Each of these Bible verses about crying is quoted from the King James Version, with its reference beneath it.
Jesus wept.
John 11:35 (KJV)
The shortest verse in the Bible may be one of the most comforting. Jesus cried at the grave of Lazarus, though He knew He was about to raise him. Among all Bible verses about crying, this one says that tears are not weakness.
Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?
Psalms 56:8 (KJV)
David pictures God collecting each tear as something precious. Nothing about your pain goes unrecorded, and none of your weeping is wasted.
For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Psalms 30:5 (KJV)
The verse does not deny that the night can be long. It simply promises that the night is not permanent, and that joy is on its way.
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Psalms 126:5-6 (KJV)
A farmer who plants in a hard season carries both tears and seed. This is one of the Bible verses about crying that sees sorrow as a place where something is quietly growing.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Revelation 21:4 (KJV)
John describes a day when God Himself, not an angel, wipes our tears. It is a very personal picture of a Father comforting His child.
He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.
Isaiah 25:8 (KJV)
Isaiah looked ahead to a time when death itself would be defeated. Tears are wiped from every face, not only a few, which makes this a hopeful entry among Bible verses about crying.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
Ecclesiastes 3:4 (KJV)
The Preacher gives weeping its own season, which means it is a normal part of a life well lived. You are allowed to cry when it is time to cry.
Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.
Romans 12:15 (KJV)
Paul asks believers to share feelings, not just advice. When someone is crying, sitting beside them and weeping is often the most Christlike response.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Matthew 5:4 (KJV)
Jesus opened the Sermon on the Mount by calling mourners blessed. It is not because pain is good but because comfort is promised to those who grieve.
The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Psalms 34:18 (KJV)
Nigh means near. When your heart is breaking, God does not stand back, and this is one of the Bible verses about crying that people often keep on their phones.
I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.
Psalms 6:6 (KJV)
David does not tidy up his feelings. The Bible includes raw, sleepless crying in its prayers, which gives every reader permission to pray honestly.
My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?
Psalms 42:3 (KJV)
The writer is so sorrowful that tears replace food. Even in that state, he keeps talking to God, and the psalm slowly turns toward hope.
He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
Psalms 147:3 (KJV)
The image is of a nurse wrapping a wound. Healing of the heart is gentle and slow, and it is done by hand.
And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.
Luke 7:13 (KJV)
Jesus meets a widow carrying her only son’s coffin. His words, weep not, are followed by action, since He gives her son back. Compassion came first.
Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.
Luke 6:21 (KJV)
Luke’s version of the beatitudes ties present tears to future laughter. It promises reversal for those who have borne heavy seasons.
Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.
2 Kings 20:5 (KJV)
God says, I have seen thy tears. Not only were Hezekiah’s words heard; his weeping was noticed too.
Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
Hebrews 5:7 (KJV)
The writer reminds us that Jesus prayed with strong crying and tears. The Savior understands from experience what it is to weep in prayer.
For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
Isaiah 30:19 (KJV)
God promises to be gracious at the voice of your cry. Crying out is not a nuisance to Him; it is the very thing He answers.
Most of us were taught early that crying is something to hide, and Bible verses about crying gently disagree. We learned to wipe our eyes, change the subject and say we were fine. Yet Scripture treats tears quite differently. Bible verses about crying show kings, prophets, mothers and even the Son of God weeping in plain view.
That matters for anyone going through a hard season. If you read Bible verses about crying because you cry at night, in the car or at your desk, you may wonder whether something is wrong with your faith. The Bible answers that question kindly: no, you are in good company.
This page walks through eighteen verses and a set of reflections, aimed at helping you see crying as a God-given response, not a failure. If your pain feels heavy, please also talk with a trusted friend, pastor or counselor.
Among Bible verses about crying, John 11:35 has only two words: Jesus wept. It is the shortest verse in the English Bible, yet people have drawn comfort from it for centuries. Lazarus had died, Mary and Martha were heartbroken, and the Lord of life stood at the tomb and cried.
What makes this astonishing is that Jesus knew what He was about to do. He was minutes away from calling Lazarus out of the grave. Still, He wept, because He shared the sorrow of the people He loved.
Of all Bible verses about crying, this one best answers the idea that tears are unspiritual. The Savior cried, and He did so without embarrassment.
Psalm 56:8, one of the tenderest Bible verses about crying, uses an image: God puts your tears in a bottle and records them in His book. In the ancient world, people sometimes collected tears in small vials as a sign of grief. David takes that custom and says God Himself does it.
Think about what that means. No single tear is overlooked. The night you cried alone was not unseen. The tears you hid from your family were not hidden from Him.
