61 Bible Verses on Listening

Everyone listens to something—there is an ideology they prescribe to or a set of rules they live by. Throughout the Bible there are many examples of people who listen to different ways to live by, but in the end it comes down to listening or not listening to God. God’s people listen to Him; their lives and way of living reflects their trust in His commands. Likewise, God listens to His people—he hears their cry for help and grace and answers their prayers. Conversely, those who chose not to listen to God feel the consequences of this when God chooses not to hear them.

Listening to God means choosing to obey the rules and lifestyle that He has prescribed. God wants His people listen to Him on the heart level more than he wants the outward appearance of living for Him (1 Samuel 15:22). See the following verses for the results of listening to God and the results of listening to others.

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What Does the Bible Say About Listening?

Old Testament

Genesis 3:17
And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life.

Genesis 16:11
And the angel of the LORD said to her,
“Behold, you are pregnant
and shall bear a son.
You shall call his name Ishmael,
because the LORD has listened to your affliction.

Exodus 7:13
Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

Exodus 8:15
But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.

Deuteronomy 4:1
“And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.”

Deuteronomy 7:12
“And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers.”

Judges 2:17
Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD, and they did not do so.

1 Samuel 15:22
And Samuel said,
“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to listen than the fat of rams.

1 Kings 8:27–30
“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.”

1 Kings 11:38
And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.

2 Chronicles 6:19–21
Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you, that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where you have promised to set your name, that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. And listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen from heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

Ezra 8:23
So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.

Psalm 66:17–19
I cried to him with my mouth,
and high praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
But truly God has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

Psalm 81:11–13
“But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel would not submit to me.
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
to follow their own counsels.
Oh, that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would walk in my ways!

Psalm 86:6
Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer;
listen to my plea for grace.

Proverbs 5:7
And now, O sons, listen to me,
and do not depart from the words of my mouth.

Proverbs 12:15
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
but a wise man listens to advice.

Proverbs 13:1
A wise son hears his father’s instruction,
but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

Proverbs 15:31–32
The ear that listens to life-giving reproof
will dwell among the wise.
Whoever ignores instruction despises himself,
but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.

Proverbs 17:4
An evildoer listens to wicked lips,
and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.

Proverbs 19:20
Listen to advice and accept instruction,
that you may gain wisdom in the future.

Proverbs 25:12
Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold
is a wise reprover to a listening ear.

Proverbs 29:12
If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will be wicked.

Ecclesiastes 5:1
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.

Isaiah 1:15
When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.

Isaiah 65:12
I will destine you to the sword,
and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,
because, when I called, you did not answer;
when I spoke, you did not listen,
but you did what was evil in my eyes
and chose what I did not delight in.”

Jeremiah 6:10
To whom shall I speak and give warning,
that they may hear?
Behold, their ears are uncircumcised,
they cannot listen;
behold, the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn;
they take no pleasure in it.

Jeremiah 7:26
Yet they did not listen to me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.

Jeremiah 8:6
I have paid attention and listened,
but they have not spoken rightly;
no man relents of his evil,
saying, ‘What have I done?’
Everyone turns to his own course,
like a horse plunging headlong into battle.

Jeremiah 17:27
“’But if you do not listen to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.’”

Malachi 2:2
If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.

New Testament

Matthew 10:14
And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.

Matthew 17:5
He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”

Matthew 18:15–17
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

Mark 6:11
And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”

Mark 9:7
And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”

Luke 9:35
And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”

Luke 10:39
And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.

John 9:31
We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.

John 18:37
Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

Acts 28:28
“Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”

1 Corinthians 14:21
In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.”

2 Corinthians 6:1–2
Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says,
“In a favorable time I listened to you,
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”
Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

2 Timothy 4:3–4
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

Hebrews 4:2
For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

1 John 4:5–6
They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.