124 Bible verses about Offense, offending

When you face hurts, you can find real comfort and guidance in Scripture. God's word reminds us that He is our refuge and strength, especially when things get tough.

Facing hurts with humility and forgiveness can truly heal your wounds and restore relationships. Loving your neighbor is a fundamental command, and that includes loving your enemies and blessing those who persecute you. I know it's a challenge, but it's part of what God calls us to as His followers.

The Bible teaches us that offenses are just a part of life. But it also encourages us to handle them in a way that honors God and leads to reconciliation. In Matthew 18:21-22, Jesus gives us key instruction on forgiveness: "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.’"

This passage tells me that Jesus wants us to have hearts that don't hold onto bitterness and resentment. He wants us to forgive others, just as our Heavenly Father has forgiven us.

For Christ did not give pleasure to himself, but, as it is said, The bitter words of those who were angry with you came on me.

If then you are making an offering at the altar and there it comes to your mind that your brother has something against you,While your offering is still before the altar, first go and make peace with your brother, then come and make your offering.

Give ear, O our God, for we are looked down on: let their words of shame be turned back on themselves, and let them be given up to wasting in a land where they are prisoners:

And I will not let the shaming of the nations come to your ears, and no longer will you be looked down on by the peoples, says the Lord.

And be kind to one another, full of pity, having forgiveness for one another, even as God in Christ had forgiveness for you.

His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and false words: under his tongue are evil purposes and dark thoughts.

Being gentle to one another and having forgiveness for one another, if anyone has done wrong to his brother, even as the Lord had forgiveness for you:

Now the sons of Jacob came in from the fields when they had news of it, and they were wounded and very angry because of the shame he had done in Israel by having connection with Jacob's daughter; and they said, Such a thing is not to be done.

And David said to the men near him, What will be done to the man who overcomes this Philistine and takes away the shame from Israel? for who is this Philistine, a man without circumcision, that he has put shame on the armies of the living God?

And David, hearing that Nabal was dead, said, May the Lord be praised, who has taken up my cause against Nabal for the shame which he put on me, and has kept back his servant from evil, and has sent on Nabal's head the reward of his evil-doing. And David sent word to Abigail, desiring to take her as his wife.

The cruel words of my haters are like a crushing of my bones; when they say to me every day, Where is your God?

As far as it is possible for you be at peace with all men.

But if he will not give ear to you, take with you one or two more, that by the lips of two or three witnesses every word may be made certain.

You say evil of your brother; you make false statements against your mother's son.

I have been wounded with sharp words because of you; my face has been covered with shame.

Not giving back evil for evil, or curse for curse, but in place of cursing, blessing; because this is the purpose of God for you that you may have a heritage of blessing.

I am on fire with passion for your house; and the hard things which are said about you have come on me.

You have seen my shame, how I was laughed at and made low; my haters are all before you.

For if you let men have forgiveness for their sins, you will have forgiveness from your Father in heaven.But if you do not let men have forgiveness for their sins, you will not have forgiveness from your Father for your sins.

Then let us not be judges of one another any longer: but keep this in mind, that no man is to make it hard for his brother, or give him cause for doubting.

My heart is broken by bitter words, I am full of grief; I made a search for some to have pity on me, but there was no one; I had no comforter.

Give attention to yourselves: if your brother does wrong, say a sharp word to him; and if he has sorrow for his sin, let him have forgiveness.And if he does you wrong seven times in a day, and seven times comes to you and says, I have regret for what I have done; let him have forgiveness.

And give punishment seven times over into the breast of our neighbours for the bitter words which they have said against you, O Lord.

You have knowledge of this, dear brothers. But let every man be quick in hearing, slow in words, slow to get angry;For the righteousness of God does not come about by the wrath of man.

Take away from me shame and bitter words; for I have kept your unchanging word in my heart.

Take away the shame which is my fear; for your decisions are good.

Be not judges of others, and you will not be judged.For as you have been judging, so you will be judged, and with your measure will it be measured to you.

Be angry without doing wrong; let not the sun go down on your wrath;

Wounds will be his and loss of honour, and his shame may not be washed away.

A foolish man lets his trouble be openly seen, but a sharp man keeps shame secret.

By a soft answer wrath is turned away, but a bitter word is a cause of angry feelings.

Put an end to your wrath and be no longer bitter; do not give way to angry feeling which is a cause of sin.

He who keeps a sin covered is looking for love; but he who keeps on talking of a thing makes division between friends.

A man's good sense makes him slow to wrath, and the overlooking of wrongdoing is his glory.

Send away the man of pride, and argument will go out; truly fighting and shame will come to an end.