If you want to read more on this image, our page on the tears in a bottle verse goes deeper. Among Bible verses about crying, it is one of the most personal.
Psalm 30:5 is among the Bible verses about crying most often quoted at funerals and in hospital rooms: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. The verse is honest. It says weeping endures, which means it can last a long time. It does not say tears vanish instantly.
What it does promise is a limit. The night has a morning. For those in a dark stretch right now, this is the heart of the matter: the sorrow you are in is real, and it is not the final chapter.
Many readers return to these Bible verses about crying at three in the morning. Reading the line slowly, a few times, can be a small anchor until daylight.
Psalm 126, one of the Bible verses about crying that end in hope, was sung by pilgrims who had returned from exile, remembering how hard the days had been. They describe sowing seed with tears, then coming home with armfuls of grain. The image suggests that tears can be part of planting.
Not all crying is wasted. A mother’s prayers, a person’s grief turned into care for others, and a hard decision made with weeping can bear fruit later. We do not always see it at once, but God does.
This is why Bible verses about crying so often end in hope. The ending is not forced; it is promised by one who has watched seeds grow into harvest many times over.
Psalm 6 is one of the most open prayers in the Bible and a key passage among Bible verses about crying. David says he is weary with groaning and that his bed swims with tears. There is no polish here, no attempt to sound strong. He simply pours out his heart.
Many people find this a relief. They have felt that prayer must be calm and respectful, with all emotion held back. David shows otherwise. God welcomes the real, wet-faced version of you.
If your prayers recently have been mostly tears, these Bible verses about crying say you are praying rightly. Honest weeping before God is a form of trust, not its opposite.
Ecclesiastes 3, a staple of Bible verses about crying, lists the times of life: birth and death, planting and uprooting, weeping and laughing, mourning and dancing. Weeping stands among the ordinary seasons, side by side with joy. The Preacher accepts it as part of living under heaven.
This can free us from pressure. Some Christians feel they must always be cheerful. But the Bible never tells people to skip the time to weep. It only says the season will change.
Understanding this, you can allow yourself to cry at a funeral, after a diagnosis or when a relationship ends. Bible verses about crying give permission for the season you are in.
Romans 12:15 is brief, but among Bible verses about crying it changes how we visit grieving friends. Paul does not say fix them, correct them or tell them to cheer up. He says weep with those who weep. Sometimes the best help is a quiet presence and a tissue.
Job’s friends did well for the first seven days. They sat on the ground with him and said nothing. Trouble started when they began to explain his suffering. Words can wound when silence would have healed.
When you read Bible verses about crying, think of someone near you who is grieving. A visit, a meal and a short message that says I am here can carry more love than a long speech.
Jesus begins the Beatitudes by turning human expectations upside down. The blessed ones are the poor in spirit and those who mourn. In a world that hurries past sadness, He stops and says that mourners will be comforted.
Notice that He does not say they will be told to stop. They will be comforted, which means someone will come alongside them. Often that someone is God Himself, and sometimes He sends people.
Among Bible verses about crying, Matthew 5:4 is a reminder that grief is not the end of the story and that mourning is not a lack of faith. It is where comfort arrives.
Among Bible verses about crying, Psalm 34:18 says the Lord is near to the brokenhearted. The Hebrew idea of nearness is physical. He is not watching from a distance but standing close, as a parent leans toward a child who has fallen.
Brokenness comes in many forms: a death, a betrayal, a failed dream, long illness or depression. Whatever its cause, the promise is the same. God draws near, saves the crushed in spirit and does not leave.
Several of our other pages gather related verses, such as God is near the brokenhearted. These Bible verses about crying link with them naturally.
In Luke 7, a story told among Bible verses about crying, Jesus approaches a village funeral. A widow is following the coffin of her only son. She has already lost her husband, and now her only support is gone. The crowd is large, but she is alone in her grief.
Jesus sees her and has compassion. His first words are weep not, which sound dismissive until we see what follows. He touches the coffin and tells the young man to arise. His command to stop crying is followed by a reason to stop.
This story shows the character of the One who hears us. Among Bible verses about crying, it proves that Jesus is moved by tears before He moves to help.
In 2 Kings 20, one of the Bible verses about crying that mention tears by name, King Hezekiah was seriously ill, and the prophet Isaiah told him to prepare to die. Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, prayed and wept bitterly. Before Isaiah had left the courtyard, God sent him back with a new message.
The words are striking: I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears. The Lord notices both. Hezekiah’s weeping was part of his prayer, and God responded to both the words and the water.
You may not receive a miracle in the same way, but this account of Bible verses about crying shows God attentive to tears. He does not overlook them.
