109 Bible Verses about Fear of God

I want you to know that God doesn't want you to be afraid of Him. He wants you to come close, to feel comfortable in His presence. When we talk about "fearing" God, it's really about encouraging you to live a life that honors Him – following His word and commandments out of respect and love.

This kind of "fear" comes from within. It guides you to do what's good and right simply because you love Him. It's different from being scared. Fear makes you avoid doing bad things only because you're worried about being punished, not because you love God.

Truly fearing God goes way beyond just being terrified. It's about surrendering your heart to Him, worshipping Him, and honoring His name. It's about having a relationship with Him so deep that you wouldn't want to hurt someone you love so much.

God doesn't want us to be foolish. He wants us to be wise and intelligent, making the best choices for our lives. Proverbs 8:13¹ says, "To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech." When you know God and experience His goodness, you naturally want to please Him and let go of anything that doesn't align with His heart.

It's through the Holy Spirit that we can straighten out the crooked parts of ourselves and guard our hearts against sin. It's a daily process of becoming more like Him. As Ecclesiastes 12:13¹ reminds us, "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of everyone."

Be not chacham in thine own eyes; fear Hashem, and depart from rah.It shall be rife'ut (health) to thy navel, and marrow to thy atzmot.

The Yirat Hashem is the reshit da'as, but fools despise chochmah and musar.

Hinei, the eye of Hashem is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His chesed;

By anavah (humility) and the Yirat Hashem are osher, and kavod, and chayyim.

And He shall be the emunah (faithfulness, stability) of thy times, a rich store of Yeshu'ah (salvation), chochmah, and da'as; the yirat Hashem is his otzar (treasure).

(Shir HaMa'alot) 1 Ashrei kol yerei (fearers of) Hashem; that walketh in His drakhim.

The Yirat Hashem is to hate rah; pride, and ga'on (arrogance), and the derech rah, and the perverse peh (mouth), do I hate.

Better is little with the Yirat Hashem than otzar rav (great treasure) and trouble therewith.

Let us hear the sof (conclusion) of the whole matter; Fear HaElohim, and of His commandments be shomer mitzvot; for this is the whole duty of haAdam.

The Yirat Hashem is a makor chayyim (fountain of life) to turn one away from the snares of mavet.

Therefore, having these havtachot (promises), Chaverim, let us submit to his tahorah, cleansing ourselves from every defilement of basar and ruach, perfecting kedushah (holiness) in yirat Shomayim.

The Yirat Hashem is the musar of chochmah; and before kavod (honor) is anavah (humility).

The Yirat Hashem is the beginning of chochmah, and the da'as Kedoshim (knowledge of the Holy One) is binah (understanding).

The precepts of Hashem are yasharim (right), rejoicing the lev; the mitzvat Hashem is bara (clear, pure), enlightening the eyes.

The fear of Hashem is the reshit chochmah; seichel tov have all they that live by it; His tehillah (praise) endureth forever.

And now, Yisroel, what doth Hashem Eloheicha require of thee, but to fear Hashem Eloheicha, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve Hashem Eloheicha with all thy lev and with all thy nefesh,To be shomer over the mitzvot Hashem, and His chukkot, which I command thee today for thy good.

[Samech] The secret of Hashem is with them that fear Him; and He will show them His Brit (covenant).

Ye shall be shomer to do therefore as Hashem Eloheicha hath commanded you; ye shall not turn aside to the right or to the left.

But the chesed Hashem is me'olam v'ad olam (from everlasting to everlasting) upon them that fear Him, and His tzedakah unto bnei banim;

Therefore thou shalt be shomer over the mitzvot of Hashem Eloheicha, to walk in His ways, and to fear Him.

Only fear Hashem, and serve Him in emes with kol levavchem; for consider what great things He hath done for you.

There is no yirat Shomayim (fear of G-d) before their eyes.

And Hashem commanded us to do all these chukkim, to fear Hashem Eloheinu, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is at yom hazeh.

