The best Bible verses for compassion (NIV) include passages about God's love, strength, and guidance. This page features 15+ carefully curated Scripture passages for compassion (NIV), each selected for its relevance and depth. Read, save, and share the perfect verse for your situation.
"Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants nor will they look with compassion on children."Isaiah 13:18
"Their bows will strike down the young men; they will have no mercy on infants nor will they look with compassion on children."Isaiah 13:18
"The Lord will have compassion on Jacob; once again he will choose Israel and will settle them in their own land. Aliens will join them and unite with the house of Jacob."Isaiah 14:1
"Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!"Isaiah 30:18
"They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water."Isaiah 49:10
"Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones."Isaiah 49:13
"“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!"Isaiah 49:15
"I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord your Redeemer."Isaiah 54:8
"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you."Isaiah 54:10
"“Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Though in anger I struck you, in favor I will show you compassion."Isaiah 60:10
"Look down from heaven and see from your lofty throne, holy and glorious. Where are your zeal and your might? Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us."Isaiah 63:15
"As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy."James 5:11
"But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to his own inheritance and his own country."Jeremiah 12:15
"I will smash them one against the other, fathers and sons alike, declares the Lord. I will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep me from destroying them.’”"Jeremiah 13:14
"You have rejected me,” declares the Lord. “You keep on backsliding. So I will lay hands on you and destroy you; I can no longer show compassion."Jeremiah 15:6
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 (NIV) are Isaiah 13:18, Isaiah 14:1, Isaiah 30:18. 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 (NIV) 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 (NIV), chosen so each stands on its own and links through to the full chapter it belongs to.