Bible Verses For Comfort speak to the heart in grief, loneliness, illness or disappointment. They remind us that God draws near to the brokenhearted, that Jesus offers rest to the weary, and that sorrow does not have the final word. Take them slowly, and let each promise remind you that you are not alone in your pain, even when answers are slow to come.
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (KJV)
God is called the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us so we can comfort others.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Matthew 5:4 (KJV)
Jesus promises that those who mourn are blessed, because they shall be comforted.
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)
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those whose spirits are crushed.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Psalms 23:4 (KJV)
Even in the valley of the shadow of death, the Shepherd’s rod and staff bring comfort.
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 14:27 (KJV)
Jesus leaves His own peace with His followers and tells them not to let their hearts be troubled or afraid.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30 (KJV)
Jesus invites the weary and burdened to come to Him and find rest for their souls.
As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
Isaiah 66:13 (KJV)
God compares His care to a mother comforting her child.
He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
Psalms 147:3 (KJV)
The Lord heals the broken in heart and binds up their wounds.
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)
A future hope: God will wipe away every tear, and death, sorrow and pain will be no more.
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
John 16:33 (KJV)
Jesus admits the world brings tribulation but tells us to take heart because He has overcome it.
This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.
Psalms 119:50 (KJV)
The psalmist finds comfort in affliction because God’s word has given him life.
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Isaiah 40:1 (KJV)
God speaks tenderly to His people with a double command to comfort them.
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Romans 15:13 (KJV)
Paul prays that the God of hope will fill believers with joy and peace as they trust Him.
In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.
Psalms 94:19 (KJV)
When anxious thoughts multiply, God’s comforts bring delight to the soul.
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
1 Peter 5:7 (KJV)
We can cast all our care on God because He truly cares for us.
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
Isaiah 61:1-3 (KJV)
The Messiah is sent to bind up the brokenhearted and give beauty for ashes and joy for mourning.
And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
Deuteronomy 31:8 (KJV)
The Lord goes before us and will never leave or forsake us, so we need not be dismayed.
When pain is fresh, long passages can feel overwhelming. Start with one short verse, such as Psalms 34:18 or Matthew 11:28, and read it slowly several times. Let it become a simple prayer: telling God you are hurting and asking Him to be near. The psalms show that honest lament is welcome, so you do not need polished words.
These verses can also help you comfort others. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 that the comfort we receive is meant to be shared. A handwritten card with Psalms 147:3 or Revelation 21:4, a quiet visit or a meal can say more than a long explanation. Often the kindest thing is to sit with someone and listen.
Grief and sadness sometimes run deeper than a verse can reach on its own. If sorrow or anxiety is not lifting, or is affecting sleep, work or daily life, it is wise and good to talk with a pastor, a trusted friend, a doctor or a licensed counsellor. Seeking help is not a lack of faith; God often brings comfort through the people He places around us.
Psalm 34:18’s promise that the Lord is “nigh unto them that are of a broken heart” is worth reading slowly during acute grief, as a statement of nearness rather than an explanation of why the loss happened.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4’s description of God as the “God of all comfort” can be prayed specifically during a health crisis, asking for that comfort to be tangible during appointments, treatment, or waiting for results.
If you want to keep reading, Bible Verses About Patience and Bible Verses For Motivation sit close to this topic.
Quotations follow the King James Version of 1611, now in the public domain. To read any verse within its full chapter, try Blue Letter Bible.
Some of the same ground is covered in Bible Verses For Business and Bible Verses For Being Strong.
Bible Verses For Answered Prayer and Bible Verses For Faith and Hope explore related themes.
Readers of this page often go on to Bible Verses For Loving Others or Bible Verses For Loneliness.
Bible Verses For Gratitude and Bible Verses About Gratitude pick up threads that run through these verses.
To see how other translations render these lines, look them up on Bible Gateway.
To trace a verse through the rest of Scripture, the cross-references on Bible Hub are useful.
Comfort rarely arrives all at once. Return to whichever of these verses matches your grief, and allow yourself to sit with it rather than rushing past it.
These verses were never meant to sit on a page as decoration \u2014 they’re meant to shape how you actually respond the next time you don’t know what to say to someone else who’s hurting right now.
You don’t need polished or formal language for it \u2014 an honest, plainly worded sentence is enough, something as simple as telling God directly for the right words, or the willingness to just sit with them in silence.
