Grief and loss are inevitable parts of life that can be incredibly difficult to navigate. In times of deep sorrow and sadness, many turn to their faith for comfort and strength. The Bible, a source of wisdom and solace for millions around the world, offers powerful verses that speak to the complexities of grief and the hope of healing.
From the Psalms to the New Testament, the Scriptures are filled with words of encouragement and consolation for those who are mourning the loss of a loved one or struggling with their own feelings of grief. These verses provide a sense of peace and reassurance, reminding us that we are not alone in our pain and that God is always there to comfort us in our time of need.
In this article, we will explore some of the most powerful Bible verses about grief and loss, offering insights and reflections to help guide you through your own periods of mourning.
Here are 60 Bible verses about grief and loss:
Causes of Grief
Sorrow caused in death of a loved one
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13 – “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.” (NIV)
- 1 Thessalonians 4:14 – “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.”
- 1 Thessalonians 4:15 – “For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep.”
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16 – “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first,”
- 1 Thessalonians 4:17 – “then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.”
Grief caused by others
- Psalm 69:4 – “Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; Those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies; What I did not steal, I then have to restore.”
- Jeremiah 15:10 – “Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have men lent money to me, yet everyone curses me.”
- Psalm 38:19 – “But my enemies are vigorous and strong, And many are those who hate me wrongfully.”
- Psalm 35:19 – “Do not let those who are my enemies without cause rejoice over me; Nor let those who hate me without cause wink maliciously.”
Grief and loss caused due to judgement from God
- Lamentations 2:1 – “How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in His anger! He has cast from heaven to earth the glory of Israel, and has not remembered His footstool in the day of His anger.”
- Lamentations 3:31-32 – “For the Lord will not reject forever, for if He causes grief, then He will have compassion according to His abundant lovingkindness.”
- Lamentations 3:33 – “For He does not afflict willingly or grieve the sons of men.”
- Lamentations 3:34 – “To crush under His feet all the prisoners of the land,”
- Lamentations 3:35 – “To deprive a man of justice in the presence of the Most High,”
- Lamentations 3:36 – “To defraud a man in his lawsuit—of these things the Lord does not approve.”
- Lamentations 3:37 – “Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?”
Grieving for own sins
- Matthew 5:4 – “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Comforting Bible verses in Grief
God’s Healing and Restoration
- Psalm 147:3 – “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
- 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 – “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
- Isaiah 61:2-3 – “To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
- Psalm 23 “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. “
Cry to God in Times of Grief
- Psalm 42:11 – “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.”
- Psalm 55:22 – “Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”
- Psalm 34:17-18 – “The righteous cry, and the Lord hears And delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Mourning for Others
- Lamentations 2:12 – “They say to their mothers, ‘Where is grain and wine?’ as they faint like a wounded man in the streets of the city, as their life is poured out on their mothers’ bosom.”
- Lamentations 2:13 – “How shall I admonish you? To what shall I compare you, O daughter of Jerusalem? To what shall I liken you as I comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is as vast as the sea; who can heal you?”
- Lamentations 2:14 – “Your prophets have seen for you false and foolish visions; and they have not exposed your iniquity so as to restore you from captivity, but they have seen for you false and misleading oracles.”
- Lamentations 2:15 – “All who pass along the way clap their hands in derision at you; they hiss and shake their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem, ‘Is this the city of which they said, “The perfection of beauty, a joy to all the earth”?’”
- Lamentations 2:16 – “All your enemies have opened their mouths wide against you; they hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, ‘We have swallowed her up! Surely this is the day for which we waited; we have reached it, we have seen it.’”
- Lamentations 2:17 – “The Lord has done what He purposed; He has accomplished His word which He commanded from days of old. He has thrown down without sparing, and He has caused the enemy to rejoice over you; He has exalted the might of your adversaries.”
- Lamentations 2:18 – “Their heart cried out to the Lord, ‘O wall of the daughter of Zion, let your tears run down like a river day and night; give yourself no relief, let your eyes have no rest.’”
- Lamentations 2:19 – “Arise, cry aloud in the night at the beginning of the night watches; pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord; lift up your hands to Him for the life of your little ones who are faint because of hunger at the head of every street.”
- Lamentations 2:20 – “See, O Lord, and look! With whom have You dealt thus? Should women eat their offspring, the little ones who were born healthy? Should priest and prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?”
- Lamentations 2:21 – “On the ground in the streets lie young and old; my virgins and my young men have fallen by the sword. You have slain them in the day of Your anger, You have slaughtered, not sparing.”
- Lamentations 2:22 – “You called as in the day of an appointed feast my terrors on every side; and there was no one who escaped or survived in the day of the Lord’s anger. Those whom I bore and reared, my enemy annihilated them.”
Sorrow and grief in this world are temporary
- Romans 8:18 – “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
- 2 Corinthians 4:17 – “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.”
- John 16:20 – “Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.”
- Psalm 30:5 – “For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning.”
- Psalm 126:5 – “Those who sow in tears shall reap with joyful shouting.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:1 – “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
- John 16:22 – “Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”
God’s Presence in Grief
- Psalm 34:18 – “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
- Isaiah 41:10 – “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
- John 14:27 – “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”
- Psalm 119:50 – “This is my comfort in my affliction, That Your word has revived me.”
- Matthew 11:28-30 – “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
- Psalm 73:26 – “My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
God’s purpose in times of grief and times of loss
- Romans 8:28 – “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
- Romans 8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Could oppression, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Even as it is written, “For your sake we are killed all day long. We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from God’s love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus Christ bore our griefs
- Isaiah 53:4 – “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.”
This verse is a prophecy about how Christ Jesus, our Lord, would die for our sins and bore our grief on his body.
There will be no more grief in heaven
- Revelation 21:4 – “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
- Isaiah 25:8 – “He has swallowed up death forever! The Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from off all faces. He will take the reproach of his people away from off all the earth, for Yahweh has spoken it.”
This verse assures us that in Heaven, all those who believe in Lord Jesus Christ will dwell with Him forever and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.