The best Bible verses for compassion (ESV) include passages about God's love, strength, and guidance. This page features 15+ carefully curated Scripture passages for compassion (ESV), each selected for its relevance and depth. Read, save, and share the perfect verse for your situation.
"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."Ephesians 4:32
"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."Ephesians 4:32
"Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind."1 Peter 3:8
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,"2 Corinthians 1:3
"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,"Colossians 3:12
"The man who is the most tender and refined among you will begrudge food to his brother, to the wife he embraces, and to the last of the children whom he has left,"Deuteronomy 28:54
"then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you."Deuteronomy 30:3
"For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free."Deuteronomy 32:36
"Their bows will slaughter the young men; they will have no mercy on the fruit of the womb; their eyes will not pity children."Isaiah 13:18
"For the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and will again choose Israel, and will set them in their own land, and sojourners will join them and will attach themselves to the house of Jacob."Isaiah 14:1
"Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him."Isaiah 30:18
"they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them."Isaiah 49:10
"Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted."Isaiah 49:13
"“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you."Isaiah 49:15
"In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD, your Redeemer."Isaiah 54:8
Translations differ in what they optimise for. Some follow the original wording closely at the cost of a natural English sentence; others read smoothly and make interpretive choices to get there. Neither is wrong, but they produce noticeably different verses.
Each of the 15 verses below is shown in the translation you asked for, and every verse links to a page comparing all six side by side — which is usually the fastest way to see where the translators disagreed.
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The most-cited Bible verses for compassion (ESV) are Ephesians 4:32, 1 Peter 3:8, 2 Corinthians 1:3. This page collects 15 of them, each with its full passage, context and the text in six translations.
Read the verse in its surrounding passage before you use it — a verse that fits in isolation sometimes says something different in context. Compare two translations where the wording is unclear, and pick for the person who will read it rather than for the theme.
Scripture returns to compassion (ESV) across both testaments rather than settling it in one passage, which is why the verses on this page do not all say the same thing. Read together they give a fuller answer than any single verse does.
There is no single best translation. The NIV and NLT read most naturally and communicate well to someone outside the church; the ESV and NASB stay closer to the original wording; the KJV carries the phrasing most people recognise. Every verse here links to a page showing all six side by side.
More than any page can list. This one carries the 15 that are most often turned to for compassion (ESV), chosen so each stands on its own and links through to the full chapter it belongs to.