What Does the Bible Say About Forgiving Each Other?

Ephesians 4:32 ESV / 441 helpful votes

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

Matthew 6:14-15 ESV / 414 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.

Luke 6:37 ESV / 319 helpful votes

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

Colossians 3:13 ESV / 237 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.

Mark 11:25 ESV / 192 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 18:21-22 ESV / 184 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.

Luke 6:27 ESV / 161 helpful votes

“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,

Luke 17:3-4 ESV / 150 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.”

Romans 12:19 ESV / 138 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.”

1 John 1:9 ESV / 113 helpful votes

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

1 Peter 3:9 ESV / 108 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.

Matthew 5:44 ESV / 100 helpful votes

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Matthew 6:14 ESV / 93 helpful votes

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

James 5:16 ESV / 83 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.

2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV / 65 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.

Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV / 54 helpful votes

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

1 Peter 3:7 ESV / 50 helpful votes

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Luke 23:34 ESV / 47 helpful votes

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

Romans 5:10 ESV / 46 helpful votes

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

James 1:14-15 ESV / 43 helpful votes

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Matthew 18:35 ESV / 42 helpful votes

So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

Proverbs 20:22 ESV / 41 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV / 41 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.

Ephesians 5:25 ESV / 38 helpful votes

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

Matthew 6:5 ESV / 38 helpful votes

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

Revelation 6:9-10 ESV / 35 helpful votes

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

Proverbs 1:1-33 ESV / 33 helpful votes

The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth— Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, ...

John 14:6 ESV / 30 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.

Psalm 1:1-6 ESV / 30 helpful votes

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; ...

1 Timothy 4:12 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

Proverbs 24:11 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.

Matthew 5:1-48 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. ...

1 John 4:11 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Psalm 119:1-176 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways! You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! ...

Psalm 16:6 ESV / 9 helpful votes

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

Ezekiel 1:1-28 ESV / 7 helpful votes

In the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the exiles by the Chebar canal, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. On the fifth day of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin), the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the Chebar canal, and the hand of the Lord was upon him there. As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal. And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human likeness, ...

Isaiah 55:7 ESV / 7 helpful votes

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.

Mark 4:24 ESV / 6 helpful votes

And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear: with the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you.

Matthew 7:2 ESV / 6 helpful votes

For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

John 1:1 ESV / 5 helpful votes

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Luke 6:38 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Psalm 91:1-16 ESV / 5 helpful votes

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, ...

42 Bible Verses about Forgiving Each Other