Some days you just need someone to tell you it is going to be all right. These Bible verses for encouragement do more than that. They tell you why.
Every verse on this page was first spoken into a real situation: a city burned to the ground, a nation hauled off to a foreign country, a new leader standing where his mentor used to stand. The people who first heard these words were not having a good week. That is exactly what makes them worth holding on to.
For each one, we tell you who first heard it, what was going on, and how it reaches you today. Read the one that fits, and come back for the others when you need them.
Pick what you need today
1. Mercies that are new every morning
First heard by: the people of Judah, after the Babylonian army destroyed Jerusalem and its temple.
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:21-23 (KJV)
Lamentations is a book of five sad poems about a ruined city. Its writer is not named, though old Jewish and Christian tradition credits Jeremiah. Most of the book is grief. Then, right in the middle of the third poem, the writer stops and says: this I recall to my mind. He chooses what to think about.
The city was still in ashes. Nothing outside had changed. What changed was where he put his eyes. He remembered that God's compassion had not run out, and that each new day came with a fresh supply of mercy. Yesterday's failures do not use up today's mercy. If you woke up this morning tired of yourself, this verse is your starting point.
2. Thoughts of peace, for people far from home
First heard by: the Jews already taken to Babylon, in a letter from Jeremiah in Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 29:11 is a much loved verse, and it is often shared without its setting. Here it is with the verse before it:
For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Jeremiah 29:10-11 (KJV)
Seventy years. Many of the adults who read that letter would not live to see the trip home. Earlier in the same letter God told them to build houses, plant gardens, raise families and pray for the peace of the city where they were captives. In other words: settle in, live well where you are, and trust Me with the ending.
So this is not a promise that things will turn around by Friday. It is better than that. It says God had good plans for His people in the middle of a long, hard season, and that He would finish what He started. An expected end means a future you can look forward to.
3. Be strong and of a good courage
First heard by: Joshua, just after Moses died, with the Jordan River in front of him.
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
Joshua 1:9 (KJV)
Joshua had served as Moses' helper through the wilderness years. Now Moses was gone, and the job of leading a whole nation into a land full of walled cities was his.
God told him three times in that one chapter to be strong and courageous. God repeats what we are slow to believe. Courage here is not a feeling you wait for. It is a choice you make because of the reason at the end of the verse: the LORD is with you wherever you go. Joshua falls in the span of Book Two of this series, which covers Numbers through Esther.
4. The joy of the LORD is your strength
First heard by: the people who had come back to Jerusalem from exile, gathered to hear God's law read aloud.
Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform and read the law from early morning until midday. As the people understood what they were hearing, they began to weep. They saw how far they had wandered. Nehemiah, Ezra and the Levites told them to stop crying, go home, have a feast, and send food to anyone who had none.
Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our LORD: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
Nehemiah 8:10 (KJV)
Strictly speaking, these are words spoken by Israel's leaders, not a promise God made in His own voice. But they state something true about Him. Being sorry for sin matters. Staying stuck in it does not help anyone. The joy here is the joy that belongs to the Lord, and He shares it with His people. It holds you up when your own strength is gone. The book of Nehemiah also falls in the span of Book Two, though since these are the leaders' words, it is a truth to hold rather than a promise God spoke.
5. A new thing, a way in the wilderness
First heard by: Israel, through the prophet Isaiah, about a coming rescue from Babylon.
Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43:18-19 (KJV)
Israel's great story was the exodus, when God split the sea and walked them out of Egypt. Here God tells them to stop looking back at it. Not because it did not matter, but because He was about to do something new: bring them home from Babylon, making roads and rivers in places that had none.
That is why this is such a good verse for new beginnings, a new job, a new year, or the first day after a hard ending. The God who did great things before is not finished. He says it is springing up now, and asks: shall ye not know it? Sometimes the new thing is already starting, and we have to look for it.
6. All things work together for good
First heard by: the church in Rome, in a letter from the apostle Paul.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28 (KJV)
This verse is sometimes used to wave away pain, as if everything that happens is secretly good. Paul does not say that. In the very same chapter he talks about suffering, groaning and tribulation. What he says is that God takes all of it, the good and the terrible, and works it together toward good for those who love Him.
Think of a weaver working with dark thread and bright thread. Up close, the dark thread looks like a mistake. From the other side, you see the pattern. A few verses later Paul adds that nothing at all can separate us from the love of God. That is the ground this promise stands on.
7. The God of hope, filling you with joy
First heard by: the same church in Rome, as Paul's prayer for them near the end of his letter.
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Romans 15:13 (KJV)
This is a blessing, a prayer Paul prayed over his readers. Look at how full it is. God is called the God of hope. He fills you with all joy and peace. You abound, which means overflow. And none of it is worked up by effort. It comes in believing and through the power of the Holy Ghost. If you feel empty, this is a verse to pray over yourself or over someone you love.
8. Joy comes in the morning
First heard by: Israel in worship. The heading of Psalm 30 ties it to the dedication of David's house.
For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Psalm 30:5 (KJV)
The heading credits David, and the psalm is the song of someone who had been very low and had been lifted back up. Later in the psalm he says God turned his mourning into dancing. The night is real, and it can feel long. But it is a night, not a life sentence. Psalm 30 falls in Book Three of this series, which is coming next.
9. You are the light of the world
First heard by: Jesus' followers on a hillside in Galilee, in the Sermon on the Mount.
Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Matthew 5:14 (KJV)
Jesus did not say you should try to become light. He said you are light. Then He told His listeners not to hide it, but to let it shine so people would see their good works and give glory to God. If you feel small or useless, this is a word about who you already are in His eyes.
10. Encouragement is meant to be passed on
Paul told the believers in Thessalonica to comfort yourselves together, and edify one another. To edify means to build up.
If you are searching for Bible verses to encourage a friend, that is a good instinct. Choose one verse that matches their need. Send it with a line in your own words, like I read this today and thought of you. I am praying for you. Then follow up in a few days. The verse opens the door. Your care walks through it.
The ten verses at a glance
| Verse | Good for | First spoken to | Part of the Bible covered by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lamentations 3:22 to 23 | A fresh start after failure | Judah, in a ruined Jerusalem | A later book |
| Jeremiah 29:11 | Hope in a long season | Exiles in Babylon | A later book |
| Joshua 1:9 | Courage for something new | Joshua | Book Two |
| Nehemiah 8:10 | Strength through joy | Returned exiles in Jerusalem | Book Two (spoken by leaders, not God) |
| Isaiah 43:18 to 19 | New beginnings, a new year | Israel, about leaving Babylon | A later book |
| Romans 8:28 | When life makes no sense | The church in Rome | A later book |
| Romans 15:13 | Feeling empty | The church in Rome | A later book |
| Psalm 30:5 | A long night of sorrow | Israel in worship | Book Three, coming next |
| Matthew 5:14 | Feeling small | Jesus' followers in Galilee | A later book |
| 1 Thessalonians 5:11 | Lifting someone else | The church in Thessalonica | A later book |
Read them one at a time
Book Two picks up the promises from Numbers through Esther, including the charge God gave Joshua at the Jordan. Every promise gets its own page with the King James verse, who it was spoken to, what it meant then, what it means for you and a prayer.