The Bible does not hurry grief. Abraham wept for Sarah. David fasted for a dying child and then rose and worshiped. Job tore his robe. Jesus stood at a friend's tomb and wept, though he was about to raise him. The people in Scripture who knew God best are also the ones who grieved most openly, and the Bible records their tears without embarrassment.

That matters, because grieving people are often handed verses too quickly, as if the right sentence could close the wound. The passages below are arranged for where you are: the first days, the long middle, and the hope beyond. Each comes with its context, so that it can be read honestly rather than as a slogan. Quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible; every reference links to the chapter. For more, see the grief topic hub.

One more thing before the verses. If grief has become something you cannot carry, if you cannot sleep or eat or function, or if you have thoughts of harming yourself, please talk to a doctor, a counselor, or someone you trust today. The Bible's writers used physicians and leaned on friends. Nothing here is meant to replace that.

For the first days

Psalm 34:18

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.

— Psalm 34:18

The most quoted verse for grief, and one of the shortest. It does not say God fixes the broken heart at once. It says he comes near to it. Psalm 147 says the rest: "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds" (Psalm 147:3), and binding is slow work.

John 11:35

Jesus wept.

— John 11:35

The shortest verse in the Bible is a sentence about grief. Jesus knew he was about to raise Lazarus, and he wept anyway, "deeply moved in spirit and troubled" at the sight of Mary and the mourners. Whatever else the verse means, it means that tears are not a failure of faith. The people watching said, "See how He loved him!"

Matthew 5:4

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

— Matthew 5:4

Jesus places mourners among the blessed, not the failed, and promises comfort in the passive voice: it will be given, not manufactured.

2 Corinthians 1:3–4

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

— 2 Corinthians 1:3–4

"All comfort" and "all our troubles." Paul, who had recently despaired of life itself, calls God the source of every comfort, and adds that comfort received becomes comfort to give.

Psalm 56:8

You have taken account of my wanderings. Put my tears in Your bottle— are they not in Your book?

— Psalm 56:8

An image for the days when no one else sees the crying: God keeps the tears.

Matthew 11:28

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

— Matthew 11:28

Permission to grieve

Romans 12:15 and Genesis 23:2

Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.

— Romans 12:15

The Bible's instruction to everyone around the grieving person: do not fix, weep. Abraham, the father of faith, "went out to mourn and to weep" for Sarah (Genesis 23:2). Grief is not a lapse in faith; it is what love does when it loses.

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4

To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven … a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.

— Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4

Mourning has a season, and the Bible does not shorten it.

Psalm 6:6 and Psalm 13:1–2

I am weary from groaning; all night I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.

— Psalm 6:6

How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I wrestle in my soul, with sorrow in my heart each day?

— Psalm 13:1–2

A third of the Psalms are laments. The Bible's own prayer book gives words for nights of weeping and for asking God "how long." Praying these is not complaint; it is faith speaking in the dark.

Job 1:20–21

Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, saying: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD."

— Job 1:20–21

Tearing his robe and worshiping in the same breath. Job's line has been spoken at gravesides for three thousand years because it holds loss and trust together without pretending either away.

For the long middle

Psalm 23:4

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

— Psalm 23:4

The psalm promises passage through the valley, not a route around it, and its comfort is presence: "You are with me." Our verse-by-verse guide to Psalm 23 walks through it.

Isaiah 43:2

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you go through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you.

— Isaiah 43:2

Lamentations 3:31–33

For the Lord will not cast us off forever. Even if He causes grief, He will show compassion according to His abundant loving devotion. For He does not willingly afflict or grieve the sons of men.

— Lamentations 3:31–33

Written in a destroyed city. The chapter admits that God is involved in the grief and insists that he takes no pleasure in it.

Psalm 42:3, 5

My tears have been my food both day and night … Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him.

— Psalm 42:3, 5

The psalmist speaks to his own soul, and the word "yet" carries the weight: not now, but yet.