Praise Hashem. Ashrei is the ish that feareth Hashem, that delighteth greatly in His mitzvot.

Hashem taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that hope in His chesed.

The Yirat Hashem tendeth to chayyim, and he that hath it shall rest secure; he shall not be visited by rah.

And the Ruach of Hashem shall rest upon Him, the Ruach of Chochmah and Binah, the Ruach of Etzah (Counsel) and Gevurah, the Ruach of Da'as and of the Yir'at Hashem;

Hinei, the eye of Hashem is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His chesed;To deliver their nefesh from mavet (death), and to keep them alive in ra'av (famine).

And do not fear those who kill the basar (flesh), but are unable to kill the nefesh (soul); but rather fear the One who is able to destroy both basar and nefesh in Gehinnom.

The oni (poor man) cried, and Hashem heard him, and saved him out of all his tzoros.

And unto adam He said, See, the Yirat Adonoi, that is chochmah, and to depart from rah is binah.

I will hear what HaEl Hashem will say; for He will speak shalom unto His people, and to His Chasidim; but let them not turn again to folly.

He maketh milchamot to cease unto the end of ha'aretz; He breaketh the keshet (bow), and cutteth the khanit (spear); He burneth the chariots in the eish.

The ones fearing Hashem, trust in Hashem; He is their ezrah (help) and their mogen (shield).

Gather the people together, anashim and nashim, and banim, and ger that is within thy she'arim, in order that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear Hashem Eloheichem, and be shomer to do kol divrei hatorah hazot;And that their banim, which have not known anything, may hear, and learn to fear Hashem Eloheichem, as long as ye live in ha'adamah whither ye go over Yarden to possess it.

Have kavod (respect, honor) toward kol Bnei Adam; have ahavah (agape) toward HaAchim (The Brotherhood of the Messianic Chavurah); have yirat Shomayim toward Hashem, have kavod to HaMelech.

Therefore, als (since) we are receiving a malchut unshakeable, let us hold on to the Chen v'Chesed Hashem through which we may offer to Hashem, an acceptable avodas kodesh, with yirat Shomayim and chasidus.For, indeed, Eloheinu is a consuming Eish.

I have da'as that, all that HaElohim doeth will endure l'olam; nothing can be added to it, nor any thing taken from it; HaElohim doeth it, that men should fear before Him.

Let the high praises of G-d be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand;

By chesed and emes avon is purged, and by the Yirat Hashem men depart from rah.

For all those things hath Mine hand made, and so came they all into being, saith Hashem; but to this man will I look, even to him that is oni and of a contrite ruach, and trembleth at My Devar.

Let kol ha'aretz fear Hashem; let kol yoshvei tevel (all the inhabitants of the world) stand in awe of Him.

Who will render L'ISH K'MA'A'SEI HU (to each according to his works). To those who, by savlanut (patience), persevere in doing hatov (the good), seek for kavod (glory) and honor and incorruptibility, He will give Chayyei Olam (Eternal Life).But to those who are self-seeking and who have no mishma'at (obedience) to HaEmes Hashem, but instead have mishma'at to resha, there will be Charon Af Hashem and fury.

