60 Bible Verses about Regret

Then Saul said, "I have sinned! Come back, David my son, for I will not harm you again, because my life [was] precious in your eyes this day. Look, I have acted like a fool and {have made a terrible mistake}."

Then Isaac {trembled violently}. Then he said, "Who then [was] he that hunted wild game and brought [it] to me, and I ate [it] all before you came, and I blessed him? Moreover, he will be blessed!" When Esau heard the words of his father he cried out [with] a great and exceedingly bitter cry of distress. And he said to his father, "Bless me as well, my father!" And he said, "Your brother came in deceit and took your blessing."

And the cloud departed from on the tent, and behold, Miriam [was] infected with {a skin disease} white like snow; when Aaron turned toward Miriam, behold, [she was] afflicted with a skin disease. So Aaron said to Moses, "Please, my lord, please do not put on us [this] sin [in] which we were foolish and [in] which we have sinned. Please do not let her be like the dead, whose flesh is half consumed when coming out from the womb of its mother."

Then all the community {lifted up their voices}, and the people wept during that night. And all the {Israelites} grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and all the community said to them, "If only we had died in the land of Egypt or in this desert!

Jephthah came to Mizpah, to his house, and behold his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and dancing. She [was] his only child; he did not have a son or daughter except her. And the moment he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, "Ah! My daughter, you have caused me to bow down, and you have become my trouble. {I made an oath} to Yahweh, and I cannot take [it] back."

The heart of David struck him after he had counted the people, and David said to Yahweh, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done! So then, O Yahweh, please forgive the guilt of your servant because I have acted very foolishly."

Then David said to God, "I have sinned severely [in] that I have done this thing. But now, please forgive the sin of your servant, for I have been very foolish."

Then David said to Gad, "I [am] greatly distressed. Please let us fall into the hand of Yahweh, because he [is] great in his compassion; but into the hand of man don't let me fall."

Then David said to Gad, "{I am very troubled}. Let me into the hand of Yahweh, for his compassion is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of a man."

When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth over his flesh, fasted, lay in the sackcloth, and went about dejectedly.

Then the king, when he heard that {report}, he was extremely distressed over it; and {concerning Daniel} {he was determined} to rescue him. And until the setting of the sun he was making every effort to deliver him.

And Peter remembered the statement Jesus had said, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times," and he went outside [and] wept bitterly.

And immediately a rooster crowed for the second time. And Peter remembered the statement, how Jesus had said to him, "Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times," and throwing himself down, he began to weep.

And the Lord turned around [and] looked intently at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he said to him, "Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times." And he went outside [and] wept bitterly.

Then [when] Judas, the one who had betrayed him, saw that he had been condemned, he regretted [what he had done] [and] returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and elders, saying, "I have sinned [by] betraying innocent blood!" But they said, "What [is that] to us? You see to [it]!"

And Yahweh regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and {he was grieved in his heart}.

Then the word of Yahweh came to Samuel, saying, "I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not kept my word." {Samuel became angry}, and he cried out to Yahweh all night.

When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, Yahweh regretted about the evil, and he said to the angel who brought destruction among the people, "Enough, now relax your hand." Now the angel of Yahweh [was] at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, and as [he was about] to destroy [it], Yahweh saw and was grieved on account of the calamity. Then he said to the angel, the destroyer, "[It is] enough; slacken your hand." And the angel of Yahweh was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

and you groan at your end, when your flesh and body are consumed, and say "How I hated discipline, and I despised reproof!" and "I did not listen to the voice of my teachers, and I did not incline my ear to my instructors!read more.
I was almost at utter ruin in the midst of the assembly and congregation."

But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge those people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all evil, by which some, [because they] desire [it], have gone astray from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.

[that] no one [be] a sexually immoral or totally worldly [person] like Esau, who for one meal traded his own birthright. For you know that also afterwards, [when he] wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, because he did not find an occasion for repentance, although he sought it with tears.

Then Esau held a grudge against Jacob on account of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are coming, then I will kill Jacob my brother."

The king was upset, and he went up to the upper room of the gate and wept. He said as he went, "My son, Absalom, my son, my son, Absalom. {If only} I had died instead of you, Absalom, my son, my son."

A person who is burdened with [the] blood of {another}, until death he will flee; do not take hold of him.

And [if] their survivors will escape, they will be on the mountains, like the doves of the valley, all of them groaning, each because of his guilt. All of the hands will hang limp, and all of {the knees will be wet with urine}. And they will wear sackcloth, and horror will cover them, and on all of [the] faces [will be] shame, and baldness on all of their heads.

"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able to, when once the master of the house has gotten up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock [on] the door, saying, 'Lord, open [the door] for us!' And he will answer [and] say to you, 'I do not know where you are from!' Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets!'read more.
And he will reply, saying to you, 'I do not know where you are from! Go away from me, all [you] {evildoers}!' In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves thrown outside!

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even every one who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Yes, amen.

And many from [those] sleeping {in the dusty ground} will awake, some to {everlasting life} and some to disgrace and {everlasting contempt}.

"And they shall go out and look at the corpses of the people {who have rebelled} against me, for their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh."

But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!"

And throw the worthless slave into the outer darkness--in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!'

And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out! It is better [for] you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than, having two eyes, to be thrown into hell, 'where their worm does not die and the fire is not extinguished.'

Now it happened that the poor man died, and he was carried away by the angels to {Abraham's side}. And the rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades he lifted up his eyes [as he] was in torment [and] saw Abraham from a distance, and Lazarus {at his side}.

