100 Bible Verses about Controlling Anger

James 1:19-20 ESV / 298 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.

Proverbs 15:1 ESV / 241 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 14:29 ESV / 215 helpful votes

Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.

Ephesians 4:26-27 ESV / 176 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.

Ephesians 4:32 ESV / 150 helpful votes

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

Ephesians 4:31 ESV / 131 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 19:11 ESV / 123 helpful votes

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

James 1:26 ESV / 121 helpful votes

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

Ephesians 4:31-32 ESV / 105 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.

Proverbs 16:32 ESV / 102 helpful votes

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

Romans 12:17-21 ESV / 97 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.

Proverbs 10:12 ESV / 92 helpful votes

Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.

James 1:20 ESV / 82 helpful votes

For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Colossians 3:5-10 ESV / 77 helpful votes

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices ...

Galatians 5:19-21 ESV / 70 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.

James 4:11-12 ESV / 59 helpful votes

Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

Ephesians 4:26 ESV / 59 helpful votes

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

James 4:1 ESV / 58 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 15:18 ESV / 58 helpful votes

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

Romans 12:2 ESV / 54 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.

Proverbs 20:22 ESV / 54 helpful votes

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

Philippians 4:6-7 ESV / 47 helpful votes

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 5:16-26 ESV / 47 helpful votes

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, ...

Luke 17:3-4 ESV / 43 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.”

James 1:22-27 ESV / 41 helpful votes

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. ...

Proverbs 29:11 ESV / 40 helpful votes

A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.

Proverbs 29:20 ESV / 37 helpful votes

Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

Proverbs 29:22 ESV / 36 helpful votes

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

Colossians 3:7-8 ESV / 35 helpful votes

In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Proverbs 12:16 ESV / 34 helpful votes

The vexation of a fool is known at once, but the prudent ignores an insult.

Hebrews 13:5 ESV / 33 helpful votes

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Hebrews 13:1 ESV / 32 helpful votes

Let brotherly love continue.

1 Corinthians 7:1-40 ESV / 31 helpful votes

Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. ...

Romans 13:11-14 ESV / 30 helpful votes

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Ecclesiastes 7:9 ESV / 30 helpful votes

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

Colossians 3:8 ESV / 25 helpful votes

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

James 2:12-13 ESV / 23 helpful votes

So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Proverbs 28:6 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.

Psalm 37:8 ESV / 23 helpful votes

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

Philippians 2:2-8 ESV / 22 helpful votes

Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ...

James 1:19 ESV / 20 helpful votes

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

James 2:14-24 ESV / 19 helpful votes

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. ...

Mark 12:28-31 ESV / 17 helpful votes

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Proverbs 24:28 ESV / 17 helpful votes

Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips.

John 3:16 ESV / 16 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.

Luke 6:38 ESV / 16 helpful votes

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Proverbs 25:28 ESV / 16 helpful votes

A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

Colossians 3:9 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices

Matthew 5:42 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

Colossians 3:1 ESV / 14 helpful votes

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Romans 12:1 ESV / 14 helpful votes

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Matthew 5:7 ESV / 14 helpful votes

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

Psalm 37:8-9 ESV / 14 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.

Psalm 7:11 ESV / 14 helpful votes

God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.

John 3:1-36 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ...

Exodus 20:16 ESV / 13 helpful votes

“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Galatians 5:22-23 ESV / 12 helpful votes

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

John 8:32 ESV / 12 helpful votes

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Mark 12:31 ESV / 12 helpful votes

The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Matthew 5:5-9 ESV / 12 helpful votes

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Matthew 4:8-10 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

Proverbs 16:28 ESV / 12 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 15:7 ESV / 12 helpful votes

The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools.

Proverbs 14:17 ESV / 12 helpful votes

A man of quick temper acts foolishly, and a man of evil devices is hated.

Ephesians 4:25 ESV / 11 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.

Isaiah 58:10-11 ESV / 11 helpful votes

If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Isaiah 29:13-15 ESV / 11 helpful votes

And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.” Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”

Proverbs 14:21 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.

Psalm 4:4 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah

Romans 8:28 ESV / 10 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 25:31-46 ESV / 10 helpful votes

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ...

Proverbs 15:8 ESV / 10 helpful votes

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him.

Proverbs 11:1 ESV / 10 helpful votes

A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight.

Leviticus 19:16-18 ESV / 10 helpful votes

You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord. “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.

Exodus 34:6 ESV / 10 helpful votes

The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,

Proverbs 24:29 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done.”

Exodus 13:17 ESV / 9 helpful votes

When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.”

1 Timothy 2:8 ESV / 8 helpful votes

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;

Colossians 3:12-14 ESV / 8 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.

Ephesians 6:4 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Ephesians 4:29 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

1 Corinthians 13:4-5 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

Luke 3:12-14 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

Mark 12:28-30 ESV / 8 helpful votes

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

Mark 3:5 ESV / 8 helpful votes

And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

Matthew 15:7-9 ESV / 8 helpful votes

You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

Matthew 5:21-26 ESV / 8 helpful votes

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 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. 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. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. ...

Micah 3:11-12 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Its heads give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say, “Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us.” Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height.

Isaiah 33:15-16 ESV / 8 helpful votes

He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on evil, he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.

Proverbs 30:33 ESV / 8 helpful votes

For pressing milk produces curds, pressing the nose produces blood, and pressing anger produces strife.

Proverbs 27:4 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?

Proverbs 22:24-25 ESV / 8 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.

Proverbs 17:7 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Fine speech is not becoming to a fool; still less is false speech to a prince.

Proverbs 16:21-32 ESV / 8 helpful votes

The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness. Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the instruction of fools is folly. The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips. Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. ...

Deuteronomy 25:13-16 ESV / 8 helpful votes

“You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small. You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small. A full and fair weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are an abomination to the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 15:7-11 ESV / 8 helpful votes

“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your eye look grudgingly on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and you be guilty of sin. You shall give to him freely, and your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

Galatians 5:20 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,

Romans 12:12-14:19 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. ...

Jeremiah 6:16-8:19 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ I set watchmen over you, saying, ‘Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not pay attention.’ Therefore hear, O nations, and know, O congregation, what will happen to them. Hear, O earth; behold, I am bringing disaster upon this people, the fruit of their devices, because they have not paid attention to my words; and as for my law, they have rejected it. What use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba, or sweet cane from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices pleasing to me. ...

Psalm 10:1-15:5 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised. For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the Lord. In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.” His ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them. ...

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