100 Bible Verses about Cowards

Revelation 21:8 ESV / 1,367 helpful votes

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Proverbs 28:1 ESV / 694 helpful votes

The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

Revelation 22:15 ESV / 542 helpful votes

Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV / 531 helpful votes

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Proverbs 29:25 ESV / 457 helpful votes

The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

Revelation 2:11 ESV / 440 helpful votes

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’

1 Corinthians 6:9 ESV / 434 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,

Isaiah 51:12 ESV / 430 helpful votes

“I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass,

Deuteronomy 20:8 ESV / 423 helpful votes

And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ‘Is there any man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house, lest he make the heart of his fellows melt like his own.’

Judges 7:3 ESV / 417 helpful votes

Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.

1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV / 399 helpful votes

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 396 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,

Luke 22:54-60 ESV / 378 helpful votes

Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house, and Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” ...

Mark 14:66-72 ESV / 377 helpful votes

And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” ...

John 3:16-17 ESV / 361 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.

Matthew 8:26 ESV / 350 helpful votes

And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

Joshua 23:10 ESV / 344 helpful votes

One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God who fights for you, just as he promised you.

Galatians 2:11-14 ESV / 343 helpful votes

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Revelation 9:17 ESV / 339 helpful votes

And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths.

Revelation 21:27 ESV / 337 helpful votes

But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

John 3:2 ESV / 334 helpful votes

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.”

John 9:22 ESV / 331 helpful votes

(His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.)

2 Timothy 4:16 ESV / 330 helpful votes

At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them!

Joshua 7:5 ESV / 329 helpful votes

And the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted and became as water.

Galatians 6:12 ESV / 328 helpful votes

It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.

Ephesians 5:11 ESV / 327 helpful votes

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.

Luke 1:37 ESV / 327 helpful votes

For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Psalm 78:9 ESV / 327 helpful votes

The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle.

Matthew 26:56 ESV / 324 helpful votes

But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.

John 6:19 ESV / 317 helpful votes

When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened.

Matthew 10:28 ESV / 309 helpful votes

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

2 Timothy 4:3-4 ESV / 307 helpful votes

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

Romans 8:31 ESV / 301 helpful votes

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

1 Samuel 17:24 ESV / 290 helpful votes

All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid.

Revelation 20:1-15 ESV / 289 helpful votes

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. ...

Revelation 20:14 ESV / 285 helpful votes

Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

John 19:38 ESV / 285 helpful votes

After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body.

Job 18:11 ESV / 276 helpful votes

Terrors frighten him on every side, and chase him at his heels.

Galatians 5:20 ESV / 273 helpful votes

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

Matthew 26:69-74 ESV / 272 helpful votes

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” ...

Mark 6:50 ESV / 268 helpful votes

For they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

Matthew 5:11-12 ESV / 268 helpful votes

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Joshua 2:11 ESV / 268 helpful votes

And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.

Genesis 26:7-9 ESV / 268 helpful votes

When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he feared to say, “My wife,” thinking, “lest the men of the place should kill me because of Rebekah,” because she was attractive in appearance. When he had been there a long time, Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out of a window and saw Isaac laughing with Rebekah his wife. So Abimelech called Isaac and said, “Behold, she is your wife. How then could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac said to him, “Because I thought, ‘Lest I die because of her.’”

Genesis 31:31 ESV / 267 helpful votes

Jacob answered and said to Laban, “Because I was afraid, for I thought that you would take your daughters from me by force.

Luke 8:25 ESV / 266 helpful votes

He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

Mark 4:38 ESV / 266 helpful votes

But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

2 Samuel 15:13-17 ESV / 266 helpful votes

And a messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.” Then David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us flee, or else there will be no escape for us from Absalom. Go quickly, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down ruin on us and strike the city with the edge of the sword.” And the king's servants said to the king, “Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king decides.” So the king went out, and all his household after him. And the king left ten concubines to keep the house. And the king went out, and all the people after him. And they halted at the last house.

1 Samuel 16:2 ESV / 266 helpful votes

And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’

Joshua 10:16 ESV / 266 helpful votes

These five kings fled and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah.

