100 Bible Verses about Envy And Jealousy

James 3:16 ESV / 1,809 helpful votes

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

Proverbs 14:30 ESV / 1,367 helpful votes

A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.

James 4:2-3 ESV / 1,275 helpful votes

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. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

James 3:14 ESV / 1,156 helpful votes

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.

Proverbs 27:4 ESV / 1,020 helpful votes

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

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV / 949 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.

Galatians 5:19-21 ESV / 878 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.

James 3:14-15 ESV / 816 helpful votes

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.

1 Corinthians 3:3 ESV / 772 helpful votes

For you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

Romans 12:21 ESV / 688 helpful votes

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

Exodus 20:17 ESV / 560 helpful votes

“You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”

1 Corinthians 13:1-8 ESV / 551 helpful votes

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 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; ...

1 John 4:8 ESV / 470 helpful votes

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Proverbs 10:12 ESV / 439 helpful votes

Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.

Ecclesiastes 4:4 ESV / 415 helpful votes

Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man's envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Psalm 25:4-5 ESV / 395 helpful votes

Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

Galatians 5:22 ESV / 338 helpful votes

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

Song of Solomon 8:6 ESV / 318 helpful votes

Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 13:4 ESV / 301 helpful votes

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

Galatians 6:4 ESV / 268 helpful votes

But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor.

Psalm 37:1 ESV / 260 helpful votes

Of David. Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers!

James 4:11 ESV / 253 helpful votes

Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.

Proverbs 6:34 ESV / 246 helpful votes

For jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when he takes revenge.

Psalm 37:1-40 ESV / 237 helpful votes

Of David. Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. ...

Job 5:2 ESV / 237 helpful votes

Surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple.

James 4:2 ESV / 236 helpful votes

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.

James 3:14-16 ESV / 226 helpful votes

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

Luke 15:25-30 ESV / 201 helpful votes

“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. ...

Romans 13:13 ESV / 197 helpful votes

Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.

1 Corinthians 1:27-29 ESV / 189 helpful votes

But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

Philippians 2:3 ESV / 187 helpful votes

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Hebrews 13:5 ESV / 184 helpful votes

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

2 Corinthians 11:2 ESV / 164 helpful votes

For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

Psalm 37:1-3 ESV / 158 helpful votes

Of David. Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Deuteronomy 4:24 ESV / 154 helpful votes

For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Genesis 37:1-36 ESV / 140 helpful votes

Jacob lived in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him. Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. ...

Titus 3:3 ESV / 137 helpful votes

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

Acts 7:9 ESV / 133 helpful votes

“And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him

Zechariah 8:2 ESV / 127 helpful votes

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath.

Proverbs 24:19-20 ESV / 126 helpful votes

Fret not yourself because of evildoers, and be not envious of the wicked, for the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

Proverbs 3:31 ESV / 126 helpful votes

Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways,

Galatians 5:26 ESV / 123 helpful votes

Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

John 3:16 ESV / 117 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.

Psalm 23:1-6 ESV / 114 helpful votes

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ...

1 Peter 2:1-3 ESV / 110 helpful votes

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Philippians 1:15 ESV / 110 helpful votes

Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.

Exodus 20:5 ESV / 110 helpful votes

You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 106 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,

Romans 13:13-14 ESV / 105 helpful votes

Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Acts 13:45 ESV / 104 helpful votes

But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.

Proverbs 24:1 ESV / 102 helpful votes

Be not envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them,

Proverbs 23:17-18 ESV / 102 helpful votes

Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

Matthew 27:18 ESV / 101 helpful votes

For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up.

Exodus 34:14 ESV / 98 helpful votes

(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),

1 Peter 2:1 ESV / 95 helpful votes

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

John 8:32 ESV / 91 helpful votes

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Galatians 5:22-23 ESV / 88 helpful votes

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

2 Corinthians 12:20 ESV / 88 helpful votes

For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 ESV / 86 helpful votes

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 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; ...

1 Corinthians 10:22 ESV / 84 helpful votes

Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

1 Peter 2:9 ESV / 83 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.

Song of Solomon 8:6-7 ESV / 83 helpful votes

Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.

Mark 7:21-22 ESV / 82 helpful votes

For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.

Proverbs 23:17 ESV / 81 helpful votes

Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day.

Ezekiel 16:42 ESV / 80 helpful votes

So will I satisfy my wrath on you, and my jealousy shall depart from you. I will be calm and will no more be angry.

1 Corinthians 13:5 ESV / 77 helpful votes

Or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

Proverbs 1:1-33 ESV / 76 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, ...

James 4:7 ESV / 72 helpful votes

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Proverbs 27:20 ESV / 72 helpful votes

Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man.

1 Timothy 6:4 ESV / 63 helpful votes

He is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions,

Galatians 5:20 ESV / 61 helpful votes

Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,

Galatians 5:1-26 ESV / 57 helpful votes

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. ...

Mark 15:10 ESV / 57 helpful votes

For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up.

Genesis 37:4 ESV / 55 helpful votes

But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.

James 5:1-20 ESV / 53 helpful votes

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ...

1 Peter 2:1-2 ESV / 52 helpful votes

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—

1 Samuel 15:23 ESV / 51 helpful votes

For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”

Isaiah 1:1-31 ESV / 49 helpful votes

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. ...

Proverbs 24:19 ESV / 49 helpful votes

Fret not yourself because of evildoers, and be not envious of the wicked,

Colossians 3:2 ESV / 46 helpful votes

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

Romans 8:28 ESV / 46 helpful votes

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Proverbs 4:23 ESV / 46 helpful votes

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Hebrews 11:6 ESV / 43 helpful votes

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Isaiah 11:13 ESV / 43 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.

Mark 7:21-23 ESV / 42 helpful votes

For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

James 3:1 ESV / 41 helpful votes

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

Acts 17:5 ESV / 39 helpful votes

But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd.

Genesis 4:8 ESV / 39 helpful votes

Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

Romans 10:19 ESV / 38 helpful votes

But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry.”

Psalm 73:3 ESV / 37 helpful votes

For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Galatians 6:4-5 ESV / 36 helpful votes

But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.

Romans 12:1-21 ESV / 34 helpful votes

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ...

Galatians 5:25 ESV / 33 helpful votes

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Matthew 25:1-46 ESV / 33 helpful votes

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. ...

Proverbs 3:1-35 ESV / 33 helpful votes

My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, 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. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. ...

Matthew 19:28 ESV / 32 helpful votes

Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Ecclesiastes 5:18 ESV / 32 helpful votes

Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.

Psalm 73:1-28 ESV / 30 helpful votes

A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. ...

2 Corinthians 10:12-18 ESV / 29 helpful votes

Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you. For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another's area of influence. ...

Matthew 20:1-16 ESV / 29 helpful votes

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. ...

Suggest a Verse


Visit the Bible online to search for words if you don’t know the specific passage your’re looking for.