The best Bible verses for goodness (ESV) include passages about God's love, strength, and guidance. This page features 15+ carefully curated Scripture passages for goodness (ESV), each selected for its relevance and depth. Read, save, and share the perfect verse for your situation.
"knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free."Ephesians 6:8
"knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free."Ephesians 6:8
"Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore."Hebrews 11:12
"The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith, and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, “It is good”; and they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved."Isaiah 41:7
"Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; do good, or do harm, that we may be dismayed and terrified."Isaiah 41:23
"I was the first to say to Zion, “Behold, here they are!” and I give to Jerusalem a herald of good news."Isaiah 41:27
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."James 1:17
"“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet."Matthew 5:13
"In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."Matthew 5:16
"so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."Matthew 5:45
"“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,"Matthew 6:22
"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it."Proverbs 3:27
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 goodness (ESV) are Ephesians 6:8, Galatians 5:7, Hebrews 11:12. 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 goodness (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 goodness (ESV), chosen so each stands on its own and links through to the full chapter it belongs to.