And the smoke of their torture went up {forever and ever}, and those who worshiped the beast and his image did not have rest day and night, {along with anyone who received} the mark of his name.

For if indeed I grieved you by my letter, I do not regret [it]. Even if I did regret [it] (I see that that letter grieved you, even though for {a short time}), now I rejoice, not that you were grieved, but that you were grieved to repentance. For you were grieved according to [the will of] God, so that you suffered loss in no way through us. For grief according to [the will of] God brings about a repentance [leading] to salvation, not to be regretted, but worldly grief brings about death.

And Moses spoke words to all the {Israelites}, and the people mourned greatly. They rose early in the morning and went to the top of the mount, saying, "Here we are. We will go up to the place that Yahweh said, because we have sinned."

Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against Yahweh!" Nathan said to David, "Yahweh has also forgiven your sin; you shall not die. But because you have {utterly scorned} Yahweh in this matter, the son born for you {will certainly die}." Then Nathan went to his house, and Yahweh struck the child that the wife of Uriah bore for David, and he became ill.read more.
David pleaded [with] God on behalf of the boy and David fasted. He went to spend the night and lay upon the ground. The elders of his household stood over him to lift him up from the ground, but he [was] not willing, and he did not eat [any] food with them.

And to the king of Judah who sent all of you to inquire of Yahweh, thus you shall say to him, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel, '[Concerning] the words that you have heard, because you have a responsive heart, and you humbled yourself before Yahweh when you heard how I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants to become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before my face, I have also heard, declares Yahweh. Therefore look, I am gathering you to your ancestors, and you shall be gathered to your tombs in peace. Your eyes will not see all of the disaster that I am bringing onto this place.'" '" Then they {reported the word} to the king.

But to the king of Judah who sent you to seek Yahweh, thus shall you say to him: 'Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: [As for] the words which you heard, because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and against its inhabitants and you humbled yourself before me and tore your garments and wept before me, now I also have heard,' {declares} Yahweh. 'Behold, I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see any of the disaster that I am bringing upon this place.'" '"

While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a very great assembly of men, women, and children from Israel gathered to him. And the people wept bitterly.

For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has pressed down on me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation. There is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have passed over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.read more.
My wounds start to stink; they rot because of my foolishness. I am bowed down; I am bent over greatly. All the day I go about mourning. For my loins are full [of] burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am faint and crushed greatly; I groan because of the roaring of my heart.

For {I myself know} my transgressions, and my sin [is] ever before me.

"A voice [is] heard on [the] barren heights, the weeping of the pleas for mercy of the children of Israel, because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Yahweh their God. Return, apostate children, I will heal your backsliding. 'Look, we come to you, for you are Yahweh our God. Surely, an illusion [comes] from [the] hills, [the] turmoil [on] the mountains. Surely, in Yahweh our God [is] the salvation of Israel.read more.
But the shameful thing has devoured the labor of our ancestors from our youth, their flocks, and their cattle, their sons and their daughters. Let us lie down in our shame, and let our disgrace cover us. For against Yahweh our God we have sinned, we and our ancestors, from our youth and until this day. and we have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh our God.'

"And even now," {declares} Yahweh, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, and weeping, and wailing."

And the news reached the king of Nineveh, and he rose from his throne and removed his royal robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in the ashes. And he had a proclamation made, and said, "In Nineveh, by a decree of the king and his nobles: "No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything! They must not eat, and they must not drink water! And [the] human beings and [the] animals must be covered [with] sackcloth! And they must call forcefully to God, and each must turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.read more.
Who knows? God may relent and change his mind and turn {from his blazing anger} {so that} we will not perish."

Blessed [are] the ones who mourn, because they will be comforted.

"But [when he] came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired workers have an abundance {of food}, and I am dying here from hunger! I will set out [and] go to my father and will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and {in your sight}! I am no longer worthy to be called your son! Make me like one of your hired workers.'

Now [when they] heard [this], they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "What should we do, men [and] brothers?"

Have they acted ashamed, for they have committed a detestable thing? Not at all, nor were they ashamed; they did not know to feel humiliated. {Therefore} they will fall among [those who] fall at the time I punish them, they will stumble," says Yahweh.

Yahweh [is] righteous in her midst; he does not do wickedness. {Morning by morning} he renders his judgment; at dawn he does not fail, but an evil one knows no shame.

It is reported everywhere [that there] is sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind which [does] not [even exist] among the Gentiles, so that someone has the wife of [his] father. And you are inflated with pride, and should you not rather have mourned, so that the one who has done this deed would be removed from your midst?

He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he departed with no [one's] regret. And they buried him in the city of David, but not in the burial sites of the kings.

Yet not so [is] my house with God, for he made an everlasting covenant for me, arranging everything. He has secured all my deliverance, and all my desire he will cause to happen.

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is imminent. I have fought the good fight, I have completed the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, the crown of righteousness is reserved for me, that the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.

For look! I [am] about to create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered, and they shall not {come to mind}. But rejoice and shout in exultation forever and ever [over] what I [am] about to create! For look! I [am] about to create Jerusalem [as a source of] rejoicing, and her people [as a source of] joy. And I will shout in exultation over Jerusalem, and I will rejoice over my people, and [the] sound of weeping shall no longer be heard in it, or [the] sound of a cry for help.

And the ransomed of Yahweh shall return, and they shall come [to] Zion with rejoicing. And everlasting joy [shall be] on their head; joy and gladness shall overtake [them], and sorrow and sighing shall flee.

And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist [any] longer, and mourning or wailing or pain will not exist [any] longer. The former [things] have passed away."