The best Bible verses for grief include passages about God's love, strength, and guidance. This page features 15+ carefully curated Scripture passages for grief, each selected for its relevance and depth. Read, save, and share the perfect verse for your situation.
"So I weep, as Jazer weeps, for the vines of Sibmah. O Heshbon, O Elealeh, I drench you with tears! The shouts of joy over your ripened fruit and over your harvests have been stilled."Isaiah 16:9
"So I weep, as Jazer weeps, for the vines of Sibmah. O Heshbon, O Elealeh, I drench you with tears! The shouts of joy over your ripened fruit and over your harvests have been stilled."Isaiah 16:9
"Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people."Jeremiah 9:1
"But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears, because the Lord’s flock will be taken captive."Jeremiah 13:17
"This is what the Lord says: “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord. “They will return from the land of the enemy."Jeremiah 31:16
"and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them."Luke 7:38
"I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears."Psalms 6:6
"It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart."Ecclesiastes 7:2
"The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure."Ecclesiastes 7:4
"I cried like a swift or thrush, I moaned like a mourning dove. My eyes grew weak as I looked to the heavens. I am troubled; O Lord, come to my aid!”"Isaiah 38:14
"Gaza will shave her head in mourning; Ashkelon will be silenced. O remnant on the plain, how long will you cut yourselves?"Jeremiah 47:5
"On all the roofs in Moab and in the public squares there is nothing but mourning, for I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants,” declares the Lord."Jeremiah 48:38
"The Lord is like an enemy; he has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed her strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation for the Daughter of Judah."Lamentations 2:5
"Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.”"Luke 8:52
Scripture returns to grief often enough that no single verse covers it. The 15 passages below come from across the Old and New Testaments, and they do not all say the same thing — read together they give a fuller picture than any one of them does alone.
Each links to a study page with the full passage, its context, and the text in six translations, so a verse that catches your attention can be followed properly rather than left as a fragment.
Receive a curated verse every morning — no spam, unsubscribe anytime.
The most-cited Bible verses for grief are Isaiah 16:9, Jeremiah 9:1, Jeremiah 13:17. 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 grief 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 grief, chosen so each stands on its own and links through to the full chapter it belongs to.