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100 Bible Verses about Choosing Friends

1 Corinthians 15:33 ESV / 6,286 helpful votes

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

Proverbs 18:24 ESV / 5,422 helpful votes

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 13:20 ESV / 5,266 helpful votes

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Proverbs 27:17 ESV / 5,095 helpful votes

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

Proverbs 17:17 ESV / 4,947 helpful votes

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Proverbs 12:26 ESV / 4,545 helpful votes

One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

Proverbs 22:24-25 ESV / 4,213 helpful votes

Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 ESV / 3,150 helpful votes

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

Proverbs 16:28 ESV / 3,115 helpful votes

A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.

Proverbs 27:9 ESV / 3,092 helpful votes

Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.

John 15:13 ESV / 2,576 helpful votes

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV / 2,525 helpful votes

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Proverbs 17:9 ESV / 2,519 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 27:6 ESV / 2,244 helpful votes

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

James 4:4 ESV / 2,048 helpful votes

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Proverbs 11:14 ESV / 1,981 helpful votes

Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.

Proverbs 27:5-6 ESV / 1,902 helpful votes

Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

Proverbs 19:20 ESV / 1,845 helpful votes

Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.

Proverbs 24:5 ESV / 1,822 helpful votes

A wise man is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might,

Proverbs 27:5 ESV / 1,765 helpful votes

Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

Job 2:11 ESV / 1,757 helpful votes

Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him.

Ecclesiastes 4:9 ESV / 1,745 helpful votes

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.

Proverbs 27:10 ESV / 1,695 helpful votes

Do not forsake your friend and your father's friend, and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.

John 15:15 ESV / 1,602 helpful votes

No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

Luke 6:31 ESV / 1,580 helpful votes

And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

2 Kings 2:2 ESV / 1,505 helpful votes

And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

2 Corinthians 6:14 ESV / 1,465 helpful votes

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

1 Corinthians 5:11 ESV / 1,463 helpful votes

But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.

Revelation 14:12 ESV / 1,400 helpful votes

Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.

Proverbs 22:24 ESV / 1,380 helpful votes

Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man,

Proverbs 16:29 ESV / 1,344 helpful votes

A man of violence entices his neighbor and leads him in a way that is not good.

Ecclesiastes 4:10 ESV / 1,314 helpful votes

For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

Job 6:14 ESV / 1,260 helpful votes

“He who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV / 1,254 helpful votes

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Proverbs 15:22 ESV / 1,208 helpful votes

Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.

John 15:12-15 ESV / 1,202 helpful votes

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

Romans 12:10 ESV / 1,186 helpful votes

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

Psalm 1:1 ESV / 1,181 helpful votes

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

Proverbs 24:6 ESV / 1,179 helpful votes

For by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.

Psalm 133:1 ESV / 1,152 helpful votes

A Song of Ascents. Of David. Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!

Revelation 11:1-19 ESV / 1,125 helpful votes

Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. ...

Revelation 12:1-17 ESV / 1,109 helpful votes

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, ...

Colossians 3:12-14 ESV / 1,073 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. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Colossians 3:13 ESV / 1,068 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.

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 1,046 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,

Psalm 26:4-5 ESV / 1,044 helpful votes

I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 ESV / 1,029 helpful votes

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

John 15:12 ESV / 924 helpful votes

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

1 John 4:8 ESV / 916 helpful votes

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Galatians 6:2 ESV / 908 helpful votes

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

1 Peter 4:8-10 ESV / 891 helpful votes

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:

James 4:8 ESV / 882 helpful votes

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

1 John 3:1 ESV / 868 helpful votes

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Proverbs 18:2 ESV / 855 helpful votes

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.

1 John 4:7 ESV / 845 helpful votes

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

Luke 1:37 ESV / 838 helpful votes

For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Proverbs 20:19 ESV / 783 helpful votes

Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a simple babbler.

Proverbs 12:2 ESV / 701 helpful votes

A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but a man of evil devices he condemns.

Proverbs 19:4 ESV / 692 helpful votes

Wealth brings many new friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend.

Proverbs 14:6-7 ESV / 692 helpful votes

A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain, but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding. Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge.

1 Corinthians 15:33-34 ESV / 687 helpful votes

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

1 Samuel 18:1-3 ESV / 594 helpful votes

As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house. Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.

Proverbs 12:27 ESV / 566 helpful votes

Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.

John 14:6 ESV / 563 helpful votes

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 3:16-17 ESV / 557 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.

1 John 4:21 ESV / 539 helpful votes

And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Proverbs 20:18 ESV / 539 helpful votes

Plans are established by counsel; by wise guidance wage war.

John 17:17 ESV / 534 helpful votes

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

1 Timothy 3:4 ESV / 531 helpful votes

He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive,

2 Thessalonians 3:6 ESV / 526 helpful votes

Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.

Philippians 3:2 ESV / 526 helpful votes

Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.

Romans 16:17 ESV / 526 helpful votes

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them.

Proverbs 14:6 ESV / 526 helpful votes

A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain, but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding.

Revelation 12:9 ESV / 524 helpful votes

And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

Proverbs 12:5 ESV / 515 helpful votes

The thoughts of the righteous are just; the counsels of the wicked are deceitful.

Proverbs 1:10 ESV / 511 helpful votes

My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

1 Corinthians 15:34 ESV / 500 helpful votes

Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.

John 15:13-15 ESV / 447 helpful votes

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV / 401 helpful votes

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Ruth 1:16-17 ESV / 393 helpful votes

But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.”

Proverbs 22:11 ESV / 388 helpful votes

He who loves purity of heart, and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend.

1 Chronicles 16:11 ESV / 377 helpful votes

Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!

Psalm 139:1-24 ESV / 372 helpful votes

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. ...

Proverbs 17:4 ESV / 355 helpful votes

An evildoer listens to wicked lips, and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.

James 4:2 ESV / 336 helpful votes

You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.

Proverbs 13:2 ESV / 332 helpful votes

From the fruit of his mouth a man eats what is good, but the desire of the treacherous is for violence.

John 15:12-13 ESV / 330 helpful votes

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Hebrews 13:2 ESV / 321 helpful votes

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Colossians 2:1-23 ESV / 295 helpful votes

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. ...

Proverbs 1:10-19 ESV / 281 helpful votes

My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason; like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder; throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse”— ...

Proverbs 20:6 ESV / 279 helpful votes

Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?

Proverbs 19:6-7 ESV / 271 helpful votes

Many seek the favor of a generous man, and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts. All a poor man's brothers hate him; how much more do his friends go far from him! He pursues them with words, but does not have them.

Matthew 5:22 ESV / 265 helpful votes

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

Psalm 119:63 ESV / 259 helpful votes

I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts.

Revelation 1:1-20 ESV / 255 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, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ...

Job 2:11-13 ESV / 253 helpful votes

Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. And when they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

Proverbs 4:14-19 ESV / 250 helpful votes

Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on. For they cannot sleep unless they have done wrong; they are robbed of sleep unless they have made someone stumble. For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. ...

Isaiah 3:1-26 ESV / 235 helpful votes

For behold, the Lord God of hosts is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and supply, all support of bread, and all support of water; the mighty man and the soldier, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder, the captain of fifty and the man of rank, the counselor and the skillful magician and the expert in charms. And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them. And the people will oppress one another, every one his fellow and every one his neighbor; the youth will be insolent to the elder, and the despised to the honorable. ...

Romans 15:32 ESV / 232 helpful votes

So that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company.

1 John 1:9 ESV / 217 helpful votes

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

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