75 Bible Verses about discouragement

Most Relevant Verses

Job 3:20-26

Why is light given to one burdened with grief,
and life to those whose existence is bitter,
who wait for death, but it does not come,
and search for it more than for hidden treasure,
who are filled with much joy
and are glad when they reach the grave?
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Why is life given to a man whose path is hidden,
whom God has hedged in?
I sigh when food is put before me,
and my groans pour out like water.
For the thing I feared has overtaken me,
and what I dreaded has happened to me.
I cannot relax or be still;
I have no rest, for trouble comes.

Numbers 21:4-5

Then they set out from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea to bypass the land of Edom, but the people became impatient because of the journey. The people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!”

Joshua 2:8-11

Before the men fell asleep, she went up on the roof and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and everyone who lives in the land is panicking because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings you completely destroyed across the Jordan. read more.
When we heard this, we lost heart, and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below.

1 Samuel 17:10-11

Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel today. Send me a man so we can fight each other!” When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified.

Deuteronomy 1:21

See, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up and take possession of it as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.

Job 5:6-7

For distress does not grow out of the soil,
and trouble does not sprout from the ground.
But mankind is born for trouble
as surely as sparks fly upward.

Psalm 38:1-14

A Davidic psalm for remembrance.Lord, do not punish me in Your anger
or discipline me in Your wrath.
For Your arrows have sunk into me,
and Your hand has pressed down on me. There is no health in my body
because of Your indignation;
there is no strength in my bones
because of my sin.
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For my sins have flooded over my head;
they are a burden too heavy for me to bear.
My wounds are foul and festering
because of my foolishness.
I am bent over and brought low;
all day long I go around in mourning.
For my loins are full of burning pain,
and there is no health in my body.
I am faint and severely crushed;
I groan because of the anguish of my heart. Lord, my every desire is known to You;
my sighing is not hidden from You.
My heart races, my strength leaves me,
and even the light of my eyes has faded.
My loved ones and friends stand back from my affliction,
and my relatives stand at a distance.
Those who seek my life set traps,
and those who want to harm me threaten to destroy me;
they plot treachery all day long. I am like a deaf person; I do not hear.
I am like a speechless person
who does not open his mouth.
I am like a man who does not hear
and has no arguments in his mouth.

1 Samuel 17:32

David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged by him; your servant will go and fight this Philistine!”

Isaiah 42:3-4

He will not break a bruised reed,
and He will not put out a smoldering wick;
He will faithfully bring justice.
He will not grow weak or be discouraged
until He has established justice on earth.
The islands will wait for His instruction.”

Proverbs 1:26-27

I, in turn, will laugh at your calamity.
I will mock when terror strikes you,
when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when trouble and stress overcome you.

2 Corinthians 6:4-10

But as God’s ministers, we commend ourselves in everything:

by great endurance, by afflictions,
by hardship, by difficulties,
by beatings, by imprisonments,
by riots, by labors,
by sleepless nights, by times of hunger,
by purity, by knowledge,
by patience, by kindness,
by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love,
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by the message of truth,
by the power of God;
through weapons of righteousness
on the right hand and the left,
through glory and dishonor,
through slander and good report;
as deceivers yet true;
as unknown yet recognized;
as dying and look—we live;
as being disciplined yet not killed;
as grieving yet always rejoicing;
as poor yet enriching many;
as having nothing yet possessing everything.

Isaiah 21:2-4

A troubling vision is declared to me:
“The treacherous one acts treacherously,
and the destroyer destroys.
Advance, Elam! Lay siege, you Medes!
I will put an end to all her groaning.” Therefore I am filled with anguish.
Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor.
I am too perplexed to hear,
too dismayed to see.
My heart staggers;
horror terrifies me.
He has turned my last glimmer of hope
into sheer terror.

2 Chronicles 32:7

“Be strong and courageous! Don’t be afraid or discouraged before the king of Assyria or before the large army that is with him, for there are more with us than with him.

