41 Bible Verses about Harsh Words

Proverbs 15:1 ESV / 157 helpful votes

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Ephesians 4:29 ESV / 94 helpful votes

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as
fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Proverbs 29:11 ESV / 90 helpful votes

A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.

James 1:19-20 ESV / 70 helpful votes

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to
anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Ephesians 4:31 ESV / 53 helpful votes

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along
with all malice.

Proverbs 12:18 ESV / 52 helpful votes

There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings
healing.

Psalm 37:8 ESV / 48 helpful votes

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

James 1:20 ESV / 44 helpful votes

For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Proverbs 15:18 ESV / 41 helpful votes

A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.

Ephesians 4:26-27 ESV / 37 helpful votes

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to
the devil.
Ephesians 4:32 ESV / 31 helpful votes

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Colossians 3:8 ESV / 30 helpful votes

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from
your mouth.

Matthew 5:43-48 ESV / 25 helpful votes

You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I
say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 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. For if you love those who love you, what reward do
you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers,
what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? ...

James 1:19 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to
anger;

Ephesians 4:15 ESV / 22 helpful votes

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head,
into Christ,

Matthew 5:21-22 ESV / 21 helpful votes

You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not murder; and whoever murders
will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will
be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever
says, You fool! will be liable to the hell of fire.

James 3:5-12 ESV / 19 helpful votes

So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set
ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue
is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,
and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be
tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a
restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse
people who are made in the likeness of God. ...

Hebrews 12:14 ESV / 19 helpful votes

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV / 19 helpful votes

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Romans 12:21 ESV / 19 helpful votes

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 12:1 ESV / 19 helpful votes

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Romans 8:1-3 ESV / 17 helpful votes

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the
Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done
what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

Proverbs 16:32 ESV / 17 helpful votes

Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who
takes a city.

Psalm 145:8 ESV / 16 helpful votes

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Ephesians 4:26 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

Jonah 4:2 ESV / 15 helpful votes

And he prayed to the Lord and said, O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my
country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God
and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.

Psalm 145:9 ESV / 14 helpful votes

The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.

Psalm 103:8 ESV / 14 helpful votes

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Romans 8:1 ESV / 12 helpful votes

John 14:6 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me.

James 1:26 ESV / 11 helpful votes

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this
person's religion is worthless.

John 1:16-17 ESV / 11 helpful votes

And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through
Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Luke 9:57-62 ESV / 10 helpful votes

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, I will follow you wherever you
go. And Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of
Man has nowhere to lay his head. To another he said, Follow me. But he said, Lord, let
me first go and bury my father. And Jesus said to him, Leave the dead to bury their own
dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God. Yet another said, I will follow
you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home. ...

Mark 7:14-23 ESV / 10 helpful votes

And he called the people to him again and said to them, Hear me, all of you, and understand:
There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that
come out of a person are what defile him. And when he had entered the house and left the
people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, Then are you also
without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot
defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled? (Thus he declared
all foods clean.) ...

Romans 5:8 ESV / 9 helpful votes

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 3:16-17 ESV / 8 helpful votes

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should
not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the
world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Matthew 15:26 ESV / 8 helpful votes

And he answered, It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.
James 5:16 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be
deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice
homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will
inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were
sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our
God.

Romans 1:26-27 ESV / 6 helpful votes

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged
natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural
relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing
shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Proverbs 13:3 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.