Verses by Mood · Repentance
Bible Verses About Repentance and Confessing Sin
After you've done something wrong, the hardest part often isn't what other people think — it's the part inside you. The words, the decision, come back again and again, and so does the guilt. You'd give anything to redo it, and you can't; sometimes you don't even know where an apology would start.
Here are eight passages from the Bible about repentance and confession. They don't scold you, and they don't push you to decide anything right now. They lay out owning it, regret, and starting again — one verse at a time — and let you read slowly.
What the Bible Says About Repentance
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
“Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord,
Acts 3:19
Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.
Psalm 51:10-12
if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14
I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.
Luke 15:7
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Isaiah 55:7
“Yet even now,” says the LORD, “turn to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.” Tear your heart and not your garments, and turn to the LORD, your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.
Joel 2:12-13
He who conceals his sins doesn’t prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
Proverbs 28:13