41 Bible Verses about Grudges

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."

When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and were not able to speak peaceably to him.

And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told [it] to his brothers. And {they hated him even more}.

And when the brothers of Joseph saw that their father [was] dead, they said, "It may be [that] Joseph will hold a grudge against us and pay us back dearly for all the evil that we did to him."

And it happened, the people were like those who {complain of hardship} {in the hearing} of Yahweh, and Yahweh {became angry}, and the fire of Yahweh burned among them, and it consumed the edge of the camp.

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! Why did Yahweh bring us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little children will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return [to] Egypt?"read more.
{They said to each other}, "Let us appoint a leader, and we will return [to] Egypt."

And the women sang as they danced, and they said, "Saul has struck down his thousands, but David his ten thousands!" {Saul became very angry}, and {this saying displeased him}, and he thought, "They have attributed to David ten thousands, but to me they have attributed thousands! {What more can he have but the kingdom}?" So Saul was watching David [with suspicion] from that day onward.

So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and he told him, so Ahab went to meet Elijah. When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "[Is] this you [who] throws Israel into confusion?"

Then Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, my enemy?" He said, "I have found you because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh.

Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "[There is] still one man to inquire from Yahweh, but I despise him, for he never prophesies [anything] good concerning me, but only bad: Micaiah the son of Imlah." Then Jehoshaphat said, "The king should not say so."

For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not permitted for you to have your brother's wife." So Herodias held a grudge against him and was wanting to kill him, and was not able [to do so].

Now [while] Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him holding an alabaster flask of very expensive perfumed oil, and poured [it] out on his head [while he] was reclining at table. And [when] the disciples saw [it] they were indignant, saying, "{Why} this waste?read more.
For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor!"

And [while] he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, [as] he was reclining for a meal, a woman came holding an alabaster flask of very costly perfumed oil of genuine nard. [After] breaking the alabaster flask, she poured [it] out on his head. But some were expressing indignation to one another: "Why has there been this waste of perfumed oil? For this perfumed oil could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor!" And they began to scold her.

Then Mary took a pound of ointment of very valuable genuine nard [and] anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was going to betray him) said, "{Why} was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"read more.
(Now he said this not because {he was concerned} about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having the money box, he used to steal what was put into [it].)

Now the high priest rose up and all those [who were] with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), [and] they were filled with jealousy.

Now [when they] heard these [things], they were infuriated in their hearts and gnashed [their] teeth at him.

and Abel also brought [an offering] from {the choicest firstlings of his flock}. And Yahweh looked with favor to Abel and to his offering, but to Cain and to his offering he did not look with favor. And Cain became very angry, and his face fell. And Yahweh said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why is your face fallen?read more.
If you do well {will I not accept you}? But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. And its desire [is] for you, but you must rule over it." Then Cain said to his brother Abel, ["Let us go out into the field."] And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

And they saw him from a distance. And before he drew near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. And each said to his brothers, "Look, this master of dreams is coming. Now then, come, let us kill him and throw him in one of the pits. Then we will say a wild animal devoured him. Then we will see what his dreams become."

Absalom did not speak with Amnon {either bad or good}, for Absalom hated Amnon {over the matter when} he raped Tamar his sister.

And [when] the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced and pleased Herod and {his dinner guests}, the king said to the girl, "Ask me [for] whatever you want, and I will give [it] to you." And he swore to her, "Anything whatever you ask me for I will give you, up to half my kingdom!" And she went out [and] said to her mother, "What should I ask for?" And she said, "The head of John the baptizer."

You shall not seek vengeance, and you shall not harbor a grudge [against] {your fellow citizens}; and you shall love your neighbor like yourself; I [am] Yahweh.

By all means you must give to him, and {you must not be discontented} at your giving to him, because on account of this [very] thing, Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work and {in all that you undertake}.

The men of Ephraim said to him, "What [is] this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against the Midianites?" And they quarreled with him severely. And he said to them, "What I have done now in comparison with you? Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? God has given into your hand the commanders of Midian, Oreb, and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?" And their {anger} against him subsided when {he said that}.

For vexation will slay the fool, and jealousy will kill [the] simple.

And [the] godless of heart cherish anger; they do not cry for help when he binds them.

Do not despise the discipline of Yahweh, my child. Do not be weary of his reproof

Do not say "I will repay evil"; wait for Yahweh and he will deliver you.

May your heart not envy the sinners, but [live] in fear of Yahweh {all day}.

For from within, from the heart of people, come evil plans, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, [acts of] greed, malicious [deeds], deceit, licentiousness, {envy}, abusive speech, pride, foolishness. All these evil [things] come from within and defile a person."

For from the heart come evil plans, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, abusive speech. These are the things that defile a person. But eating with unwashed hands does not defile a person!"

Pay back no one evil for evil. Take thought for [what is] good in the sight of all people. If [it is] possible on your [part], be at peace with all people. Do not take revenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to [God's] wrath, for it is written, "Vengeance [is] mine, I will repay," says the Lord.read more.
But "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him [something] to drink; for [by] doing this, you will heap up coals of fire upon his head." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

See to it that no one pays back evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue good toward one another and toward all [people].

But if you bite and devour one another, watch out [that] you are not consumed by one another.

For the one at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure, is God. Do all [things] without grumbling and disputing, in order that you may become blameless and innocent, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine as stars in the world,

But now you also lay aside all [these] things: anger, rage, wickedness, slander, abusive language from your mouth.

And the slave of the Lord must not quarrel, but be kind toward everyone, skillful in teaching, tolerant,

But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and tell lies against the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but [is] earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where [there is] jealousy and selfish ambition, there [is] disorder and every evil practice.

Therefore, ridding yourselves of all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor' and 'Hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven, because he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust.read more.
For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not the tax collectors also do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing that is remarkable? Do not the Gentiles also do the same?

Then Peter came up to him [and] said, "Lord, how many times will my brother sin against me and I will forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven! "For this [reason] the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man--a king--who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves.read more.
And [when] he began to settle [them], someone was brought to him who owed ten thousand talents. And [because] he did not have [enough] to repay [it], the master ordered him to be sold, and his wife and his children and everything that he had, and to be repaid. Then the slave threw himself to the ground [and] began to do obeisance to him, saying, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay back everything to you!' So the master of that slave, [because he] had compassion, released him and forgave him the loan. But that slave went out [and] found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii, and taking hold of him, he began to choke [him], saying, 'Pay back everything that you owe!' Then his fellow slave threw himself to the ground [and] began to implore him, saying, 'Be patient with me and I will repay you!' But he did not want to, but rather he went [and] threw him into prison until he would repay what was owed. So [when] his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were extremely distressed, and went [and] reported to their master everything that had happened. Then his master summoned him [and] said to him, 'Wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you implored me! Should you not also have shown mercy to your fellow slave as I also showed mercy to you?' And [because he] was angry, his master handed him over to the merciless jailers until he would repay everything that was owed. So also my heavenly Father will do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from your hearts!"

putting up with one another and forgiving one another. If anyone should have a complaint against anyone, just as also the Lord forgave you, thus also you [do the same].