Beni (my son), if thou wilt receive my words, and treasure my mitzvot with thee;When chochmah entereth into thine lev, and da'as (knowledge) is pleasant unto thy nefesh;Mezimah (discretion) shall be shomer over thee, tevunah (understanding) shall safeguard thee;To save thee from the derech rah, from the ish medaber tahpukhot (man speaking perverse things);Who leaving the orkhot yosher (paths of uprightness), walk in the drakhei choshech (ways of darkness);Who rejoice to do rah, and delight in the tahpukhot (perverse things) of rah (evil);Whose orkhot (paths) are crooked ones, and they are devious in their ma'agalot (paths).To save thee from the isha zarah (strange woman), even from the nokhriyah (strange [immoral] woman) which useth smooth words;Which forsaketh the alluf (companion, husband) of her youth, and forgetteth the brit (covenant) of her G-d.For her bais inclineth toward mavet, and her ma'agalot (paths) to the refa'im (spirits of the dead).None that go unto her return again, neither attain they to the orkhot chayyim (paths of life).So that thou incline thine ear unto chochmah, and apply thine lev to tevunah (understanding);That thou mayest walk in the derech tovim, and be shomer over the orkhot tzaddikim (paths of the righteous).For the yesharim (upright ones) shall dwell in the land, and the tamimim (blameless, faultless ones) shall remain in it.But the resha'im shall be cut off from ha'aretz, and the bogedim (treacherous ones) shall be rooted out of it.Yea, if thou criest out after binah, and liftest up thy voice for tevunah (understanding),If thou seekest her as kesef, and searchest for her as for matmonim (hidden treasures);Then shalt thou understand the Yirat Hashem, and find the Da'as Elohim.

Pachad (fear) is not in ahavah, but the ahavah hashleimah casts out pachad, because pachad has to do with pachad of the onesh (punishment) and the one with pachad has not been perfected in ahavah.

[Mem] What man is he that feareth Hashem? Him shall He teach in the Derech that he shall choose.[Nun] His nefesh (soul) shall dwell in prosperity; and his zera shall inherit the earth.

Be not chacham in thine own eyes; fear Hashem, and depart from rah.

(For the one directing. Of Dovid, the eved Hashem)

Who among you that feareth Hashem, that obeyeth the voice of His Eved, though he may have walked in chashekhim (darknesses), with no gleam of light for himself, let him trust B'Shem Hashem, and lean upon Elohav.

The fear of adam bringeth a mokesh (snare), but he who putteth his trust in Hashem shall be secure.

And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach gave this teshuva (answer) to the Baal Torah, V'AHAVTAH ES ADONOI ELOHEICHA B'CHOL LEVAVCHA UVECHOL NAFSHECHA UVECHOL MODECHA (And thou shalt love the L-rd thy G-d with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might).

My basar trembleth for fear of Thee; and I am afraid of Thy mishpatim.

For you did not receive a spirit of avdut, falling back into pachad (fear); but you received the Ruach of Mishpat HaBanim (Adoption), having Ma'amad HaBanim (the standing as Sons), by which we cry, “Abba, Avinu!”

The Yirat Hashem prolongeth yamim; but the shanot of the resha'im shall be cut short.

Though a choteh do rah an hundred times, and his yamim be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear HaElohim, which fear before Hashem;But it shall not be well with the rasha, neither shall he lengthen his yamim like a tzel (shadow); because he feareth not before Elohim.

But know that Hashem hath set apart the chasid for Himself; Hashem will hear when I call unto Him.

He shall not be afraid of mishmu'ah ra'ah (news of misfortune, evil tidings); his lev is nachon (steadfast), trusting in Hashem.His lev is samuch (sustained), he shall not be afraid, until he look in triumph upon his foes.

And Hashem commanded us to do all these chukkim, to fear Hashem Eloheinu, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is at yom hazeh.And tzedakah it shall be for us, if we are shomer to do all these mitzvot before Hashem Eloheinu, as He hath commanded us.

What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.

But there is selichah (forgiveness) with Thee; therefore, Thou art feared.

Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am Eloheicha; I will strengthen thee; indeed, I will help thee; indeed, I will uphold thee with My yamin tzedek.

(Of Dovid) 1 Hashem is my ohr and Yishi (my Salvation); whom shall I fear? Hashem is the ma'oz (stronghold) of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Elohim Chayyim.

Truly they consult to bring down a person of prominence; they delight in kazav (lie, falsehood, deceptive thing); they make a brocha with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. SelahTruly in Elohim wait silently, my nefesh, for my tikvah (hope) is from Him.

And he came up and spoke to them, saying, All samchut (authority) has been given to me in Shomayim and on HaAretz.

