The best Bible verses for depression (ESV) include passages about God's love, strength, and guidance. This page features 15+ carefully curated Scripture passages for depression (ESV), each selected for its relevance and depth. Read, save, and share the perfect verse for your situation.
"Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God."Psalms 42:11
"Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God."Psalms 42:11
"Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God."Psalms 43:5
"and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar."Psalms 42:6
"We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,"Hebrews 6:19
"Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off."Proverbs 24:14
"Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness."Jeremiah 13:16
"“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."John 3:16
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 depression (ESV) are Psalms 42:11, Psalms 43:5, Lamentations 3:20. 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 depression (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 depression (ESV), chosen so each stands on its own and links through to the full chapter it belongs to.