Sometimes you already know what the Bible teaches about forgiveness in general. What you need right now is something to actually hold onto while you try to forgive a specific person, or ask forgiveness for something specific you did. This page is built for that moment, not for a theology lesson.
Every verse below is drawn from a verified King James Version text.
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Psalms 103:3
Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.
Psalms 25:18
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Psalms 32:1
And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
Mark 11:25
But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
Mark 11:26
Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
Romans 4:7
And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Luke 11:4
Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
Luke 7:47
And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.
Luke 7:48
And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?
Luke 7:49
Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
Luke 17:3
And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
Luke 17:4
But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
Psalms 130:4
I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.
1 John 2:12
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:32
And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.
Luke 5:20
And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?
Luke 5:21
Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?
Luke 5:23
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
Luke 5:24
Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
Luke 6:37
All verses are quoted from the King James Version (KJV), a public-domain translation.
This idea surfaces more than once across Bible Verses For Forgiveness.
If you are about to talk to someone who hurt you, or someone you hurt, Colossians 3:13 is worth reading first: “forbearing one another, and forgiving one another… even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.” Praying this verse before the conversation, rather than only after, can change how you walk into the room.
Forgiving yourself often feels harder than forgiving someone else. 1 John 1:9 is written specifically for this: “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The verse does not ask you to feel differently first; it simply states what happens when you confess honestly.
If you want to let someone know, in writing, that you have chosen to forgive them, Ephesians 4:32 works well as a short message on its own: kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiving one another, “even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” It says what you mean without requiring you to explain everything all at once.
Some situations are severe enough that forgiveness feels genuinely out of reach in the moment. Mark 11:25 does not ask for a feeling; it asks for a choice, made in prayer, even before the feeling catches up. Praying “I choose to forgive, even though I do not feel it yet” is itself a legitimate use of this verse.
If old bitterness keeps resurfacing even after you thought you had dealt with it, Hebrews 12:15 warns about a “root of bitterness springing up” that troubles many. Praying this verse by name over a specific person or situation, repeated as often as the bitterness returns, is a practical and entirely biblical way to keep addressing it.
For the fuller biblical teaching behind these verses, Bible Verses About Forgiveness covers the theology in more depth. And since forgiveness and family relationships often intersect, Bible Verses About Family may also be relevant.
Mark 11:25 works well spoken simply: “forgive, if ye have ought against any.” Saying it as a short, repeated prayer, even before you feel ready, is a legitimate way to use this verse.
Matthew 5:23-24 is often used this way, since it instructs going directly to reconcile with someone before continuing on with worship, treating the relationship as urgent enough to address first.
That is common, and Scripture does not treat forgiveness as a one-time event that never needs revisiting. Returning to a verse like Colossians 3:13 as often as needed, rather than expecting to “finish” forgiving in a single moment, is a realistic and biblical approach.
It is a pattern worth noticing throughout Bible Verses For Forgiveness.
Consider writing down whichever verse from this page matches your current situation and keeping it somewhere visible — a note on your phone, a card in a wallet, a sticky note by a mirror. Forgiveness rarely resolves in one sitting, and having the specific verse ready for the moments it resurfaces tends to help more than searching for it again each time.
Some of the hardest forgiveness situations involve a person who never acknowledges what they did. Romans 12:19’s instruction to leave vengeance to God, rather than take it into your own hands, is specifically written for exactly this kind of unresolved situation, where you may never receive the apology you are owed.
It is worth returning to Bible Verses For Forgiveness for exactly this reason.
If this speaks to your current situation, you may also want to read Bible Verses For Peace or Bible Verses About Eternal Life, both of which touch on related ground.
Every verse on this page is drawn from the King James Version, a public-domain translation available in full at Blue Letter Bible for anyone who wants to study the wider context.
It is a thread that runs through Bible Verses For Forgiveness more than once.
Praying through Bible Verses For Forgiveness slowly, pausing after each verse, is a different practice than simply reading them, and many readers find it changes how the words are received.
Many readers find it helpful to read through Bible Verses For Forgiveness slowly, one verse at a time, rather than all at once, allowing each to settle before moving to the next.
