Bible Verses About Forgiveness: 14 Verses for Receiving and Giving It

Bible verses about God’s forgiveness when you feel guilty

Every verse in this guide is quoted from the World English Bible, with a line about where it comes from.

• 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Written to people who already believed. You go on needing this, and it goes on being true.
• Psalm 32:5. “I acknowledged my sin to you. I didn’t hide my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the LORD, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.” David says that keeping quiet wore him down (Psalm 32:3). Telling God was the turning point.
• Psalm 51:10. “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.” David’s prayer after the prophet Nathan confronted him about Bathsheba. He asks for a changed heart as well as a clean record.
• Psalm 130:3–4. “If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, therefore you are feared.” A pilgrim’s song. No one’s record could survive God’s reading of it, and he offers forgiveness anyway.

Bible verses for when you can’t believe you’re forgiven

• Psalm 103:12. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” David chose a distance with no end. East and west never meet.
• Isaiah 1:18. “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” God’s invitation to a corrupt nation, right after he names what they have done.
• 1 John 3:20. “if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.” For the voice in your head that keeps bringing it up. God knows all of it, and he is still the one who forgives.

Bible verses about forgiving someone who hurt you

• Ephesians 4:32. “And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.” Paul gives the reason in the same breath: you have already been forgiven.
• Colossians 3:13. “bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do.” Paul assumes the complaints are real. He doesn’t tell you there was nothing to forgive.
• Genesis 50:19–20. “Don’t be afraid, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to save many people alive, as is happening today.” Joseph to the brothers who sold him as a slave. He calls it evil, and he still won’t take revenge.
• Romans 12:19. “Don’t seek revenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to God’s wrath.” Paul doesn’t say the wrong doesn’t matter. He says justice belongs to God, so you don’t have to carry it.

Forgiving someone doesn’t mean staying in danger

Some people have been told that forgiving means going back, keeping quiet or acting as if nothing happened. The Bible doesn’t say that. When you forgive, you give up revenge. You don’t give up the truth, justice or your safety.

• Proverbs 22:3. “A prudent man sees danger and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.” Getting out of harm’s way is wisdom.
• Romans 12:18. “If it is possible, as much as it is up to you, be at peace with all men.” Paul admits it isn’t always possible, and that part of it isn’t up to you.
• 1 Samuel 24:12. “May the LORD judge between me and you, and may the LORD avenge me of you; but my hand will not be on you.” David spared King Saul, who was trying to kill him, and then went back to his stronghold instead of going home with him (1 Samuel 24:22).

The Bible also condemns calling wrong right: “He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.” (Proverbs 17:15). So you can forgive someone and still report a crime, leave a home that isn’t safe, or keep your distance.

If someone is hurting you or a child, tell someone you trust and contact the police. In the United States, the National Domestic Violence Hotline answers at any hour at 1-800-799-7233.

What does the Bible say about forgiveness?

The Bible’s main picture of forgiveness is a debt canceled. The wrong is real, the amount is known, and the one who is owed lets it go. God does this for you at great cost to himself: “In him we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses” (Ephesians 1:7).

Forgiving others grows out of that. Jesus taught his followers to ask for forgiveness as they forgive others (Matthew 6:12), told Peter to stop keeping count (Matthew 18:21–22), and prayed for the men who crucified him (Luke 23:34). Paul pleads with his friend Philemon for a man who had wronged him, and offers to cover the debt himself: “But if he has wronged you at all or owes you anything, put that to my account.” (Philemon 1:18).

Forgiving is often a decision before it’s a feeling, and you may have to make it more than once. That doesn’t mean you failed the first time.

How to start forgiving when you’re not ready

1. Get safe first. If you’re in danger, that comes before everything else on this list.
2. Name what happened. You can’t forgive something you won’t admit was wrong.
3. Tell God exactly how it hurt. Psalm 55, written about a friend’s betrayal, gives you words.
4. Give up your right to get even, and leave justice with God (Romans 12:19).
5. Pray for the person if you can, even one sentence. If you can’t, ask God to make you willing.
6. Expect the hurt to come back, and do this again when it does. A pastor or counselor can help with deep wounds.

If you find it hard to accept forgiveness yourself, our guide to God’s love for you is a good place to start. Our Bible verses about peace include several on living with difficult people.

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