36 Bible Verses about Cowardice

But Peter sat without in the palace-court; and a maid came to him, saying, And thou wast with Jesus the Galilaean. But he denied before all, saying, I do not know what thou sayest. And when he had gone out into the entrance, another maid saw him, and says to those there, This man also was with Jesus the Nazaraean. read more.
And again he denied with an oath: I do not know the man. And after a little, those who stood there, coming to him, said to Peter, Truly thou too art of them, for also thy speech makes thee manifest. Then he began to curse and to swear, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.

And Peter being below in the palace-court, there comes one of the maids of the high priest, and seeing Peter warming himself, having looked at him, says, And thou wast with the Nazarene, Jesus. But he denied, saying, I know not nor understand what thou sayest. And he went out into the vestibule; and a cock crew. read more.
And the maid, seeing him, again began to say to those that stood by, This is one of them. And he again denied. And again, after a little, those that stood by said to Peter, Truly thou art one of them, for also thou art a Galilean. But he began to curse and to swear, I know not this man of whom ye speak. And the second time a cock crew. And Peter remembered the word that Jesus said to him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice; and when he thought thereon he wept.

And having laid hold on him, they led him away, and they led him into the house of the high priest. And Peter followed afar off. And they having lit a fire in the midst of the court and sat down together, Peter sat among them. And a certain maid, having seen him sitting by the light, and having fixed her eyes upon him, said, And this man was with him. read more.
But he denied him, saying, Woman, I do not know him. And after a short time another seeing him said, And thou art of them. But Peter said, Man, I am not. And after the lapse of about one hour another stoutly maintained it, saying, In truth this man also was with him, for also he is a Galilaean. And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he was yet speaking, the cock crew.

but Peter stood at the door without. The other disciple therefore, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the porteress and brought in Peter. The maid therefore, who was porteress, says to Peter, Art thou also of the disciples of this man? He says, I am not.

But Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They said therefore to him, Art thou also of his disciples? He 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 there have we seen giants the sons of Anak are of the giants and we were in our sight as grasshoppers, and so we were also in their sight. And the whole assembly 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 pursued them from before the gate to Shebarim, and smote them on the descent. Then the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.

But in the fourth watch of the night he went off to them, walking on the sea.

Having rowed then about twenty-five or thirty stadia, they see Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the ship; and they were frightened.

For all saw him and were troubled. And immediately he spoke with them, and says to them, Be of good courage: it is I; be not afraid.

And he says to them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then, having arisen, he rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

And he said to them, Where is your faith? And, being afraid, they were astonished, saying to one another, Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?

And he was in the stern sleeping on the cushion. And they awake him up and say to him, Teacher, dost thou not care that we are perishing?

And the whole assembly lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron; and the whole assembly said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or in this wilderness would that we had died! And why is Jehovah bringing us to this land that we may fall by the sword, that our wives and our little ones may become a prey? Is it not better for us to return to Egypt? read more.
And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return to Egypt. Then Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces before the whole congregation of the assembly of the children of Israel.

But ye would not go up, and rebelled against the word of Jehovah your God; and ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because Jehovah hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. Whither shall we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt, saying, They are a people greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.

And it came to pass when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a woman fair to look upon. And it will come to pass when the Egyptians see thee, that they will say, She is his wife; and they will slay me, and save thee alive. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister, that it may be well with me on thy account, and my soul may live because of thee. read more.
And it came to pass when Abram came into Egypt, that 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 treated Abram well on her account; and he had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and bondmen, and bondwomen, and she-asses, and camels. And Jehovah plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife. And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this thou hast done to me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Why didst thou say, She is my sister, so that I took her as my wife. And now, behold, there is thy wife: take her, and go away.

And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelech the king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, because of the woman that thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife. But Abimelech had not come near her. And he said, Lord, wilt thou also kill a righteous nation? read more.
Did he not say to me, She is my sister? and she, even she said, He is my brother. In the integrity of my heart and in the innocency of my hands have I done this. And God said to him in a dream, I also knew that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart, and I, too, have withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore have I not suffered thee to touch her. And now, restore the man's wife; for he is a prophet, and will pray for thee, that thou mayest live. And if thou do not restore her, know that thou shalt certainly die, thou and all that is thine. And Abimelech rose early in the morning, and called all his servants, and spoke all these words in their ears; and the men were greatly afraid. And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, What hast thou done to us? And in what have I sinned against thee, that thou hast brought on me, and on my kingdom, a great sin? Thou hast done to me deeds that ought not to be done. And Abimelech said to Abraham, What hast thou seen that thou hast done this? And Abraham said, Because I said, Surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they will kill me for my wife's sake. But she is also truly 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 that were with him at Jerusalem, Rise up and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom. Be quick to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.

