36 Bible Verses about Cowardice

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and one servant girl came to him, saying, Thou also were with Jesus the Galilean. But he denied before them all, saying, I do not know what thou say. And when he was gone out into the porch, another woman saw him, and says to them there, This man was also with Jesus the Nazarene. read more.
And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. And after a little while those who stood, having approached, said to Peter, Surely thou also are of them, for thy accent even makes thee apparent. Then he began to curse vehemently and to swear, I do not know the man. And straightaway a cock sounded.

And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest comes. And having seen Peter warming himself, having looked at him, she says, Thou also were with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied, saying, I know not, nor understand what thou say. And he went outside onto the porch, and a cock sounded. read more.
And the servant girl having seen him, she began again to say to those who stood by, This man is from them. But he again denied it. And after a little while again those who stood by said to Peter, Surely thou are from them, for thou are a Galilean, and thy accent is similar. But he began to curse and to swear, I do not know this man of whom ye speak. And the second time a cock sounded. And Peter remembered the saying that Jesus said to him, Before a cock sounds twice, thou will deny me thrice. And having broke down, he wept.

And having seized him, they led him, and brought him into the high priest's house. But Peter followed from afar. And having kindled a fire in the midst of the court, and having sat down together, Peter sat in the midst of them. But a certain servant girl having seen him sitting near the light, and having looked intently upon him, she said, This man was also with him. read more.
But he denied him, saying, Woman, I do not know him. And after a little while, another man having see him, said, Thou also are from them. And Peter said, Man, I am not. And about one hour having passed, some other man insisted, saying, In truth this man was also with him, for he is also a Galilean. And Peter said, Man, I do not know what thou are saying. And immediately, while he still spoke, a cock sounded.

But Peter had stood near the door outside. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the doorkeeper and brought in Peter. Therefore the servant girl (the doorkeeper) says to Peter, Are thou not also of this man's disciples? That man says, I am not.

Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. Therefore they said to him, Are thou not also of his disciples? That man therefore denied, and said, I am not.

And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were greatly afraid.

And Saul was yet the more afraid of David, and Saul was David's enemy continually.

And we saw there the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim. And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried, and the people wept that night.

And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty-six men. And they chased them [from] before the gate even to Shebarim, and smote them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.

And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking upon the sea.

Therefore having impelled forward about twenty-five or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and coming near to the boat, and they were afraid.

For they all saw him, and were troubled. And straightaway he spoke with them, and says to them, Cheer up. It is I, fear not.

And he says to them, Why are ye cowardly, O ye of little faith? Then after rising, he rebuked the winds and the sea, and there became a great calm.

And he said to them, Where is your faith? And having feared, they wondered, saying to each other, Who then is this man, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?

And he himself was in the stern sleeping on the cushion. And they awake him, and say to him, Teacher, does it not concern thee that we perish?

And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried, and the people wept that night. And all the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron. And the whole congregation said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would that we had died in this wilderness! And why does LORD bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be a prey. Were it not better for us to return into Egypt? read more.
And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt. Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel.

Yet ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of LORD your God. And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because LORD hated us, he has brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our heart to melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven, and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.

And it came to pass, when he came near to enter into Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou are a fair woman to look upon. And it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife. And they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou are my sister, that it may be well with me for thy sake, and that my soul may live because of thee. read more.
And it came to pass, that, when Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. And he dealt well with Abram for her sake. And he had sheep, and oxen, and he-donkeys, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and she-donkeys, and camels. And LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou have done to me? Why did thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Why did thou say, She is my sister, so that I took her to be my wife? Now therefore behold thy wife. Take her, and go thy way.

And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, Behold, thou are but a dead man, because of the woman whom thou have taken, for she is a man's wife. Now Abimelech had not come near her. And he said, LORD, will thou slay even a righteous nation? read more.
Did he not himself say to me, She is my sister? And she, even she herself said, He is my brother. In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this. And God said to him in the dream, Yes, I know that in the integrity of thy heart thou have done this. And I also withheld thee from sinning against me. Therefore I did not allow thee to touch her. Now therefore restore the man's wife. For he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shall live. And if thou do not restore her, know thou that thou shall surely die, thou, and all that are thine. And Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ear. And the men were exceedingly afraid. Then Abimelech called Abraham, and said to him, What have thou done to us? And in what have I sinned against thee, that thou have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? Thou have done deeds to me that ought not to be done. And Abimelech said to Abraham, What did thou see, that thou have done this thing? And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife. And moreover she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife.