For that they hated da'as, and did not choose the Yirat Hashem;To receive the musar of those with seichel, tzedek and mishpat, and meisharim (equity, uprightness);They would have none of my etza (counsel); they despised all my tokhechah (reproof).Therefore shall they eat of the p'ri (fruit) of their own derech, and be filled with their own mo'atzot (schemes, devices).

Regard Hashem Tzva'os as kodesh; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.

Great shalom have they which love Thy torah; nothing shall cause them to stumble.

Now we know that whatever the Gezetz (Law) says, it says to those under the Gezetz, in order that every mouth might be stopped and kol HaOlam Hazeh become ashem (guilty) and liable to the Mishpat Hashem.

They have sharpened their leshonot like a nachash; the venom of a spider is under their sfatayim (lips). Selah

Hinei, El is my Yeshu'ah (Salvation); I will trust, and not be afraid; for Hashem G-d is my strength and my zemirah; He also has become my Yeshu'ah (Salvation).

Teach me to do Retzonecha (Thy will); for Thou art Elohai; may Thy Ruach Tov lead me on level ground.

Ascribe ye oz (power) unto Elohim; His majesty is over Yisroel, and His oz is in the skies.

Ascribe unto Hashem the kavod due unto Shmo; bring a minchah, and come before Him; worship Hashem in the hadar (splendor) of kodesh (holiness).

He deviseth evil upon his mishkav (bed); he setteth himself in a derech that is not tov; he abhorreth not rah.Thy chesed, Hashem, is in HaShomayim; and Thy emunah (faithfulness) reacheth unto the clouds.

There was an ish in Eretz Utz, shmo Iyov; and that ish was blameless and yashar, and yire Elohim, and shunned evil.

Hashem is on my side; I will not fear; what can adam do unto me?

So shall they fear the Shem Hashem from the ma'arav (west), and His kavod from the rising of the shemesh. When the enemy shall come in like a nahar (flood, river), the Ruach of Hashem shall lift up a standard against him.

For it is written, “As I live, says Hashem, before Me KOL BERECH (every knee) will bow and KOL LASHON (every tongue) shall give praise to Hashem.”So then each of us will give account of himself to Hashem.

Ashrey are the ones being persecuted because of TZIDKAT Hashem (righteousness of Hashem), for theirs is the Malchut HaShomayim.

Establish Thy word unto Thy eved, which is for the fear of Thee.

I will declare Thy Shem unto my Achim; in the midst of the Kahal will I praise Thee.

In whose eyes a vile person is despicable; but he honoreth them that fear Hashem. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.

Teach me Thy Derech, Hashem; I will walk in Thy emes; Yachad (make undivided) levavi (my heart) to fear Thy Shem.

For I Hashem Eloheicha will take hold of thy yamin (right hand), saying unto thee: Fear not; I will help thee.

(For the one directing. Of Dovid. Mizmor. Shir)Thou, O Elohim, didst send a plentiful geshem (rain), whereby Thou didst restore Thine nachalah, when it was parched.Thy congregation hath dwelt therein; Thou, O Elohim, hast prepared of Thy bounty for the oni.Adonoi gave the word; rav (great) was the tzava (company, army) of the mevaserot (heralds, those that published it, the lady evangelists).Melachim of tzeva'ot (armies) shall flee, they flee; and she that tarried at home shall divide the plunder.Though ye have lain among the cooking pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a yonah covered with kesef, and her feathers with glistening gold.When Shaddai scattered melachim therein, it was white as snow in Tzalmon.The Har Elohim is the Har Bashan; a mountain of peaks is the Har Bashan.Why gaze ye in envy, ye many-peaked harim? This is the har which Elohim hath chosen to dwell in; indeed, Hashem will dwell in it lanetzach (forever).The merkavot of Elohim are myriads, a thousand thousands; Adonoi is among them, as in Sinai, in kodesh (holiness).Thou hast ascended on marom (high), Thou hast led captivity captive; Thou hast received mattanot among adam; yes, even from the sorerim (the rebellious) also, that Hashem Elohim might dwell. Let Elohim arise, let His oyevim be scattered; let them also that hate Him flee before Him.

