36 Bible Verses for Father’s Day

God cares about fatherhood, especially given that He Himself is our Father. Our relationships with our earthly fathers may not always be perfect, but we can trust our heavenly Father to always be faithful to love and care for us. Here are some Bible verses about fathers, fatherhood, and parents in general.

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What Does the Bible Say About Fathers?

Old Testament

Genesis 18:19
For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.

Exodus 20:12
Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

Leviticus 19:3
Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 1:29–31
Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’

Deuteronomy 4:9
Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children—”

Deuteronomy 5:16
Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

Deuteronomy 6:6–7
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

Psalm 103:13
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.

Psalm 127:3
Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
the fruit of the womb a reward.

Proverbs 1:8–9
Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching,
for they are a graceful garland for your head
and pendants for your neck.

Proverbs 3:11–12
My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline
or be weary of his reproof,
for the LORD reproves him whom he loves,
as a father the son in whom he delights.

Proverbs 6:20
My son, keep your father’s commandment,
and forsake not your mother’s teaching.

Proverbs 10:1
The proverbs of Solomon.
A wise son makes a glad father,
but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.

Proverbs 14:26
In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence,
and his children will have a refuge.

Proverbs 22:6
Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 23:25
Let your father and mother be glad;
let her who bore you rejoice.

New Testament

Matthew 15:4–6
For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.

Luke 15:20
And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

1 Corinthians 13:4–7
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Ephesians 6:1–4
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’ (this is the first commandment with a promise), ‘that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.’ Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

1 Timothy 6:11
But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

3 John 4
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.