Verse collection
Bible verses for comfort
Twelve verses for grief, loss, and sorrow, shortest first. Almost none of them explain the pain; they promise presence in it, and an end to it. That turns out to be what comfort is.
Print: verse cards · take-home slips · copywork sheets · all printables
Every verse below is quoted from the Berean Standard Bible with a line of context. If worry rather than grief is the weight tonight, the verses for anxiety are their own page. Pick a short one here and learn it by heart; a verse already in memory can be recited in the dark, when reading anything feels impossible.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Nine words, and the gentlest image in the psalms: wounds bound up by hand, one at a time.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
From the Beatitudes. Jesus calls the mourners blessed, not fixed, and puts the comfort in the future tense: a promise, not a schedule.
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
The verse most often shared with the grieving. Near is the whole promise; the broken heart moves God closer, not further.
This is my comfort in affliction, that Your promise has given me life.
The psalmist's comfort was a memorized promise; this page exists on the same theory.
As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you, and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.
The Bible's most tender simile for God, from the last chapter of Isaiah. Comfort with a face and arms.
The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of distress; He cares for those who trust in Him.
One warm verse from a fierce little book. The day of distress is assumed; the stronghold is the news.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Honest about failing strength, and often read at bedsides and funerals for exactly that honesty.
For His anger is fleeting, but His favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning.
Grief gets a room for the night in this verse, not a lease. The morning is on its way even while it is dark.
I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!
Jesus' last sentence to His friends before His arrest. Trouble is promised in the same breath as peace; neither cancels the other.
‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.
The Bible's last word on grief, from its second-to-last chapter. Every tear, wiped by hand; death itself filed under former things.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched; the flames will not set you ablaze.
Waters, rivers, fire: the verse assumes you will be in them. The promise is company through, not a detour around.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
Comfort with a forwarding address: what you receive in trouble becomes what you carry to the next person in it.
Word counts use this site's counting rule in the Berean Standard Bible. Each reference links to the verse in its chapter.
Comfort you can carry
Psalm 119:50 says it outright: my comfort in affliction is Your promise. A promise does its comforting best from memory, at the bedside, in the car, at 3 a.m. The five-step method takes a few minutes a day; Psalm 147:3 or Matthew 5:4 can be yours by the weekend, and they are also the right size to write in a card for someone else.
Questions
What is a comforting Bible verse for grief?
Psalm 34:18 is the one most often shared: The LORD is near to the brokenhearted. Matthew 5:4 promises that those who mourn will be comforted, and Revelation 21:4 looks to the day when every tear is wiped away. For a griever to carry, Psalm 147:3 is nine words.
What Bible verse can I send to someone who is grieving?
Short and warm travels best: Psalm 34:18, Matthew 5:4, or Isaiah 66:13 (as a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you). Send the verse itself rather than commentary on it; the words have carried grief before and know the way.
How do these verses actually comfort?
Mostly by promising presence rather than explanations. Almost none of them say why the loss happened; they say who is near while it hurts, and that the sorrow has an end. A verse memorized beforehand can be recited slowly and aloud when reading anything feels impossible.
Half remember a different verse?
The words don't need to match exactly, just type what you remember.