Hebrews 5:7, among the Bible verses about crying, reminds us that Jesus offered prayers with strong crying and tears. In Gethsemane, He was in anguish, and the Gospels do not hide it. The Son of God knew what it was to pray with a broken voice.
That means when you cry in prayer, you are not praying badly. You are praying like Jesus. Our High Priest does not stand far from weeping believers but has walked that exact road.
These Bible verses about crying bring special comfort to anyone who has felt embarrassed about crying in church, in a small group or alone. Heaven is not embarrassed.
Bible verses about crying matter after a loss, since a loved one’s death can bring tears at unexpected moments: a song, a smell, a name on a screen. Grief does not follow a schedule, and well-meaning comments often miss the mark.
The Bible gives space for slow mourning. Jacob mourned Joseph for many days. David wept for Absalom. Mary and Martha wept for their brother. None of them was told to hurry.
If you are grieving, let Bible verses about crying keep you company. You may also find help in our collection on comfort in grief, which gathers verses for those first heavy weeks and months.
Not all crying comes from sadness, and Bible verses about crying reflect that. Scripture also describes tears of joy, such as when Joseph wept on seeing his brothers again, or when the Israelites wept for gladness as the temple foundation was laid. Strong emotion of any kind can overflow.
There are tears of repentance too. Peter wept bitterly after denying Jesus, and the woman who washed His feet did so with her tears. Those tears were met with forgiveness, not rejection.
This variety is a gentle reminder that Bible verses about crying are not only about grief. They cover the whole range of the heart, and God welcomes every kind of honest tear.
If crying has become constant, if you cannot stop, or if you feel numb and hopeless for weeks, please take it seriously. The Bible does not tell people to ignore depression, and neither should we. Elijah, exhausted and despairing, was given food, sleep and a friend before he was given words.
Faith and professional help work together. Speaking with a doctor, a counselor or a pastor is not a lack of trust in God. It is often one of the ways He provides.
Bible verses about crying can sit beside medical care and counseling. If you ever feel unsafe or think about harming yourself, please contact local emergency services or a crisis line right away.
Some days there are no words. Romans 8:26 says the Spirit helps our weakness and intercedes with groanings that cannot be uttered. Your tears can be your prayer.
Try this: sit quietly, breathe slowly and say, Lord, You see this. Then let the tears come. If you wish, read Psalm 34:18 or Psalm 56:8 aloud. Repeat the same verse a few times, then rest.
Practices like this make Bible verses about crying part of an ongoing conversation with God, not just reading material. Many people find that, after the tears, a calm settles that they could not create on their own.
It can be awkward to see a friend cry. We reach for quick phrases: it will be okay, God has a plan, at least you still have. Often those lines sting. They cut the sorrow short before it has been heard.
A better approach follows Romans 12:15. Sit near them. Offer water or a blanket. Say, I am so sorry, and I am here. Let silence be part of the visit. If they ask for prayer, pray short and simple prayers.
Later, when it feels right, you may share one of the Bible verses about crying, such as Psalm 34:18. Offer it as a gift, not a correction.
Many men and boys were taught that tears are shameful, but Bible verses about crying show otherwise. Yet the Bible’s strongest men wept freely: David, Joseph, Peter, Paul and Jesus. Paul reminded the Ephesians that for three years he had warned them with tears.
Hiding sorrow does not make it disappear. It often comes out as anger, withdrawal or exhaustion. Letting tears fall in a safe place can be a healthy relief and a form of strength.
Fathers who read Bible verses about crying with their sons give them a gift: the knowledge that God made emotions, and that expressing them honestly is not weakness but part of being human.
Little ones cry for many reasons, which is one more reason Bible verses about crying matter at home: a scraped knee, a lost toy, a nightmare or a harsh word. Adults sometimes respond with hush, stop it or you’re fine. Children learn from this either that their feelings are important or that they should be ignored.
Responding like Jesus means kneeling to their level, listening and offering comfort. We can say, I see you are sad, and God sees it too. We can read a simple verse like Psalm 56:8 together.
Bible verses about crying are good bedtime Scripture for young children because they teach that God cares about small hurts as well as large ones.
Revelation 21:4 and Isaiah 25:8 look forward to a day when God personally wipes away every tear. Death, sorrow, crying and pain will pass away. This is the great horizon of Christian hope.
It does not make today’s tears trivial. Rather, it assures us that they are not final. The one who will wipe the tears has already shared them, since Jesus wept. Our comfort is rooted in both the past and the future.
You can read our page on the no more tears verse for more. For now, let these Bible verses about crying lift your eyes beyond the present night.
Many people who read Bible verses about crying are tired. They have been strong for a long time and simply need rest. The Bible honors rest. God gave Elijah sleep and bread. Jesus slept in a boat. The Psalms speak of the Lord giving His beloved sleep.
