What Does the Bible Say About Kindness?

Ephesians 4:32 ESV / 441 helpful votes

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

Luke 6:35 ESV / 330 helpful votes

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.

Proverbs 11:17 ESV / 241 helpful votes

A man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself.

Colossians 3:12 ESV / 168 helpful votes

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

Proverbs 31:26 ESV / 128 helpful votes

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 ESV / 110 helpful votes

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Proverbs 19:17 ESV / 104 helpful votes

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.

Galatians 6:10 ESV / 81 helpful votes

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

1 Peter 3:9 ESV / 69 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.

Colossians 3:14 ESV / 63 helpful votes

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Philippians 2:1-30 ESV / 61 helpful votes

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ...

1 Peter 4:8 ESV / 56 helpful votes

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

1 John 3:17 ESV / 55 helpful votes

But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?

1 John 3:18 ESV / 51 helpful votes

Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

2 Thessalonians 3:13 ESV / 47 helpful votes

As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.

Ephesians 4:29 ESV / 47 helpful votes

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Romans 11:22 ESV / 46 helpful votes

Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.

1 Peter 3:8 ESV / 44 helpful votes

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

Matthew 5:42 ESV / 42 helpful votes

Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

Romans 15:2 ESV / 41 helpful votes

Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

Romans 12:15 ESV / 39 helpful votes

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.

Acts 20:35 ESV / 36 helpful votes

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Proverbs 14:21 ESV / 36 helpful votes

Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.

Matthew 25:34-36 ESV / 32 helpful votes

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’

1 Timothy 5:10 ESV / 29 helpful votes

And having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work.

Romans 8:35-39 ESV / 29 helpful votes

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

1 Peter 3:8-9 ESV / 28 helpful votes

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 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.

Romans 15:5 ESV / 27 helpful votes

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus,

John 3:16 ESV / 26 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.

Proverbs 3:2-4 ESV / 25 helpful votes

For length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.

Galatians 6:2 ESV / 24 helpful votes

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Proverbs 31:10-31 ESV / 24 helpful votes

An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. ...

Zechariah 7:9 ESV / 23 helpful votes

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another,

Romans 13:10 ESV / 22 helpful votes

Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV / 20 helpful votes

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Romans 5:8 ESV / 20 helpful votes

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 11:33 ESV / 20 helpful votes

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

John 5:1-47 ESV / 20 helpful votes

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” ...

Zechariah 7:10 ESV / 20 helpful votes

Do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”

1 Timothy 6:18 ESV / 19 helpful votes

They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,

Acts 27:3 ESV / 19 helpful votes

The next day we put in at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for.

Luke 10:25-37 ESV / 19 helpful votes

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” ...

Luke 6:34 ESV / 19 helpful votes

And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount.

Romans 15:1 ESV / 18 helpful votes

We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

Romans 2:4 ESV / 18 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?

Luke 7:2-6 ESV / 18 helpful votes

Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 ESV / 18 helpful votes

Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

Matthew 5:43-48 ESV / 17 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? ...

2 Samuel 9:1-13 ESV / 17 helpful votes

And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?” Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. ...

Galatians 6:1 ESV / 16 helpful votes

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

Acts 24:23 ESV / 16 helpful votes

Then he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody but have some liberty, and that none of his friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.

Psalm 112:5 ESV / 16 helpful votes

It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice.

Joshua 2:6-16 ESV / 16 helpful votes

But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out. Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. ...

2 Peter 1:7 ESV / 15 helpful votes

And godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

2 Timothy 1:16-18 ESV / 15 helpful votes

May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains, but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me— may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that Day!—and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.

Matthew 1:19 ESV / 15 helpful votes

And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

Micah 6:8 ESV / 15 helpful votes

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Psalm 36:7 ESV / 15 helpful votes

How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

Nehemiah 9:17 ESV / 15 helpful votes

They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.

Genesis 45:16-20 ESV / 15 helpful votes

When the report was heard in Pharaoh's house, “Joseph's brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Say to your brothers, ‘Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.’ And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, ‘Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Have no concern for your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.’”

James 4:17 ESV / 14 helpful votes

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

James 3:8 ESV / 14 helpful votes

But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

Galatians 5:22 ESV / 14 helpful votes

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

1 Corinthians 13:4 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant

Esther 2:7 ESV / 14 helpful votes

He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, the daughter of his uncle, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman had a beautiful figure and was lovely to look at, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

Luke 6:30 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back.

Matthew 5:21-22 ESV / 13 helpful votes

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 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.

Isaiah 54:10 ESV / 13 helpful votes

For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

2 Kings 25:28-30 ESV / 13 helpful votes

And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king's table, and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, as long as he lived.

Acts 27:43 ESV / 12 helpful votes

But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land,

John 19:27 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

John 11:19 ESV / 12 helpful votes

And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.

John 3:16-17 ESV / 12 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.

Luke 10:10-13 ESV / 12 helpful votes

But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.

Matthew 6:19-21 ESV / 12 helpful votes

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:14 ESV / 12 helpful votes

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

Matthew 5:7 ESV / 12 helpful votes

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

Jeremiah 1:5 ESV / 12 helpful votes

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Proverbs 19:22 ESV / 12 helpful votes

What is desired in a man is steadfast love, and a poor man is better than a liar.

Proverbs 19:6 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Many seek the favor of a generous man, and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts.

Nehemiah 5:8-19 ESV / 12 helpful votes

And said to them, “We, as far as we are able, have bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations, but you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us!” They were silent and could not find a word to say. So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest. Return to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their houses, and the percentage of money, grain, wine, and oil that you have been exacting from them.” Then they said, “We will restore these and require nothing from them. We will do as you say.” And I called the priests and made them swear to do as they had promised. ...

2 Kings 8:1 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years.”

Leviticus 19:34 ESV / 12 helpful votes

You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Genesis 19:1-38 ESV / 12 helpful votes

The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” ...

James 1:27 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

3 John 1:15 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, every one of them.

Hebrews 9:27 ESV / 10 helpful votes

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

Hebrews 1:1-14 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? ...

Ephesians 4:28 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.

1 Corinthians 6:13 ESV / 10 helpful votes

“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

Jeremiah 39:12 ESV / 10 helpful votes

“Take him, look after him well, and do him no harm, but deal with him as he tells you.”

Matthew 6:24 ESV / 8 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.

Isaiah 11:13 ESV / 8 helpful votes

The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, and those who harass Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.

2 Chronicles 22:11 ESV / 6 helpful votes

But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death.

Psalm 69:1-36 ESV / 5 helpful votes

To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. Of David. Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies. What I did not steal must I now restore? O God, you know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you. ...

95 Bible Verses about Kindness