Right after a great victory on Mount Carmel, Elijah ran for his life, sat down under a juniper tree and asked to die. He was exhausted, afraid and convinced he was alone. God’s first response was not a rebuke or a sermon. An angel touched him and gave him bread and water, and Elijah slept again. Then “the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee” (1 Kings 19:7).
Only later, at Horeb, did God speak, and He came not in the wind, earthquake or fire but in “a still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12). He also told Elijah that he was not the only faithful one left and gave him a companion, Elisha.
The story is a gentle guide for how to use Bible verses for comfort. Sometimes the most spiritual step is to rest, eat and let someone care for you. The words of Scripture still matter, but God often meets the body’s needs first and speaks quietly after.
Lamentations was written over the ruins of Jerusalem. Most of its five poems are raw grief: empty streets, hungry children and a city that “weepeth sore in the night” (Lamentations 1:2). It is a surprising place to look for hope, and that is exactly why it helps. The writer does not skip the pain.
Then, in the middle of the book, the tone turns: “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” The writer goes on to say that these mercies arrive fresh each morning and that God’s faithfulness is great (Lamentations 3:22-23). Nothing outside has changed yet. What has changed is where the writer fixes his hope.
Many Bible verses for comfort come from places like this, spoken by people still standing in the rubble. That gives us permission to grieve honestly and to hope at the same time. If you are in a season of loss, try reading Lamentations 3 slowly, noticing how long the lament lasts before the turn. You may find that Bible verses for comfort mean more once you have been honest about the pain.
When sorrow makes it hard to concentrate, a small plan can help. Read one passage a day, underline a single phrase, and carry that phrase with you. If a day is too hard, simply reread the day before.
These Bible verses for comfort move from lament to hope across the week, much as the Psalms often do. There is no pressure to feel better by Day 7.
When a friend is grieving, we want to help, yet a verse offered too quickly can sound like a way to end the conversation. Job’s friends did well at first: they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, “and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great” (Job 2:13). Things went wrong once they began offering reasons for his pain.
Short promises of presence are usually best, such as Psalms 34:18 or Deuteronomy 31:8, rather than verses that try to explain why something happened. Among these Bible verses for comfort, Romans 12:15, “weep with them that weep,” is a good reminder for the one doing the comforting.
Timing matters as much as content. Bible verses for comfort tend to land best after you have listened for a while and the person knows you are not in a hurry to leave.
One common idea is that strong believers should not feel deep sadness. Scripture tells a different story. David wept, Jeremiah lamented, and Jesus Himself was troubled in spirit and wept at the grave of Lazarus. Sorrow is not a failure of faith; it is part of being human in a broken world.
A second idea is that comfort means the pain goes away quickly. Often it means God’s presence within the pain, as Psalms 23:4 describes walking through the valley rather than around it. Healing can take months or years, and that is normal.
A third is that reading enough Bible verses for comfort should be all we need. God also comforts through people: a friend who brings a meal, a church that prays, a counsellor who listens well. Receiving that help is receiving comfort from Him. Holding Bible verses for comfort together with honest community is the pattern the New Testament gives us.
Grief and worry are often loudest after dark. This prayer draws on several Bible verses for comfort and can be whispered in bed when your mind will not settle.
Lord, it is late and I am tired, but my thoughts will not be still. You are near to the brokenhearted, so please be near to me now. I give You the things I cannot fix tonight. Thank You that Your compassions fail not and that Your mercies will be new in the morning. Let me rest under Your care the way a child rests when a mother comforts him. Quiet my heart, and if sleep does not come, let me feel less alone while I wait. In the name of Jesus, who gives rest to the weary. Amen.
If sleeplessness continues for weeks, mention it to your doctor as well as your pastor. Caring for your body is part of receiving the comfort God gives.
Writing can slow racing thoughts and help you notice where God is at work. Choose one verse from the list above, copy it by hand, and then respond to one of these prompts.
Looking back over several weeks of entries can show a slow movement toward hope that is hard to see day by day. For more on walking through loss, read these verses for those who are grieving a loss, or explore what the Bible says about hope.
Martha and Mary had sent word to Jesus that their brother was ill, and then they watched Lazarus die while Jesus did not come. When He finally arrived, the man had been in the tomb four days. Each sister met Him with the same sentence, nearly word for word: if You had been here, my brother would not have died. It is not a polite sentence. It is grief with an edge on it, and Jesus did not correct either of them for saying it.
