Verse collection
Bible verses about temptation
Fourteen verses for the moment before you give in, shortest first. Several were written by people who had already failed once, and one was said by Jesus in Gethsemane, an hour before His arrest.
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Temptation in the Bible is common, expected, and survivable. Nobody is promised freedom from it, not even Jesus, who was tempted in every way that we are. What is promised is a way out, a high priest who understands, and a Spirit whose leading weakens the pull. Self-control is listed as fruit of that Spirit, not as a feat of will. Every verse below is quoted from the Berean Standard Bible with a line of context. Pick a short one, learn it in about five days, and it will be there the next time you need a sentence to say instead of yes.
Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.
A father's advice in the opening chapters of Proverbs. The heart is the spring everything else flows from, so guarding it is not one discipline among many; it is the one that makes the others possible.
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Two verbs in a fixed order. James puts submission to God before resistance to the devil, because resistance on its own is exhausting, and the promise of flight is attached to both.
I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.
From the longest psalm, a prayer built entirely around God's word. The writer's method against sin is memory: a verse already in the heart is there before the temptation is.
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Paul's alternative to gritting your teeth. He does not say suppress the flesh; he says walk by the Spirit, and the desires lose their grip as a side effect of going somewhere else.
Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who does not control his temper.
In the ancient world a city without walls was not a city, just a target. The proverb says a person without self-control is the same, open to whatever comes.
Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.
The writer's argument for why Jesus had to be fully human. His temptation was real suffering, and that experience is what qualifies Him to help rather than something that sets Him apart from us.
Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Peter, who was once told that Satan had asked to sift him, writes the warning he learned the hard way. The lion is real, and alertness is the ordinary response to a lion.
“Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
Jesus in Gethsemane, to disciples who kept falling asleep. He names the gap between wanting to do right and being able to, and prescribes prayer as the way across it.
Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Paul to Timothy, a young pastor. Flee is the first verb and pursue is the second, and the pursuing is done in company, with those who call on the Lord, not alone.
He who is slow to anger is better than a warrior, and he who controls his temper is greater than one who captures a city.
A proverb from a warrior culture that ranks self-control above conquest. Taking a city was the greatest thing a man could do, and holding his temper is called greater.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone. It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age
Grace in this verse is a teacher, and its lesson is a no. Paul's point is that the same grace that saves also trains, so that refusing a passion is not the opposite of grace but its work.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.
The reason a tempted person can pray without shame. Jesus felt the full weight of every temptation and did not give in, so He knows both how hard it pulls and how to stand.
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.
James refuses to let anyone blame God. Temptation begins with one's own desire, and the fishing words, lured and enticed, mean the bait only works on an appetite that is already there.
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.
Paul to a church in a city famous for excess. Three promises in one verse: your temptation is not unique, it is not beyond you, and there is a way out, which is different from a way around.
Word counts use this site's counting rule in the Berean Standard Bible. Each reference links to the verse in its chapter, because a verse understood in context lands better than a verse alone. Where a verse is quoted on its own, a trailing comma or a quotation mark left unbalanced is dropped (Titus 2:11-12).
A sentence to say instead of yes
Temptation rarely gives notice, which is why a verse against it has to be memorized before it is needed. The five-step method takes a few minutes a day: hear the verse aloud, say it while more and more words hide themselves, and finish by reciting it from just the reference. Start with James 4:7 or Psalm 119:11; either is yours within the week.
Questions
What does the Bible say about temptation?
The Bible says temptation is common to everyone, that God does not tempt anyone but does provide a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13, James 1:13-14), and that Jesus was tempted in every way that we are without sinning, so He can sympathize and help (Hebrews 4:15, Hebrews 2:18). The practical instructions are short: submit to God and resist the devil (James 4:7), watch and pray (Matthew 26:41), flee and pursue (2 Timothy 2:22), and keep God's word in your heart (Psalm 119:11).
What does the Bible say about self-control?
Self-control is listed among the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), which means the Bible treats it as something grown rather than forced. Proverbs ranks a person who controls his temper above a warrior who captures a city (Proverbs 16:32) and compares someone without self-control to a city whose walls are broken down (Proverbs 25:28). Paul's route to it is to walk by the Spirit so that the desires of the flesh lose their pull (Galatians 5:16).
Which Bible verse about temptation is best to memorize first?
James 4:7 is fourteen words with two clear verbs: Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Psalm 119:11 is fifteen words and explains why memorizing helps at all: I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You. Either can be learned in a few days, and 1 Corinthians 10:13 is the one to learn next.
Half remember a different verse?
The words don't need to match exactly, just type what you remember.