Psalm 73:26

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

— Psalm 73:26

Psalm 119:50

This is my comfort in affliction, that Your promise has given me life.

— Psalm 119:50

2 Samuel 12:22–23

"While the child was alive, I fasted and wept … But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me."

— 2 Samuel 12:22–23

David's words after the death of his infant son, among the most quoted in the Bible for the loss of a child: "I will go to him." They express both the finality of the loss and the hope of reunion.

Isaiah 53:3–4

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief … Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows.

— Isaiah 53:3–4

Christians read this of Jesus: the God who comforts grief is a God who has felt it.

Psalm 30:5, 11

Weeping may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning. … You turned my mourning into dancing; You peeled off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.

— Psalm 30:5, 11

Not a promise of a short night. A promise that the night is not the whole story.

For the hope beyond

John 11:25–26

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?"

— John 11:25–26

Spoken to Martha at her brother's tomb, minutes before Jesus wept. The two belong together: the promise of resurrection and the tears.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–14, 18

We do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you will not grieve like the rest, who are without hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. … Therefore encourage one another with these words.

— 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14, 18

Paul does not say Christians do not grieve. He says they do not grieve as those who have no hope. The grief is real and the hope is real, and the passage ends by telling believers to say these words to each other.

1 Corinthians 15:54–55

"Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?"

— 1 Corinthians 15:54–55

The King James Version's "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" has been read at funerals for four centuries.

John 14:1–3

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe in Me as well. In My Father's house are many rooms … I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am."

— John 14:1–3

Romans 8:38–39

For I am convinced that neither death nor life … will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

— Romans 8:38–39

Death is the first thing on the list of what cannot separate.

Psalm 116:15 and Philippians 1:21–23

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.

— Psalm 116:15

Paul, facing his own death, wrote that "to die is gain" and that to depart and be with Christ "is far better indeed" (Philippians 1:21–23). For the one who has died in Christ, the Bible's word is not loss but arrival.

John 16:20, 22

"You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. … I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy."

— John 16:20, 22

Revelation 21:4

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.

— Revelation 21:4

The Bible's last word on grief. Not that tears are wrong, but that they will end, and that God himself will wipe them.

How to use these verses

  • Do not skip the first section. Presence before promises. Psalm 34:18 and John 11:35 come before Revelation 21.
  • Pray the laments. Psalm 13 and Psalm 42 give words for the nights. Read them aloud.
  • Say Job's sentence when you can, not before. "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away" is not owed on the first day.
  • Let others weep with you. Romans 12:15 is their instruction; let them keep it.
  • Keep one verse close. Psalm 34:18 or Psalm 73:26; our memorization guide shows how.
  • Read the passages around them. John 11, Psalm 30, and 1 Thessalonians 4 are each a few minutes, and each is stronger whole. For the surrounding passages on hope, see our verses about hope.

FAQ

What is the best Bible verse for someone who is grieving?

Psalm 34:18, "The LORD is near to the brokenhearted," for the first days; 1 Thessalonians 4:13, which allows grief while grounding it in hope; and Revelation 21:4, the promise that God will wipe away every tear. Which one helps depends on where the person is.

Is it wrong for a Christian to grieve?

No. Jesus wept at Lazarus's tomb, Abraham mourned Sarah, David fasted and wept for his son, and Paul told the Thessalonians not to grieve as those without hope, which means they would grieve. Grief is the shape love takes in loss.

What does the Bible say about the death of a loved one?

That death is real and grief is right, that God is near to the brokenhearted, that those who die in Christ are "with Christ, which is far better," and that death will finally be swallowed up in victory and every tear wiped away.

What Bible verse says God will wipe away every tear?

Revelation 21:4, echoing Isaiah 25:8. It describes the new creation, where there is no more death, mourning, crying, or pain.

What did Jesus say about grief?

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" (Matthew 5:4), "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25), and "your grief will turn to joy" (John 16:20). And before saying any of that at Lazarus's tomb, he wept.