Jeremiah 45:3

‘You have said, “Woe is me, because the Lord has added misery to my pain! I am worn out with groaning and have found no rest.”’

Jeremiah 51:46

May you not become cowardly and fearful
when the report is proclaimed in the land,
for the report will come one year,
and then another the next year.
There will be violence in the land
with ruler against ruler.

Ezekiel 21:7

And when they ask you, ‘Why are you groaning?’ then say: Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, and every hand will become weak. Every spirit will be discouraged, and every knee will turn to water. Yes, it is coming and it will happen.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Hebrews 12:3

For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, so that you won’t grow weary and lose heart.

Zechariah 10:2

For the idols speak falsehood,
and the diviners see illusions;
they relate empty dreams
and offer empty comfort.
Therefore the people wander like sheep;
they suffer affliction because there is no shepherd.

2 Corinthians 1:8-9

For we don’t want you to be unaware, brothers, of our affliction that took place in Asia: we were completely overwhelmed—beyond our strength—so that we even despaired of life. Indeed, we personally had a death sentence within ourselves, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.

Jeremiah 8:9

The wise will be put to shame;
they will be dismayed and snared.
They have rejected the word of the Lord,
so what wisdom do they really have?

Psalm 42:5-11

Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.
I am deeply depressed;
therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan
and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls;
all Your breakers and Your billows have swept over me.
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The Lord will send His faithful love by day;
His song will be with me in the night—
a prayer to the God of my life. I will say to God, my rock,
“Why have You forgotten me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?”
My adversaries taunt me,
as if crushing my bones,
while all day long they say to me,
“Where is your God?”
Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.

1 Samuel 28:15-18

“Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” Samuel asked Saul.

“I’m in serious trouble,” replied Saul. “The Philistines are fighting against me and God has turned away from me. He doesn’t answer me anymore, either through the prophets or in dreams. So I’ve called on you to tell me what I should do.” Samuel answered, “Since the Lord has turned away from you and has become your enemy, why are you asking me? The Lord has done exactly what He said through me: The Lord has torn the kingship out of your hand and given it to your neighbor David. read more.
You did not obey the Lord and did not carry out His burning anger against Amalek; therefore the Lord has done this to you today.

Ephesians 3:13

So then I ask you not to be discouraged over my afflictions on your behalf, for they are your glory.

Deuteronomy 26:6-7

But the Egyptians mistreated and afflicted us, and forced us to do hard labor. So we called out to Yahweh, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our cry and saw our misery, hardship, and oppression.

Job 15:24-25

Trouble and distress terrify him,
overwhelming him like a king prepared for battle.
For he has stretched out his hand against God
and has arrogantly opposed the Almighty.

2 Samuel 22:7

I called to the Lord in my distress;
I called to my God.
From His temple He heard my voice,
and my cry for help reached His ears.

Romans 8:35-39

Who can separate us from the love of Christ?
Can affliction or anguish or persecution
or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
As it is written:
Because of You
we are being put to death all day long;
we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.
No, in all these things we are more than victorious
through Him who loved us.
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For I am persuaded that not even death or life,
angels or rulers,
things present or things to come, hostile powers,
height or depth, or any other created thing
will have the power to separate us
from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Zephaniah 1:17

I will bring distress on mankind,
and they will walk like the blind
because they have sinned against the Lord.
Their blood will be poured out like dust
and their flesh like dung.

2 Chronicles 20:9

“If disaster comes on us—sword or judgment, pestilence or famine—we will stand before this temple and before You, for Your name is in this temple. We will cry out to You because of our distress, and You will hear and deliver.”

Nehemiah 9:32

So now, our God—the great, mighty,
and awe-inspiring God who keeps His gracious covenant—
do not view lightly all the hardships that have afflicted us,
our kings and leaders,
our priests and prophets,
our ancestors and all Your people,
from the days of the Assyrian kings until today.

1 Chronicles 28:20

Then David said to his son Solomon, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He won’t leave you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the Lord’s house is finished.