What He did next is short enough to memorize. John tells us He “groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,” and then, at the grave, “Jesus wept” (John 11:33, 35). He knew perfectly well that He was about to call Lazarus out alive. He wept anyway. The tears were not for lack of information. They came because people He loved were crying.
That matters when you reach for Bible verses for comfort during a funeral week. The God described here does not hurry you toward the happy ending. He stands with you at the stone first. If you have ever felt that your sadness embarrassed Him, or that you ought to produce faith on cue, this small two-word verse says otherwise. Crying beside a grave is not a failure of belief. It is what the Son of God did.
Seventeen years after Jacob moved the family to Egypt, he died, and Joseph’s brothers panicked. They had sold him as a slave decades earlier, and the only thing keeping them safe, they assumed, was their father’s presence. So they sent a message, reminding Joseph that Jacob had wanted him to forgive them. Then they came and fell down before him, offering to be his servants.
Joseph wept when he heard their message. His answer is gentle and specific: “Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them” (Genesis 50:21). Notice the order. He promises to feed their children, which is a concrete kindness, and only then does the writer say he spoke kindly. Reassurance with a practical plan behind it is a different thing from sympathy offered at a distance.
Not every hurt can be handled like this, and the passage does not suggest that anyone must trust a person who has harmed them. Still, there is a lesson about how comfort sounds when it is sincere. It is quiet, it names real needs, and it does not demand a performance of gratitude. If you are trying to reassure a frightened person, or if you are the frightened one, that is a decent standard to hold.
Hannah had been childless for years, and the household she lived in made sure she remembered it. Peninnah, the other wife, taunted her at every yearly trip to Shiloh. Hannah wept, could not eat, and one day went to the sanctuary and prayed so intensely that her lips moved without any sound coming out. Eli, the old priest, watched her and decided she was drunk. His first words to her were a rebuke.
She did not walk away offended. She explained, quietly, that she was a woman of a sorrowful spirit who had been pouring out her soul. Eli listened, adjusted, and said, “Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him” (1 Samuel 1:17). Then comes a line I love for how ordinary it is: “So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad” (1 Samuel 1:18).
Nothing in her circumstances had changed yet. She had no baby in her arms. What had changed was that she had told the whole matter to God, been heard by a person, and been sent off with a blessing. For many readers, one of the most useful Bible verses for comfort is simply a permission slip to pray honestly and then eat lunch. Let the prayer be said, and let the body rest, even before the answer arrives.
Acts 9 ends with a short report about the early church that is easy to skip. Saul had been the great persecutor, and now he had become a believer himself. The writer says the churches throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria “had rest” and were built up, “and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied” (Acts 9:31). The sentence sits in a book full of arrests and riots, and it describes a quiet pause between storms.
The word translated comfort there carries the idea of someone called alongside to help. These believers had real reasons to be afraid. Stephen had been stoned not long before, families had been scattered, and meetings happened in private houses. Yet the verse says their steadiness came from a presence with them, and that the group grew while they lived that way.
It is worth noticing that this comfort is paired with the fear of the Lord, a reverent seriousness about God, not a cozy feeling that asks nothing of us. In everyday life, that might look like a person who goes to a hard doctor’s appointment having prayed, then asks clear questions, then goes home and rests. Peace and responsibility sit together. If sorrow has made it hard to feel anything at all, you can still take the next small step and trust that being accompanied does not depend on how strong your feelings are on a given Tuesday.
If you want to keep going with this theme, try Bible Verses About Comfort, Bible Verses About Comfort and Strength, Bible Verses About Comfort in Grief, Bible Verses For Comfort in Grief and Bible Verses For Comfort and Strength.
For deeper study, Bible Gateway, Bible Hub and Bible Study Tools are all free to use.
When pain is fresh, long passages can feel overwhelming. Start with one short verse, such as Psalms 34:18 or Matthew 11:28, and read it slowly several times.
This page brings together 20 King James Version references about comfort, drawn from 12 different books of the Bible.
These comfort verses are drawn from books including Psalms, Matthew, 2 Corinthians, Revelation, Psalm, among others.
Yes. The verses about comfort gathered here include passages from both the Old Testament and the New Testament, such as Psalms 34:18 and Matthew 11:28.
Psalms 34:18 is one of the verses about comfort referenced in this collection, alongside Matthew 11:28.