Exodus 32:22-24 ESV / 266 helpful votes

And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”

Matthew 14:25 ESV / 265 helpful votes

And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.

Joshua 5:1 ESV / 265 helpful votes

As soon as all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea, heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel.

1 Samuel 13:6-7 ESV / 254 helpful votes

When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

Leviticus 26:36 ESV / 253 helpful votes

And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues.

John 12:42-43 ESV / 252 helpful votes

Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

Leviticus 26:37 ESV / 251 helpful votes

They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues. And you shall have no power to stand before your enemies.

Job 15:24 ESV / 249 helpful votes

Distress and anguish terrify him; they prevail against him, like a king ready for battle.

Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV / 249 helpful votes

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

Numbers 13:31-33 ESV / 249 helpful votes

Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”

Numbers 13:28 ESV / 249 helpful votes

However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there.

1 Peter 4:16 ESV / 247 helpful votes

Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

2 Timothy 2:12 ESV / 247 helpful votes

If we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;

Psalm 94:16 ESV / 247 helpful votes

Who rises up for me against the wicked? Who stands up for me against evildoers?

Genesis 3:12 ESV / 247 helpful votes

The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

James 4:4 ESV / 246 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.

Isaiah 51:13 ESV / 246 helpful votes

And have forgotten the Lord, your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, and you fear continually all the day because of the wrath of the oppressor, when he sets himself to destroy? And where is the wrath of the oppressor?

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 ESV / 243 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.

Revelation 22:1-21 ESV / 242 helpful votes

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. ...

John 18:27 ESV / 234 helpful votes

Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed.

John 18:25 ESV / 234 helpful votes

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, “You also are not one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”

1 Timothy 1:10 ESV / 225 helpful votes

The sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine,

Revelation 2:2 ESV / 223 helpful votes

“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.

Acts 16:27 ESV / 223 helpful votes

When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

Matthew 28:4 ESV / 223 helpful votes

And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.

Revelation 21:1 ESV / 222 helpful votes

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

1 John 3:15 ESV / 222 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 19:9 ESV / 221 helpful votes

A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish.

Proverbs 19:5 ESV / 220 helpful votes

A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape.

Acts 17:10-11 ESV / 218 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.

Genesis 20:2-12 ESV / 210 helpful votes

And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife.” Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. ...

Numbers 14:1-5 ESV / 209 helpful votes

Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.” Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel.

Acts 2:38 ESV / 208 helpful votes

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Genesis 12:11-19 ESV / 208 helpful votes

When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. ...

Hebrews 11:1 ESV / 207 helpful votes

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Joshua 17:14-18 ESV / 207 helpful votes

Then the people of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me but one lot and one portion as an inheritance, although I am a numerous people, since all along the Lord has blessed me?” And Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up by yourselves to the forest, and there clear ground for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.” The people of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us. Yet all the Canaanites who dwell in the plain have chariots of iron, both those in Beth-shean and its villages and those in the Valley of Jezreel.” Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power. You shall not have one allotment only, but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.”

Mark 4:17 ESV / 190 helpful votes

And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.

John 10:10 ESV / 188 helpful votes

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

John 12:42 ESV / 181 helpful votes

Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue;

1 Samuel 13:6 ESV / 180 helpful votes

When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns,

Genesis 20:5 ESV / 180 helpful votes

Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.”

1 Samuel 13:7 ESV / 179 helpful votes

And some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

Numbers 14:4 ESV / 174 helpful votes

And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

Joshua 1:9 ESV / 170 helpful votes

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Isaiah 41:10 ESV / 165 helpful votes

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

John 19:12-16 ESV / 163 helpful votes

From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus,

Deuteronomy 32:30 ESV / 160 helpful votes

How could one have chased a thousand, and two have put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had given them up?

Luke 17:33 ESV / 147 helpful votes

Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.

Revelation 21:2 ESV / 132 helpful votes

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

Revelation 21:11 ESV / 111 helpful votes

Having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

Suggest a Verse


Visit the Bible online to search for words if you don’t know the specific passage your’re looking for.