51 Bible Verses on Forgiveness

God will never stop forgiving us, and in fact, He calls us to forgive one another as He has forgiven us: totally and without hesitation. What all does the Bible say about God’s forgiveness of us and the charge we have been given to forgive each other? It says a lot, actually! Here’s just a selection of verses on forgiveness from the Bible.

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What Does the Bible Say About Forgiveness?

Old Testament

Numbers 14:19–21
‘Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now.’
Then the LORD said, ‘I have pardoned, according to your word. But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD,’

2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 30:9b
For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.

Nehemiah 9:31
Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.

Psalm 32:1
Blessed is the one
whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.

Psalm 32:5
I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

Psalm 86:5
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

Psalm 103:12
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

Proverbs 17:9
Whoever covers an offense seeks love,
but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.

Proverbs 28:13
Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

Isaiah 1:18
Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.

Isaiah 43:25–26
I, I am he
who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.
Put me in remembrance; let us argue together;
set forth your case, that you may be proved right.

Isaiah 55:7
Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Jeremiah 3:12b
Return, faithless Israel,
declares the Lord.
I will not look on you in anger,
for I am merciful,
declares the Lord;
I will not be angry forever.

Jeremiah 31:34
And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

Daniel 9:9
To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him

Joel 2:13
And rend your hearts and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.

Micah 7:18
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
because he delights in steadfast love.
He will again have compassion on us;
he will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.

New Testament

Matthew 6:12
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Matthew 6:14–15
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 12:31–32
Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

Matthew 18:21–22
Then Peter came up and said to him, ‘Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.’

Matthew 26:27–28
And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Mark 11:25
And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

Luke 6:37
Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.

Luke 17:3b–4
If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.

Luke 23:34
And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ And they cast lots to divide his garments.

Acts 2:38
And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.’

Acts 3:19
Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.

Acts 13:38–39
Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

Acts 17:30
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Ephesians 1:7
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.

Ephesians 4:32
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Colossians 1:13–14
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 3:13
Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Hebrews 8:12
For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
and I will remember their sins no more.

James 5:14–15
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

1 John 2:2
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.