Psalm 31:9-12

Be gracious to me, Lord,
because I am in distress;
my eyes are worn out from angry sorrow—
my whole being as well.
Indeed, my life is consumed with grief
and my years with groaning;
my strength has failed
because of my sinfulness,
and my bones waste away.
I am ridiculed by all my adversaries
and even by my neighbors.
I am dreaded by my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street run from me.
read more.
I am forgotten: gone from memory
like a dead person—like broken pottery.

Judges 2:14-15

The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and He handed them over to marauders who raided them. He sold them to the enemies around them, and they could no longer resist their enemies. Whenever the Israelites went out, the Lord was against them and brought disaster on them, just as He had promised and sworn to them. So they suffered greatly.

2 Chronicles 20:15

and he said, “Listen carefully, all Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. This is what the Lord says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast number, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

Isaiah 38:14

I chirp like a swallow or a crane;
I moan like a dove.
My eyes grow weak looking upward.
Lord, I am oppressed; support me.

Isaiah 26:16

Lord, they went to You in their distress;
they poured out whispered prayers
because Your discipline fell on them.

Jeremiah 8:18-19

My joy has flown away;
grief has settled on me.
My heart is sick.
Listen—the cry of my dear people
from a far away land,
“Is the Lord no longer in Zion,
her King not within her?”
Why have they provoked me to anger
with their carved images,
with their worthless foreign idols?

Isaiah 40:29-31

He gives strength to the weary
and strengthens the powerless.
Youths may faint and grow weary,
and young men stumble and fall,
but those who trust in the Lord
will renew their strength;
they will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary;
they will walk and not faint.

Jonah 2:1-2

Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish: I called to the Lord in my distress,
and He answered me.
I cried out for help in the belly of Sheol;
You heard my voice.

Exodus 6:9

Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.

2 Samuel 4:1

When Saul’s son Ish-bosheth heard that Abner had died in Hebron, his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed.

Ezra 4:4

Then the people who were already in the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build.

Jeremiah 30:10

As for you, My servant Jacob,
do not be afraid—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
and do not be dismayed, Israel,
for without fail I will save you from far away,
your descendants, from the land of their captivity!
Jacob will return and have calm and quiet
with no one to frighten him.

Job 4:5

But now that this has happened to you,
you have become exhausted.
It strikes you, and you are dismayed.

Deuteronomy 1:28

Where can we go? Our brothers have discouraged us, saying: The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, fortified to the heavens. We also saw the descendants of the Anakim there.’

Numbers 32:7

Why are you discouraging the Israelites from crossing into the land the Lord has given them?

Psalm 109:16

For he did not think to show kindness,
but pursued the afflicted, poor, and brokenhearted
in order to put them to death.

Acts 15:19

Therefore, in my judgment, we should not cause difficulties for those among the Gentiles who turn to God,

Job 6:14

A despairing man should receive loyalty from his friends,
even if he abandons the fear of the Almighty.

Jeremiah 8:21

I am broken by the brokenness
of my dear people.
I mourn; horror has taken hold of me.

From Thematic Bible


Discouragement » Delay in fulfilment of desires

Discouragement » The difficulty of the task

Nehemiah 4:10

In Judah, it was said:

The strength of the laborer fails,
since there is so much rubble.
We will never be able
to rebuild the wall.

Discouragement » The prosperity of the wicked

Psalm 73:2-3

But as for me, my feet almost slipped; my steps nearly went astray. For I envied the arrogant; I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

Discouragement » The hardness of the way

Numbers 21:4

Then they set out from Mount Hor by way of the Red Sea to bypass the land of Edom, but the people became impatient because of the journey.

Topics on Discouragement

Prayer In Discouragement

Psalm 42:5-11

Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.

Resisting Discouragement

Ephesians 3:13

So then I ask you not to be discouraged over my afflictions on your behalf, for they are your glory.

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Theasaurus: Discouragement

Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers.