The Bible Verses About Repentance below explain what it means to turn from sin and return to God. Repentance runs through the whole Bible, from the prophets pleading with Israel to Jesus’ first sermon and the apostles’ preaching in Acts. These passages show that true repentance is a change of heart and direction, and that God meets it with mercy and joy.
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Acts 3:19 (KJV)
Peter calls his hearers to repent and be converted so that their sins may be blotted out.
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 2:38 (KJV)
At Pentecost Peter tells the crowd to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9 (KJV)
The Lord is patient, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
Luke 15:7 (KJV)
Jesus says heaven rejoices more over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine who need no repentance.
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
2 Corinthians 7:10 (KJV)
Paul explains that godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, unlike worldly sorrow.
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Matthew 4:17 (KJV)
Jesus began His public preaching with a call to repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Mark 1:15 (KJV)
In Jesus’ first message, repenting is joined with believing the gospel.
I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Luke 13:3 (KJV)
Jesus warns that unless people repent, they will likewise perish.
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Romans 2:4 (KJV)
God’s goodness, patience and forbearance are meant to lead us to repentance.
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.
Ezekiel 18:30-32 (KJV)
God urges Israel to turn from their transgressions and make a new heart, for He has no pleasure in death.
Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
Joel 2:12-13 (KJV)
The Lord asks His people to return with all their heart and rend their hearts rather than their garments.
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
Isaiah 55:7 (KJV)
Forsaking wicked ways and returning to the Lord brings His mercy and abundant pardon.
Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
Matthew 3:8 (KJV)
John the Baptist calls for fruit that shows repentance is real.
But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
Acts 26:20 (KJV)
Paul preached that people should repent, turn to God, and do works fitting for repentance.
And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Luke 15:17-20 (KJV)
The prodigal son comes to himself, decides to confess his sin, and returns home to his father.
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
Acts 17:30 (KJV)
Paul tells the Athenians that God now commands all people everywhere to repent.
Acts 3:19’s instruction to “repent… and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” ties repentance directly to genuine change, not only regret.
Bible Verses For Forgiving Others and Bible Verses For Believing God's Promises explore related themes.
The verses on this page come from the King James Version; the complete text is freely available at Blue Letter Bible.
Bible Verses About Relationships and Love and Bible Verses About Healing and Faith are good companions to this page.
Two nearby collections worth opening next are Bible Verses About God's Promises and Bible Verses For Peace.
You might also turn to Bible Verses About Identity in Christ and Bible Verses About Protection from Evil.
This subject overlaps with Bible Verses About Grace and Forgiveness and with Bible Verses For Repentance.
If the KJV wording feels unfamiliar, Bible Gateway lets you set it beside a modern translation.
For word studies and cross-references, Bible Hub is a helpful next step.
Repentance, biblically, describes a genuine turning and change of direction, not merely feeling sorry.
Scripture describes repentance modeled across a wide range of genuinely different failures — from significant, repeated patterns to more isolated instances of wrongdoing. This range matters directly. Whatever the actual nature of what you are turning from, repentance as Scripture describes it is not reserved only for a narrow category of easily corrected mistakes.
Whatever your own situation actually involves, this range offers real precedent that genuine repentance and its accompanying restoration are available to you as you actually are, not only to a more easily resolved category of failure.
Biblical accounts of repentance often describe genuine restoration following — renewed relationship, renewed purpose, renewed capacity — not only temporary emotional relief from guilt. If your own experience of repentance has focused mainly on relief from guilt without much sense of ongoing restoration, this fuller pattern suggests something more may be available — not just relief, but genuine, ongoing restoration as well.
Repentance, as Scripture describes it, is rarely a single completed event but an ongoing practice — returning, turning, returning again, across an entire lifetime. Whatever stage of that ongoing practice you are currently in, these verses are meant to meet you there directly, not require a more finished or resolved version of yourself first.
Whatever specific pattern or action you are currently working to turn from, these verses are meant to be read as direct address to that actual situation, not distant theology for someone else’s easier struggle. Name it honestly, and let these verses speak directly into that real turning.
Needing to return to this list more than once does not reflect insufficient faith. It reflects the honest, ongoing nature of repentance as a repeated turning, not a single completed event finished once and never revisited again.
Whatever tomorrow brings, this same call to turn and this same restoration remain available then too, offered fresh again rather than already exhausted by today’s honest effort or today’s failure to fully follow through.
Rest in that today, and take the next honest step, one at a time, without needing to have it all figured out first.
Share this list with someone else who is also trying to turn from something today, letting your own honest effort become encouragement for theirs, offered freely rather than kept private.
You do not have to have it all figured out to begin.
Someone else has stood at a similar turning point and found the strength to take that first honest step, not because they felt fully ready, but because they took it anyway, one day at a time.
It is genuinely available, right now.
Right now, today.
That is enough.
Whatever the outcome, taking this honest step toward turning is worth doing today, not postponed until some clearer, more convenient moment down the road.
Luke 19:1-10 tells the story of Zacchaeus, a chief tax collector in Jericho who had grown rich. Tax collectors worked for Rome and were widely known for taking more than they were owed, so the crowd saw him as a traitor and a sinner. Being short, he climbed a sycomore tree to see Jesus pass. Jesus stopped beneath the tree, called him by name, and said He must stay at his house that day. Zacchaeus came down quickly and received Him joyfully, while the crowd murmured.
Then Zacchaeus stood and made a public promise: “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.” Nobody had lectured him. The grace of being welcomed by Jesus changed his heart, and the change immediately reached his wallet. Jesus answered, “This day is salvation come to this house,” and added, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
His story is a living picture of Matthew 3:8, “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.” Zacchaeus did not simply feel sorry; he reversed the direction of his life and repaid those he had wronged. Many Bible verses about repentance describe this turning in general terms. Zacchaeus shows it in one afternoon, and he shows that the order matters: Jesus sought him first, and his repentance was a joyful response to grace, not an attempt to earn it.
Notice too that Zacchaeus went well beyond simply returning what he took. Restoring fourfold echoed the restitution for a stolen sheep in Exodus 22:1. Among the Bible verses about repentance, his example reminds us that real turning often looks generous rather than grudging, because a forgiven heart wants to set things right.
Few books return to the theme of turning back to God as often as 2 Chronicles. After Solomon dedicates the temple, the Lord gives a promise that has comforted believers for generations: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). That verse lays out the pattern the rest of the book tests through the lives of Judah’s kings.
The most surprising example is King Manasseh. He led Judah into idolatry and shed much innocent blood, and 2 Chronicles 33 says he made the people do worse than the heathen. Then he was taken captive to Babylon. In his affliction he “besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly,” and God heard him and brought him back to Jerusalem. The chapter adds, “Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.” He went on to remove the foreign gods and restore the altar of the Lord.
Manasseh’s story answers a fear many people carry: that some sins are too great for God to forgive. If one of the worst kings in Judah’s history could humble himself and be restored, no honest seeker is beyond reach. The book also shows King Josiah, whose heart was tender and who humbled himself when he heard God’s law read (2 Chronicles 34:27). Read together, these Bible verses about repentance show that God responds to humility wherever He finds it, whether in a young reformer or an old man in chains.
Repentance is often misunderstood, sometimes as a harsh demand and sometimes as a mere feeling. Looking carefully at Bible verses about repentance helps clear away a few of the most common confusions.
Not necessarily. After betraying Jesus, Judas was filled with remorse, yet he did not turn back to God. Peter also failed badly, denying Jesus three times, but he wept bitterly and was later restored. The New Testament word usually translated repent carries the idea of a change of mind that leads to a change of direction. 2 Corinthians 7:10 draws the line between godly sorrow, which leads to life, and the sorrow of the world, which leads to death.
No. Scripture presents repentance as God’s gift as much as our response. Acts 11:18 says God has “granted repentance unto life,” and Romans 2:4 says His goodness leads us to repentance. We turn because He has already come toward us in grace. For more on this, see these Bible verses about grace and God’s free gift.
There is a decisive first turning to Christ, but the Christian life also involves ongoing confession. 1 John 1:9, written to believers, promises, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Returning to God again after failing is not a sign that repentance has failed. It is repentance working as God designed it.
Holding these truths together guards against two opposite errors: treating sin lightly and treating grace as too small. Understood rightly, the Bible verses about repentance lead neither to despair nor to carelessness, but to a humble, hopeful walk with God.
These questions are for personal study, a Bible class or a small group working through Bible verses about repentance. The aim is not to stir up guilt but to see more clearly where God is inviting you to turn.
When an old pattern keeps returning, discouragement can make you stop praying altogether. Among the Bible verses about repentance, 1 John 1:9 and Luke 15:20 speak most directly to that fear. The father in the parable ran to meet his son while he was still a great way off. For a practical next step, the companion list of Scripture prayers for repentance and a fresh start offers verses to pray each day. If a habit feels beyond your control, it is wise to talk with a pastor or trusted counselor.
Groups can close by reading Joel 2:12-13 aloud and spending a few moments in silent confession. Studying Bible verses about repentance together can build a church culture where people admit their struggles honestly, because everyone knows God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.
Matthew 3:8 comes out of a scene that must have been uncomfortable to watch. John the Baptist is standing in the Jordan, camel-hair coat and all, and people from Jerusalem and all Judaea are walking out into the wilderness to hear him. Then some Pharisees and Sadducees show up, and John does not welcome them warmly. He says, ‘Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance.’ In plain terms, he wants to see something grow that proves the heart has changed.
What I like about the account in Luke 3 is how ordinary his demands become once the crowd asks what they should actually do. He does not send them off to a monastery. To the person with two coats he says, ‘He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.’ Tax collectors are told to stop taking extra, and soldiers are told to quit squeezing people for money. Each answer sits right inside the person’s daily work.
That is a useful check for any of us. Sorrow in the chest is real, but John keeps pointing toward the pantry, the cash box and the workplace. If the verses on this page have stirred something in you, ask where the evidence would show up first. Maybe it is a drawer of unpaid debts, or a coworker you have been quietly undercutting. Repentance that never reaches that kind of concrete spot stays a mood, and John would not have called a mood fruit.
English gives us a single word, and it tends to sound heavy, almost like a punishment. The original languages are lighter on their feet. In the Hebrew Old Testament the common verb is shuv, which simply means to turn around or come back. You can hear it in Joel 2:13, ‘And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.’ The picture is a person walking the wrong way who stops, faces about and heads home.
The Greek of the New Testament uses metanoia, built from a word for after or with and a word for mind. It points to a change of mind that carries the whole life along with it. When Paul tells King Agrippa in Acts 26:20 that he preached that people ‘should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance,’ he is putting the inner change and the outer turn side by side, as if they belong in one breath.
Knowing this takes some of the fear out of the subject. A turn is something you can do this afternoon. You do not have to reach a certain level of grief first, or produce tears on demand. Plenty of people in Scripture simply changed direction, and the changed direction mattered more than the emotion that went with it. Notice too that Joel starts his appeal by describing God, gracious and slow to anger, before he asks anything of the listener. The turning is easier when the one you are turning toward is already known to be kind.
Luke 15 tells of a younger son who has burned through his inheritance and ended up feeding someone else’s pigs, hungry enough to eye the pods the animals eat. Verse 17 says, ‘And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!’ I have always found that phrase, ‘came to himself,’ oddly gentle. Nobody scolded him into it. The moment arrived when he finally saw his situation without the excuses.
His plan is not very noble at first. He rehearses a speech and hopes for a servant’s wage, which tells us his repentance is mixed with plain hunger. And God does not seem bothered by that. The surprise comes in verse 20: ‘But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.’ In that culture, a respected older man gathering up his robes and sprinting down the road would have turned heads in the village. The father’s dignity was the last thing on his mind.
If you have been putting off a return because your motives feel muddy, this story is for you. The boy walked home with a half-formed speech and a growling stomach, and he was met anyway. Romans 2:4 says the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance, and the road in this parable shows how that works in practice. The welcome was already running toward him before he finished his first sentence. Start walking, even if the speech is a mess.
Paul stood before the Areopagus in Athens, surrounded by temples and statues, and said something that still startles people in Acts 17:30: ‘And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.’ A command can sound cold, yet the whole speech is built on the idea that God is near and not far off. The summons arrives as an invitation to stop wandering and be found.
For daily life, a few small habits tend to help. Pick one specific thing, not a whole catalogue of failures, and write it down by name. Say it to God plainly, in your own words. Then decide on one change you can actually make within the week, and tell a trusted friend or pastor so you are not carrying the plan alone. Ezekiel 18:32 gives the reason for all of this: ‘For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.’ The goal is life, not a guilt marathon.
A caution belongs here. Some people read the Bible Verses About Repentance and slide into endless self-examination, never sure they have turned enough. If that sounds familiar, speak with a pastor or a licensed counselor, because a conscience that is never quieted may need more care than another round of confession. 2 Peter 3:9 says the Lord is longsuffering, ‘not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.’ He is patient with the process, and you can be too.
Keep exploring with these related pages: Bible Verses For Repentance, Bible Verses About Faith, Bible Verses About Hope, Bible Verses About Love and Bible Verses About Strength.
For deeper study, Bible Gateway, Bible Hub and Bible Study Tools are all free to use.
Not necessarily. After betraying Jesus, Judas was filled with remorse, yet he did not turn back to God. Peter also failed badly, denying Jesus three times, but he wept bitterly and was later restored. The New Testament word usually translated repent carries the idea of a change of mind that leads to a change of direction. 2 Corinthians 7:10 draws the line between godly sorrow, which leads to life, and the sorrow of the world, which leads to death.
No. Scripture presents repentance as God's gift as much as our response. Acts 11:18 says God has “granted repentance unto life,” and Romans 2:4 says His goodness leads us to repentance. We turn because He has already come toward us in grace. For more on this, see these Bible verses about grace and God's free gift.
There is a decisive first turning to Christ, but the Christian life also involves ongoing confession. 1 John 1:9, written to believers, promises, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Returning to God again after failing is not a sign that repentance has failed. It is repentance working as God designed it.
When an old pattern keeps returning, discouragement can make you stop praying altogether. Among the Bible verses about repentance, 1 John 1:9 and Luke 15:20 speak most directly to that fear. The father in the parable ran to meet his son while he was still a great way off. For a practical next step, the companion list of Scripture prayers for repentance and a fresh start offers verses to pray each day. If a habit feels beyond your control, it is wise to talk with a pastor or trusted counselor.