Thy word have I hid in my lev, lema'an (so that) I might not sin against Thee.

Beni (my son), fear thou Hashem and the Melech, and do not associate with them that are otherwise disposed.

Though sarim (princes) also sit and speak slander against me, yet Thy eved meditates on Thy chukkim.

But reverence in your levavot Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach as Adoneinu, prepared always for a hitstaddekut (an apologetic defense) to everyone coming to you with a she'elah (question), ready with a word concerning the tikvah in you,

If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of mishpat and tzedek in a province, marvel not at the matter; for he that is higher watches over him that is high; and there be higher than they.

Let the siftei sheker (lying lips) be put to silence; which speak insolent things with ga'avah (pride) and contemptuously against the tzaddik.

Therefore, when you offer tefillos, daven like this, in this manner: Avinu sh'ba'Shomayim (Our Father in heaven), yitkadash shmecha (hallowed be your Name).

In the Yirat Hashem is strong confidence, and his banim shall have a place of refuge.

For thus saith the High and Exalted, Shokhen Ad (the One Who abideth forever, i.e., Who inhabits eternity), Kadosh Shmo: I dwell in marom v'kadosh (the high and holy place), with him also that is of a contrite and lowly ruach, to revive the ruach of the shefalim (humble, lowly ones) and to revive the lev nidka'im (contrite of heart).

Therefore, since we have da'as of the yirat [Moshiach] Adoneinu, we persuade men, and we have been made manifest to Hashem and I have tikvah also that we have been made manifest to your matzpunim.

In Elohim will I praise His Word; in Hashem will I praise His Word.

If Thou, Hashem, shouldest record iniquities, Adonoi, who could stand?

Thou hast commanded us to be diligently shomer over Thy pikkudim (precepts).Hinei, I have longed after Thy precepts; revive me in Thy tzedakah.Let Thy chasadim come also unto me, Hashem, even Thy Teshu'ah (salvation), according to Thy word.So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me; for I trust in Thy Davar.And take not the devar emes utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in Thy mishpatim.So shall I be shomer over Thy torah tamid l'olam va'ed.And I will walk freely in a wide place; for I seek Thy pikkudim.I will speak of Thy edot (testimonies) also before melachim, and will not be ashamed.And I will delight myself in Thy mitzvot, which I love.My palms also will I lift up unto Thy mitzvot, which I love; and I will meditate on Thy chukkim.Remember the davar to Thy eved, on which Thou hast made me hope.O that my drakhim were directed to be shomer over Thy chukkim (statutes)!

Who will render L'ISH K'MA'A'SEI HU (to each according to his works).

Who has da'as of the oz (power) of Thine anger? Thy evrah is as great as Thy yirah (fear of, reverence owed G-d).

Let Thy rachamim come unto me, that I may live: for Thy torah is my delight.

For Hashem taketh pleasure in His people; He will crown the meek with Yeshu'ah (salvation).

(Shir HaMa'alot) 1 Ashrei kol yerei (fearers of) Hashem; that walketh in His drakhim.For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands; happy shalt thou be, and it shall be tov with thee.

[Mem] What man is he that feareth Hashem? Him shall He teach in the Derech that he shall choose.[Nun] His nefesh (soul) shall dwell in prosperity; and his zera shall inherit the earth.[Samech] The secret of Hashem is with them that fear Him; and He will show them His Brit (covenant).

O taste and see that Hashem is tov; ashrei is the man that taketh refuge in Him.

But the chesed Hashem is me'olam v'ad olam (from everlasting to everlasting) upon them that fear Him, and His tzedakah unto bnei banim;To such as are shomer over His Brit, and to those that remember His precepts to do them.

Prayer