Consider keeping a small journal specifically for Bible Verses For Forgiveness, noting which verse stood out on a given day and why, since the same verse often speaks differently depending on what you are facing.
Memorizing even one or two verses from Bible Verses For Forgiveness can make them available in a moment when you do not have a Bible or this page nearby, which is often exactly when they matter most.
Sharing a specific verse from Bible Verses For Forgiveness with someone going through a similar season is one of the simplest ways this collection has been used by other readers.
Returning to Bible Verses For Forgiveness on a regular basis, rather than only once, often reveals something new, since the same words can land differently depending on your circumstances.
For related reading, you may also find Bible Verses For Angels and Protection and Bible Verses For God's Grace helpful.
Some readers also return to Bible Verses For Spiritual Growth or Bible Verses For Friendship and Loyalty alongside this page.
If you are exploring related themes, Bible Verses For Healing Sickness and Bible Verses For God's Timing are worth a look.
It can help to resist the urge to read through all twenty verses in Bible Verses For Forgiveness in one sitting. Scripture written centuries apart, in different circumstances, by different authors, tends to reward slower reading. Try picking just two or three verses at a time, reading each one twice, and sitting with it for a moment before moving on. You may notice a detail on the second reading that you missed on the first.
This connects to a thread found elsewhere in Bible Verses For Forgiveness.
Every verse gathered in Bible Verses For Forgiveness was originally written as part of a larger passage, letter, or narrative. Reading a single verse on its own is genuinely useful, but if one particular verse stands out to you, it is worth taking a few extra minutes to read the surrounding chapter. Context rarely changes what a verse means, but it often deepens it.
Some readers use Bible Verses For Forgiveness purely as a reference, scanning for a specific verse. Others treat it as a starting point for prayer, reading one verse and then praying it back to God in their own words. Neither approach is more correct than the other; what matters is that the verse actually gets read, not just located.
Bookmark this page if Bible Verses For Forgiveness speaks to something you are currently facing. Verses that do not mean much to you today may become exactly what you need on a harder day next month. Scripture tends to work this way — the same words landing differently depending on where you are when you read them.
Consider reading through Bible Verses For Forgiveness with a friend, spouse, or small group rather than only alone. Discussing which verse stood out to each person, and why, often surfaces angles you would not have noticed reading by yourself. Scripture read in community has a long history for exactly this reason.
Every verse in Bible Verses For Forgiveness is drawn from the King James Version specifically, a translation completed in 1611 that remains one of the most widely quoted English versions of Scripture. Its language is more formal than modern translations, which some readers find adds a certain weight to familiar passages.
The twenty verses in Bible Verses For Forgiveness were selected specifically because they speak directly to this subject, rather than only mentioning it in passing. Some are well known; others are easy to overlook on a first read through Scripture. Both kinds are included here because familiarity is not the same as relevance — a lesser-known verse can sometimes say exactly what a well-known one does not.
There is no required order for working through Bible Verses For Forgiveness. Some readers start at the top and read straight through; others scroll until one verse catches their attention and start there instead. Both approaches work equally well, since each verse stands on its own even outside the sequence it is presented in.
Not every verse in Bible Verses For Forgiveness will land the same way on a first read. Scripture written thousands of years ago, in a very different culture, occasionally uses language or imagery that takes a moment to connect with a modern situation. If a particular verse feels unclear, reading it again after a day or two, or alongside a study Bible’s footnotes, often helps.
If you read Bible Verses For Forgiveness in a physical Bible rather than only on this page, consider marking the verses that stand out with a pencil, highlighter, or a note in a Bible app. Building a personal record of which verses have mattered to you, and when, turns a one-time reading into something you can return to years later.
If you want to compare these verses across other translations, Bible Gateway offers a free side-by-side reading tool.
For verse-by-verse commentary and cross-references, Bible Hub is a genuinely useful free resource.
Whichever specific situation brought you here, these verses are meant to be used, not just read once. Return to whichever one fits your exact circumstance, as many times as you need to.