Be gentle with yourself. Drink water, eat something, go outside if you can and talk to one person. Small acts of care are not unspiritual. They are part of how we endure.
Return to these Bible verses about crying as often as you need. The morning promised in Psalm 30 will come, and you do not have to carry the night alone.
In 1 Samuel 1, Hannah goes up to the house of the Lord year after year, longing for a child and bitterly mocked by a rival. One year she cannot eat. She goes to the temple, weeps freely and prays so quietly that Eli, the priest, assumes she is drunk.
Eli misreads her, but God does not. She tells Eli she is a woman of sorrowful spirit who is pouring out her soul before the Lord. Eli blesses her, and she leaves with her face no longer sad. Later she holds her son Samuel and sings a song of thanks.
Of all the Bible verses about crying and the stories behind them, Hannah’s is a fine example of weeping prayer. It shows that sorrow brought to God honestly, even without polished words, is exactly the kind of prayer He receives.
Peter promised he would never deny Jesus, and within hours he did it three times. When the rooster crowed, he remembered the Lord’s words and went outside and wept bitterly. It is one of the most human moments in the Gospels, full of shame and regret.
Yet the story does not end with those tears. After the resurrection, Jesus meets Peter by the Sea of Galilee, makes breakfast and asks him three times, do you love me? Each question gently undoes one denial. Peter is restored and given work to do.
The Bible verses about crying that come from failure carry a good message: repentance is not rejection. Tears over what we have done can lead directly to a fresh start, and Jesus Himself prepares the table.
Psalm 84 mentions the valley of Baca, often translated as a valley of weeping, and says that those who pass through it make it a place of springs. The pilgrims do not avoid the valley. They walk through it, and somehow the dry place becomes a source of water.
There is a quiet wisdom in that picture. Many people who have walked through tears later become the ones who can comfort others. Their pain was real, but it became fertile ground. They know what to say, and just as often what not to say.
If you are in such a valley now, these Bible verses about crying may seem a long way from relief. Keep walking and keep reading. The springs are not always visible at the start, but the psalm promises that they come.
One practical way to work with these verses is to keep a short journal. Each evening, write a line or two about what weighed on you and what, however small, you are thankful for. Tears and gratitude can sit on the same page.
Over several weeks, you may notice patterns. You might see that crying comes after certain events, or that the heaviness lifts a little when you pray, walk or talk with a friend. Those insights can help you care for yourself and know when to ask for help.
Copy out a verse such as Psalm 56:8 on the first page. Let your notebook become your own small bottle of tears, offered to a God who keeps a record of each one, and let the Bible verses about crying lead you gently from sorrow toward thanks.
Scripture does not rush the weeper. It sits down beside them, offers honest words and promises comfort. From David’s pillow to the tomb of Lazarus to the new heaven and earth, God is shown close to the crying heart.
If you came to this page tired and tearful, take one verse with you. Perhaps Psalm 56:8, perhaps Psalm 34:18. Say it quietly, and let it be enough for today.
May these Bible verses about crying assure you that your tears are seen, that your sorrow is not shameful and that the morning is on its way.
If these Bible verses about crying brought you comfort, these related pages may help you in the days ahead: Bible verses about sorrow, mourning, the Jesus wept verse, Bible verses for sadness, healing a broken heart, Bible verses about comfort, pain and healing, peace during difficult times, overcoming sadness, the God of all comfort.
To study these verses in more depth, try Bible Gateway, Bible Hub, Bible Study Tools, Blue Letter Bible.
The Bible shows crying as a normal, honest response to pain and sometimes to joy. Jesus wept, David wept, and God promises to comfort mourners. Bible verses about crying assure us that God sees every tear.
No. Crying is not a sin, and many godly people in Scripture wept openly. Ecclesiastes 3:4 even says there is a time to weep. Bible verses about crying treat tears as a natural part of life.
Psalms 34:18, Matthew 5:4 and Revelation 21:4 are common choices. They promise God’s nearness, comfort and a future without tears. Psalms 56:8 also reminds mourners that God records each tear.
John 11:35 shows that Jesus felt real sorrow at the death of Lazarus, even though He was about to raise him. It reveals that God shares our grief and does not despise our tears.
Read a verse slowly, such as Psalms 6:6 or Psalms 42:3, and let it give words to your feelings. Honest prayers like David’s show that you can bring tears and questions to God without hiding anything.
If crying lasts for weeks, interferes with daily life or comes with hopeless thoughts, speak to a doctor, counselor or pastor. Seeking help is wise and fits with faith. In an emergency, contact local emergency services.
