 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.

Matthew 26:28 ESV / 15 helpful votes

For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV / 15 helpful votes

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

1 Corinthians 4:12 ESV / 14 helpful votes

And we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;

Matthew 6:14 ESV / 14 helpful votes

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you,

Proverbs 25:21 ESV / 14 helpful votes

If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,

John 8:10-11 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”]]

John 3:16 ESV / 13 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.

Luke 7:36-40 ESV / 13 helpful votes

One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.”

Psalm 130:1-8 ESV / 13 helpful votes

A Song of Ascents. Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; ...

Exodus 23:5 ESV / 13 helpful votes

If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.

Revelation 1:1-20 ESV / 12 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 Corinthians 4:13 ESV / 12 helpful votes

When slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

Romans 6:23 ESV / 12 helpful votes

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

Matthew 7:21-23 ESV / 12 helpful votes

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Psalm 34:1-22 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away. I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. ...

1 Kings 2:9 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Now therefore do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man. You will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his gray head down with blood to Sheol.”

2 Samuel 1:14-17 ESV / 12 helpful votes

David said to him, “How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?” Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him.” And he struck him down so that he died. And David said to him, “Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord's anointed.’” And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son,

1 Samuel 26:23 ESV / 12 helpful votes

The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the Lord's anointed.

Genesis 50:19-21 ESV / 12 helpful votes

But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.

1 Samuel 24:10-12 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, ‘I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord's anointed.’ See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it. May the Lord judge between me and you, may the Lord avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you.

Exodus 23:4 ESV / 11 helpful votes

“If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him.

Galatians 3:27 ESV / 10 helpful votes

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Acts 22:16 ESV / 10 helpful votes

And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

Luke 7:36 ESV / 10 helpful votes

One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table.

Proverbs 25:22 ESV / 10 helpful votes

For you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.

1 Kings 1:53 ESV / 10 helpful votes

So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and paid homage to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”

2 Corinthians 7:1 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

1 Kings 2:8 ESV / 9 helpful votes

And there is also with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day when I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’

Genesis 29:1-31 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east. As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well's mouth was large, and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well. Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They said, “We are from Haran.” He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.” ...

Psalm 103:10-12 ESV / 8 helpful votes

He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Psalm 51:7-9 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

Hebrews 8:12 ESV / 7 helpful votes

For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

Isaiah 1:18 ESV / 7 helpful votes

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

Leviticus 19:14 ESV / 7 helpful votes

You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

Psalm 34:20 ESV / 3 helpful votes

He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.

Bible Verses about Forgiveness