Bible Verses for the Loss of a Child

“But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

Let the little children come to me: Jesus' insistence, against the disciples' instincts.

“Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.”

Their angels always see the face of my Father: heaven's attention to children is unbroken.

“For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”

Fearfully and wonderfully made, every day written: your child's life was known completely, however short.

“Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.”

Can a mother forget her child? God builds his own faithfulness on a parent's memory and exceeds it.

“And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.”

He took them in his arms and blessed them: the posture of Jesus toward children, then and now.

“In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.”

Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted: Scripture records this grief without correcting it.

“David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead: for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice: how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?”

David on the floor all night, pleading: a king's permission for parents to grieve at full scale.

“Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?”

Your tears are put in his bottle. Counted. Kept. Not one wasted.

“But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.”

Though he causes grief, he will have compassion: he does not afflict from his heart.

“Jesus wept.”

Jesus wept. At a tomb he was about to empty. Your tears are in good company.

“But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

I shall go to him: David's hope, one sentence long, has carried bereaved parents ever since.

“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”

I am the resurrection and the life: spoken to a bereaved sister.

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.”

God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep: reunion is the promise's direction.

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

He will wipe away every tear: including the ones only parents know about.

“And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.”

No more shall be heard the sound of weeping: the new creation has no children's funerals in it.

What Bible verse comforts parents who lost a child?

2 Samuel 12:23 is the verse bereaved parents have returned to for centuries: David's 'I shall go to him.' Around it: Matthew 19:14 (Jesus receiving children), Psalm 56:8 (every tear kept), and Revelation 21:4 (tears wiped away forever). Isaiah 65 promises a world with no infant loss in it.

Where do children go when they die, according to the Bible?

Scripture's indications are tender: David expected to go to his child (2 Samuel 12:23), Jesus places children at the center of the kingdom (Matthew 19:14) and describes their angels beholding the Father's face (Matthew 18:10). The church has read these texts, together with God's character, as grounds for sure hope for children who die.

How do I support bereaved parents long-term?

Say the child's name. Remember the birthday and the date. Show up in year two, when support evaporates and grief does not. Send Psalm 56:8 without advice attached. Romans 12:15 (weep with those who weep) sets a multi-year assignment, not a casseroles-week one.