It is better not to take meat or wine or to do anything which might be a cause of trouble to your brother.

They say, If a man puts away his wife and she goes from him and becomes another man's, will he go back to her again? will not that land have been made unclean? but though you have been acting like a loose woman with a number of lovers, will you now come back to me? says the Lord.

Give no cause of trouble to Jews, or to Greeks, or to the church of God.

Let his face be turned to him who gives him blows; let him be full of shame.

Happy are the peacemakers: for they will be named sons of God.

And the king will do his pleasure; he will put himself on high, lifting himself over every god, and saying things to be wondered at against the God of gods; and all will be well for him till the wrath is complete; for what has been purposed will be done.

Pleasing words are like honey, sweet to the soul and new life to the bones.

My ears have been open to the bitter words of Moab and the words of shame of the children of Ammon, which they have said against my people, lifting themselves up against the limit of their land.

Then the high priest, violently parting his robes, said, He has said evil against God: what more need have we of witnesses? for now his words against God have come to your ears:

Doing nothing through envy or through pride, but with low thoughts of self let everyone take others to be better than himself;Not looking everyone to his private good, but keeping in mind the things of others.

And most of all be warm in your love for one another; because in love there is forgiveness for sins without number:

This was their answer: We are not stoning you for a good work but for evil words; because being a man you make yourself God.

There are some whose uncontrolled talk is like the wounds of a sword, but the tongue of the wise makes one well again.

Jesus says to him, I say not to you, Till seven times; but, Till seventy times seven.For this reason the kingdom of heaven is like a king, who went over his accounts with his servants.

Let all bitter, sharp and angry feeling, and noise, and evil words, be put away from you, with all unkind acts;

An angry man makes men come to blows, but he who is slow to get angry puts an end to fighting.

Great peace have lovers of your law; they have no cause for falling.

So then, let us go after the things which make peace, and the things by which we may be a help to one another.

Love's ways are ever fair, it takes no thought for itself; it is not quickly made angry, it takes no account of evil;

As saints of God, then, holy and dearly loved, let your behaviour be marked by pity and mercy, kind feeling, a low opinion of yourselves, gentle ways, and a power of undergoing all things;Being gentle to one another and having forgiveness for one another, if anyone has done wrong to his brother, even as the Lord had forgiveness for you:

Hate is a cause of violent acts, but all errors are covered up by love.

So putting away all wrongdoing, and all tricks and deceits and envies and evil talk,

The start of fighting is like the letting out of water: so give up before it comes to blows.

All those things, then, which you would have men do to you, even so do you to them: because this is the law and the prophets.

But if you are given to fighting with one another, take care that you are not the cause of destruction one to another.

And be living in love, even as Christ had love for you, and gave himself up for us, an offering to God for a perfume of a sweet smell.

Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Let your desire be for peace with all men, and to be made holy, without which no man may see the Lord;

Let no one give evil for evil; but ever go after what is good, for one another and for all.

For it is not right for the Lord's servant to make trouble, but he is to be gentle to all, ready in teaching, putting up with wrong,

It is an honour for a man to keep from fighting, but the foolish are ever at war.

My loved ones, let us have love for one another: because love is of God, and everyone who has love is a child of God and has knowledge of God.He who has no love has no knowledge of God, because God is love.

We who are strong have to be a support to the feeble, and not give pleasure to ourselves.Let every one of us give pleasure to his neighbour for his good, to make him strong.

He who has a poor opinion of his neighbour has no sense, but a wise man keeps quiet.

But the wisdom which is from heaven is first holy, then gentle, readily giving way in argument, full of peace and mercy and good works, not doubting, not seeming other than it is.And the fruit of righteousness is planted in peace for those who make peace.

He who keeps watch over his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles.

Be turned from evil, and do good; make a search for peace, desiring it with all your heart.

Do not give evil for evil to any man. Let all your business be well ordered in the eyes of all men.As far as it is possible for you be at peace with all men.Do not give punishment for wrongs done to you, dear brothers, but give way to the wrath of God; for it is said in the holy Writings, Punishment is mine, I will give reward, says the Lord.

A brother wounded is like a strong town, and violent acts are like a locked tower.

You have knowledge that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:But I say to you, Do not make use of force against an evil man; but to him who gives you a blow on the right side of your face let the left be turned.

Say not, I will do to him as he has done to me; I will give the man the reward of his work.

Give blessing to those who give you curses, say prayers for those who are cruel to you.

Let no evil talk come out of your mouth, but only what is good for giving necessary teaching, and for grace to those who give ear.

But give honour to Christ in your hearts as your Lord; and be ready at any time when you are questioned about the hope which is in you, to give an answer in the fear of the Lord and without pride;Being conscious that you have done no wrong; so that those who say evil things about your good way of life as Christians may be put to shame.

