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100 Bible Verses about Bitterness

Ephesians 4:31 ESV / 10,790 helpful votes

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

Hebrews 12:15 ESV / 10,249 helpful votes

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

Ephesians 4:31-32 ESV / 7,759 helpful votes

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Acts 8:23 ESV / 7,435 helpful votes

For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity.”

Matthew 6:14-15 ESV / 6,881 helpful votes

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Ephesians 4:26 ESV / 6,795 helpful votes

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

Hebrews 12:14-15 ESV / 6,448 helpful votes

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;

Romans 3:14 ESV / 6,094 helpful votes

“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

Colossians 3:8 ESV / 5,829 helpful votes

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Proverbs 10:12 ESV / 5,618 helpful votes

Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.

Proverbs 15:1 ESV / 5,460 helpful votes

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Mark 11:25 ESV / 5,272 helpful votes

And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

Job 10:1 ESV / 5,248 helpful votes

“I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

Proverbs 14:10 ESV / 5,209 helpful votes

The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy.

Proverbs 17:25 ESV / 4,969 helpful votes

A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.

James 1:19-20 ESV / 4,910 helpful votes

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Colossians 3:13 ESV / 4,405 helpful votes

Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Romans 12:2 ESV / 4,386 helpful votes

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Job 7:11 ESV / 4,355 helpful votes

“Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

Job 21:25 ESV / 4,337 helpful votes

Another dies in bitterness of soul, never having tasted of prosperity.

Proverbs 20:22 ESV / 4,020 helpful votes

Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.

Ephesians 4:32 ESV / 3,958 helpful votes

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Isaiah 38:17 ESV / 3,832 helpful votes

Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness; but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.

Ezekiel 3:14 ESV / 3,662 helpful votes

The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong upon me.

1 John 1:9 ESV / 3,559 helpful votes

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Psalm 37:8 ESV / 3,504 helpful votes

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

James 3:14 ESV / 3,420 helpful votes

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.

Romans 12:17-21 ESV / 3,238 helpful votes

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Ezekiel 27:31 ESV / 3,159 helpful votes

They make themselves bald for you and put sackcloth on their waist, and they weep over you in bitterness of soul, with bitter mourning.

Ecclesiastes 7:9 ESV / 3,127 helpful votes

Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools.

James 1:26 ESV / 3,059 helpful votes

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.

Job 9:18 ESV / 3,007 helpful votes

He will not let me get my breath, but fills me with bitterness.

James 1:19 ESV / 3,000 helpful votes

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

1 Peter 2:1 ESV / 2,949 helpful votes

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

Ephesians 4:26-27 ESV / 2,937 helpful votes

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.

2 Samuel 2:26 ESV / 2,710 helpful votes

Then Abner called to Joab, “Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter? How long will it be before you tell your people to turn from the pursuit of their brothers?”

1 Samuel 1:10 ESV / 2,592 helpful votes

She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.

Colossians 3:19 ESV / 2,492 helpful votes

Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.

Proverbs 15:18 ESV / 2,425 helpful votes

A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.

Proverbs 29:22 ESV / 2,302 helpful votes

A man of wrath stirs up strife, and one given to anger causes much transgression.

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 2,283 helpful votes

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

Ephesians 4:2 ESV / 2,258 helpful votes

With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

1 Samuel 15:32 ESV / 2,256 helpful votes

Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”

Isaiah 38:15 ESV / 2,235 helpful votes

What shall I say? For he has spoken to me, and he himself has done it. I walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.

Proverbs 17:9 ESV / 2,228 helpful votes

Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.

Romans 12:19 ESV / 2,175 helpful votes

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Proverbs 19:11 ESV / 2,116 helpful votes

Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

1 John 3:15 ESV / 2,021 helpful votes

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

John 16:33 ESV / 2,019 helpful votes

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Lamentations 3:15 ESV / 2,011 helpful votes

He has filled me with bitterness; he has sated me with wormwood.