And David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee, for otherwise none of us shall escape from Absalom. Make speed to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil upon us, and smit

However the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified, very great, and moreover we saw the children of Anak there.

But the men who went up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had spied out to the sons of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that eats up the inhabitants of it. And all the people that we saw And we saw there the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim. And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

But all this has come to pass, so that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples fled, having forsook him.

And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, who were by the sea, heard how that LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the sons

And as soon as we had heard it, our hearts melted, neither did there remain any more spirit in any man, because of you, for LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath.

From this Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou release this man, thou are not Caesar's friend. Every man who makes himself a king speaks against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard this word, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the Preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he says to the Jews, Look at your king! read more.
But they cried out, Away, away, crucify him! Pilate says to them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, We have no king except Caesar. Therefore he then delivered him to them, so that he might be crucified, and they took and led Jesus away.

Yet, nevertheless, even many of the rulers believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess, so that they would not become excommunicated from the synagogue, for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

And there came a messenger to David, saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom. And David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, Arise, and let us flee, for otherwise none of us shall escape from Absalom. Make speed to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring down evil upon us, and smit And the king's servants said to the king, Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatever my lord the king shall choose. read more.
And the king went forth, and all his household after him. And the king left ten women, who were concubines, to keep the house. And the king went forth, and all the people after him, and they remained in Beth-merhak.

And the sons of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, Why have thou given me but one lot and one part for an inheritance, seeing I am a great people, inasmuch as until now LORD has blessed me? And Joshua said to them, If thou be a great people, get thee up to the forest, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim, since the hill-country of Ephraim is too narrow for thee. And the sons of Joseph said, The hill-country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both those who are in Beth-shean and its towns, and those who are in the valley o read more.
And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou are a great people, and have great power. Thou shall not have only one lot, but the hill-country shall be thine, for though it is a forest, thou shall cut it down, and the goings out of it shall be thine. For thou shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong

And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord grow hot. Thou know the people, that they are [set] on evil. For they said to me, Make gods for us, which shall go before us. For as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has become of him. And I said to them, Whoever has any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty-two thousand, and there remained ten thousand.

The sons of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.

But when Peter came to Antioch I opposed him to the face, because he was blameworthy. For before certain men came from James he ate together with the Gentiles, but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing men of circumcision. And the other Jews also joined in hypocrisy with him, so that even Barnabas went along with their hypocrisy. read more.
But when I saw that they did not walk uprightly toward the truth of the good-news, I said to Peter before all, If thou being a Jew, live as a Gentile and not as a Jew, why do thou compel the Gentiles to live as Jews?

When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were distressed), then the people hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in coverts, and in pits. Now some of the Hebrews had gone over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead, but as for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

And after these things Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because of fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might remove the body of Jesus, and Pilate allowed him. Therefore he came and removed the bod

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to him by night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou have come a teacher from God, for no man can do these signs that thou do if God is not with him.

And the men of the place asked him of his wife. And he said, She is my sister. For he feared to say, My wife, Lest, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah, because she was fair to look upon. And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was playing with Rebekah his wife. And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, she is certainly thy wife, and how did thou say, She is my sister? And Isaac said to him, Because I said, Lest I die because of her.

And these five kings fled, and hid themselves in the cave at Makkedah.

And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were greatly afraid.

And Samuel said, How do I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me. And LORD said, Take a heifer with thee, and say, I have come to sacrifice to LORD.

His parents spoke these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man confessed him as Christ, he should become excommunicated from the synagogue.

And Jacob answered and said to Laban, Because I was afraid, for I said, Lest thou should take thy daughters from me by force.

And the jailor, who became awake and who saw the prison doors opened, having drawn out a sword was going to kill himself, supposing the prisoners to have fled.

But all this has come to pass, so that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples fled, having forsook him.

And the man said, The woman whom thou gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.

And those watching over shook from fear of him, and became as dead men.

And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty-six men. And they chased them [from] before the gate even to Shebarim, and smote them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.

The sons of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.

Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty-two thousand, and there remained ten thousand.