And make us free of our debts, as we have made those free who are in debt to us.

The only effect of pride is fighting; but wisdom is with the quiet in spirit.

Let your talk be with grace, mixed with salt, so that you may be able to give an answer to everyone.

O Lord, keep a watch over my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

Brothers, if a man is taken in any wrongdoing, you who are of the Spirit will put such a one right in a spirit of love; keeping watch on yourself, for fear that you yourself may be tested.

But if you give forgiveness to anyone, I do the same: for if I have given forgiveness for anything, I have done it because of you, in the person of Christ;So that Satan may not get the better of us: for we are not without knowledge of his designs.

A judge is moved by one who for a long time undergoes wrongs without protest, and by a soft tongue even bone is broken.

But I say to you, Have love for those who are against you, and make prayer for those who are cruel to you;

A comforting tongue is a tree of life, but a twisted tongue is a crushing of the spirit.

If a man seems to have religion and has no control over his tongue but lets himself be tricked by what is false, this man's religion is of no value.

Let your gentle behaviour be clear to all men. The Lord is near.

He who is slow to be angry is better than a man of war, and he who has control over his spirit than he who takes a town.

For it is said, Let the man who has a love of life, desiring to see good days, keep his tongue from evil and his lips from words of deceit:And let him be turned from evil and do good; searching for peace and going after it with all his heart.

Do not let evil overcome you, but overcome evil by good.

The Lord is kind and full of pity, not quickly made angry, but ever ready to have mercy.His feeling will no longer be bitter; he will not keep his wrath for ever.He has not given us the punishment for our sins, or the reward of our wrongdoing.

A curse is on the earth because of trouble! for it is necessary for trouble to come; but unhappy is that man through whom the trouble comes.

Do not put on one side him who is feeble in faith, and do not put him in doubt by your reasonings.

By a secret offering wrath is turned away, and the heat of angry feelings by money in the folds of the robe.

But take care that this power of yours does not give cause for trouble to the feeble.

And he said to his disciples, It is necessary for causes of trouble to come about, but unhappy is he by whom they come.

For this reason, if food is a cause of trouble to my brother, I will give up taking meat for ever, so that I may not be a cause of trouble to my brother.

But whoever is a cause of trouble to one of these little ones who have faith in me, it would be better for him to have a great stone fixed to his neck, and to come to his end in the deep sea.

The Lord is full of grace and pity; not quickly angry, but great in mercy.

A man of great wrath will have to take his punishment: for if you get him out of trouble you will have to do it again.

And I say to you that in the day when they are judged, men will have to give an account of every foolish word they have said.For by your words will your righteousness be seen, and by your words you will be judged.

More than this, it is not to your credit to have causes at law with one another at all. Why not put up with wrong? why not undergo loss?So far from doing this, you yourselves do wrong and take your brothers' property.

And, you fathers, do not make your children angry: but give them training in the teaching and fear of the Lord.

Fathers, do not be hard on your children, so that their spirit may not be broken.

Happy are you when men give you a bad name, and are cruel to you, and say all evil things against you falsely, because of me.

Say no hard things against one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged; see, the judge is waiting at the doors.

He who is slow to be angry has great good sense; but he whose spirit is over-quick gives support to what is foolish.

Let there be fear in your hearts, and do no sin; have bitter feelings on your bed, but make no sound. Selah.

With all gentle and quiet behaviour, taking whatever comes, putting up with one another in love;Taking care to keep the harmony of the Spirit in the yoke of peace.

Where there is much talk there will be no end to sin, but he who keeps his mouth shut does wisely.

We are free to do all things, but there are things which it is not wise to do. We are free to do all things, but not all things are for the common good.Let a man give attention not only to what is good for himself, but equally to his neighbour's good.

But you, why do you make yourself your brother's judge? or again, why have you no respect for your brother? because we will all have to take our place before God as our judge.

To sharp words he gave no sharp answer; when he was undergoing pain, no angry word came from his lips; but he put himself into the hands of the judge of righteousness:

A foolish man lets out all his wrath, but a wise man keeps it back quietly.

When a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his haters be at peace with him.

I have kept your sayings secretly in my heart, so that I might do no sin against you.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and those to whom it is dear will have its fruit for their food.

Be kind to one another with a brother's love, putting others before yourselves in honour;

I give you a new law: Have love one for another; even as I have had love for you, so are you to have love one for another.By this it will be clear to all men that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another.

He who has love for his brother is in the light, and there is no cause of error in him.

A man has joy in the answer of his mouth: and a word at the right time, how good it is!

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