Ephesians 4:25 ESV / 1,984 helpful votes

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

Matthew 5:23-24 ESV / 1,958 helpful votes

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Romans 5:8 ESV / 1,940 helpful votes

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 Samuel 30:6 ESV / 1,931 helpful votes

And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

Psalm 51:10 ESV / 1,915 helpful votes

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

James 4:7 ESV / 1,876 helpful votes

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Deuteronomy 29:18 ESV / 1,849 helpful votes

Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit,

Hebrews 12:14 ESV / 1,832 helpful votes

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

Hebrews 10:30 ESV / 1,734 helpful votes

For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”

Ephesians 4:22 ESV / 1,732 helpful votes

To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,

Galatians 5:19-21 ESV / 1,720 helpful votes

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Colossians 3:12-13 ESV / 1,708 helpful votes

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

1 Corinthians 14:20 ESV / 1,708 helpful votes

Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.

1 Corinthians 5:8 ESV / 1,699 helpful votes

Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

1 John 4:20 ESV / 1,692 helpful votes

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

Matthew 6:12 ESV / 1,581 helpful votes

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Romans 8:28 ESV / 1,538 helpful votes

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Matthew 18:21-22 ESV / 1,468 helpful votes

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

Ephesians 4:1-32 ESV / 1,428 helpful votes

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ...

Ruth 1:20 ESV / 1,419 helpful votes

She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.

Ezekiel 21:6 ESV / 1,411 helpful votes

“As for you, son of man, groan; with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan before their eyes.

Job 23:2 ESV / 1,393 helpful votes

“Today also my complaint is bitter; my hand is heavy on account of my groaning.

Leviticus 19:17-18 ESV / 1,370 helpful votes

“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Lamentations 1:4 ESV / 1,252 helpful votes

The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the festival; all her gates are desolate; her priests groan; her virgins have been afflicted, and she herself suffers bitterly.

John 3:16 ESV / 1,247 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Zechariah 12:10 ESV / 1,181 helpful votes

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.

Matthew 5:44 ESV / 1,177 helpful votes

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

Matthew 18:21-35 ESV / 1,166 helpful votes

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. ...

Luke 17:3-4 ESV / 1,138 helpful votes

Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Ephesians 4:1 ESV / 1,047 helpful votes

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,

1 John 2:9 ESV / 1,005 helpful votes

Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.

Hebrews 12:1 ESV / 985 helpful votes

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Numbers 5:18 ESV / 969 helpful votes

And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord and unbind the hair of the woman's head and place in her hands the grain offering of remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And in his hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse.

Proverbs 16:32 ESV / 965 helpful votes

Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.

1 Samuel 2:1-36 ESV / 900 helpful votes

And Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the Lord; my horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation. “There is none holy like the Lord: for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. ...

John 3:16-17 ESV / 897 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Luke 6:37 ESV / 860 helpful votes

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven;

Ephesians 3:17-19 ESV / 815 helpful votes

So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Proverbs 28:13 ESV / 809 helpful votes

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

Deuteronomy 32:35 ESV / 802 helpful votes

Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.’

Leviticus 19:18 ESV / 758 helpful votes

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Acts 17:10-11 ESV / 748 helpful votes

The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Luke 18:1-8 ESV / 671 helpful votes

And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” ...

Luke 18:9-14 ESV / 669 helpful votes

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ ...

Amos 2:1-3 ESV / 667 helpful votes

Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom. So I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the strongholds of Kerioth, and Moab shall die amid uproar, amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet; I will cut off the ruler from its midst, and will kill all its princes with him,” says the Lord.

Isaiah 14:12-15 ESV / 663 helpful votes

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.

1 Samuel 1:1-28 ESV / 651 helpful votes

There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite. He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. Now this man used to go up year by year from his city to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord of hosts at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests of the Lord. On the day when Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the Lord had closed her womb. ...

Ephesians 4:3 ESV / 640 helpful votes

Eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

James 4:1 ESV / 603 helpful votes

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?

Psalm 37:8-9 ESV / 595 helpful votes

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil. For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

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