Verse collection
Bible verses for healing
Eleven verses for sickness and recovery, shortest first. Several are prayers in the Bible's own words, ready to borrow at a bedside, for yourself or for someone you love.
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Every verse below is quoted from the Berean Standard Bible with a line of context. These are verses for praying boldly, not a formula; the Bible prays for healing and is honest about waiting too. Pick a short one and learn it by heart; hospital rooms are where memorized verses earn their keep.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
The shortest healing verse in the Bible, and it covers both kinds of wound.
A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.
The Bible's oldest word on how spirits and bodies are wired together; medicine cabinets have been quoting it ever since.
The LORD will sustain him on his bed of illness and restore him from his bed of sickness.
Written for the sickbed specifically. Sustain now, restore after; both halves are the promise.
Beloved, I pray that in every way you may prosper and enjoy good health, as your soul also prospers.
How the early church prayed for a friend's health, in a letter short enough to read in one minute.
Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am frail; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are in agony.
A prayer for the worst nights, with no brave face on it. The Bible keeps prayers this raw on purpose; borrow it as written.
Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise.
The prophet's own prayer, and the most borrowed healing prayer in Scripture. Its logic is trust: if You do it, it is done.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds— He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases,
Forgiveness and healing named in the same breath, as the two kind deeds not to forget.
But I will restore your health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because they call you an outcast, Zion, for whom no one cares.
Spoken to a nation everyone had written off. The reason given for the healing is startling: because no one else cared.
And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
From the passage on calling the elders to pray over the sick; the church has prayed at bedsides on this verse's authority ever since.
He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. “By His stripes you are healed.”
Peter quoting Isaiah 53, below, and applying it. The deepest healing named here happened at the cross, past tense.
But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
Written seven centuries before the crucifixion it describes. The source of by His stripes we are healed.
Word counts use this site's counting rule in the Berean Standard Bible. Each reference links to the verse in its chapter. These verses are companions to good medical care, not a substitute for it.
A prayer you already know
Half of these verses are prayers, and a memorized prayer is the one that comes when you are too tired to compose one. The five-step method takes a few minutes a day; Jeremiah 17:14 learned this week is a prayer you will have at every bedside after.
Questions
What is a good Bible verse for healing?
Jeremiah 17:14 is a prayer ready to borrow: Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed. Psalm 147:3 is the shortest at nine words, and James 5:15 is the classic on praying for the sick.
What Bible verse can I pray for someone who is sick?
Jeremiah 17:14 and Psalm 6:2 are both prayers in the Bible's own words and can be prayed as written, swapping in the person's name. Psalm 41:3 is written for exactly that bedside.
Does the Bible promise physical healing?
It shows a God who heals and invites prayer for it, and it is honest that not every sickness ends in recovery: Paul prayed three times about his own affliction and received grace rather than removal. These verses are for praying boldly and resting either way, not a formula that obligates an outcome.
Half remember a different verse?
The words don't need to match exactly, just type what you remember.