Only, the people are strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, very great; moreover we saw the children of Anak there.

But the men that went up with him said, We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we. And they brought to the children of Israel an evil report of the land which they had searched out, saying, The land, which we have passed through to search it out, is a land that eateth up its inhabitants; and all the people that we have seen in it are men of great stature; and there have we seen giants the sons of Anak are of the giants and we were in our sight as grasshoppers, and so we were also in their sight.

But all this is come to pass that the scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled. Then all the disciples left him and fled.

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 that Jehovah had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel, until they had passed over, that their heart melted, and there was no spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel.

We heard of it, and our heart melted, and there remained no more spirit in any man because of you; for Jehovah your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.

From this time Pilate sought to release him; but the Jews cried out saying, If thou releasest this man, thou art not a friend to Caesar. Every one making himself a king speaks against Caesar. Pilate therefore, having heard these words, led Jesus out and sat down upon the judgment-seat, at a place called Pavement, but in Hebrew Gabbatha; (now it was the preparation of the passover; it was about the sixth hour;) and he says to the Jews, Behold your king! read more.
But they cried out, Take him away, take him away, crucify him. Pilate says to them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. Then therefore he delivered him up to them, that he might be crucified; and they took Jesus and led him away.

Although indeed from among the rulers also many believed on him, but on account of the Pharisees did not confess him, that they might not be put out of the synagogue: for they loved glory from men rather than glory from God.

And there came one to David who reported saying, The hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom. And David said to all his servants that were with him at Jerusalem, Rise up and let us flee; for we shall not else escape from Absalom. Be quick to depart, lest he overtake us quickly, and bring evil upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword. And the king's servants said to the king, Behold, thy servants will 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, concubines, to keep the house. And the king went forth, and all the people after him, and stayed at the remote house.

And the children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me as inheritance one lot and one portion, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as Jehovah has blessed me hitherto? And Joshua said unto them, If thou art a great people, then get thee up to the wood, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if the hill-country of Ephraim is too narrow for thee. And the children of Joseph said, The hill-country will not be enough for us; and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, those that are of Beth-shean and its dependent villages, and those that are in the valley of Jizreel. read more.
And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only, but the hill-country shall be thine, as it is a wood, thou shalt cut it down, and its outgoings shall be thine; for thou shalt dispossess the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots; for they are powerful.

And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord burn! thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. And they said to me, Make us a god, who will go before us; for this Moses, the man that has brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what is become of him! And I said to them, Who has gold? They broke it off, and gave it 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 home.'" And Gideon tested them; twenty-two thousand returned, and ten thousand remained.

The sons of Ephraim, armed bowmen, turned back in the day of battle.

But when Peter came to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be condemned: for before that certain came from James, he ate with those of the nations; but when they came, he drew back and separated himself, fearing those of the circumcision; and the rest of the Jews also played the same dissembling part with him; so that even Barnabas was carried away too by their dissimulation. read more.
But when I saw that they do not walk straightforwardly, according to the truth of the glad tidings, I said to Peter before all, If thou, being a Jew, livest as the nations and not as the Jews, how dost thou compel the nations to Judaize?

And the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were distressed); and the people hid themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in cliffs, and in strongholds, and in pits. And the Hebrews went over the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead. And Saul was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

And after these things Joseph of Arimathaea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly through fear of the Jews, demanded of Pilate that he might take the body of Jesus: and Pilate allowed it. He came therefore and took away the body of Jesus.

But there was a man from among the Pharisees, his name Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; he came to him by night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou art come a teacher from God, for none can do these signs that thou doest unless God be with him.

And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, She is my sister; for he feared to say, my wife, saying to himself, Lest the men of the place slay me on account of Rebecca because she was fair in countenance. And it came to pass when he had been there some time, that Abimelech the king of the Philistines looked out of the window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was dallying with Rebecca his wife. Then Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, she is certainly thy wife; and how saidst thou, She is my sister? and Isaac said to him, Because I said, Lest I die on account 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 shall I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And Jehovah said, Take a heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to Jehovah.

His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if any one confessed him to be the Christ, he should be excommunicated from the synagogue.

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

And the jailor being awakened out of his sleep, and seeing the doors of the prison opened, having drawn a sword was going to kill himself, thinking the prisoners had fled.

But all this is come to pass that the scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled. Then all the disciples left him and fled.

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

And for fear of him the guards trembled and became as dead men.

And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty-six men; and they pursued them from before the gate to Shebarim, and smote them on the descent. Then the hearts of the people melted, and became as water.

The sons of Ephraim, armed bowmen, 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 home.'" And Gideon tested them; twenty-two thousand returned, and ten thousand remained.