55 Bible Verses about Guilt

Most Relevant Verses

1 John 3:20

whenever our heart convicts us [in guilt]; for God is greater than our heart and He knows all things [nothing is hidden from Him because we are in His hands].

Leviticus 5:5

So it shall be when a person is guilty in one of these, that he shall confess the sin he has committed.

Jeremiah 3:13


‘Only understand fully and acknowledge your wickedness and guilt,
That you have rebelled (transgressed) against the Lord your God
And have scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree,
And you have not obeyed My voice,’ says the Lord.

Psalm 51:14


Rescue me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;
Then my tongue will sing joyfully of Your righteousness and Your justice.

James 2:10

For whoever keeps the whole Law but stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of [breaking] all of it.

Proverbs 28:17


A man who is burdened with the guilt of human blood (murder)
Will be a fugitive until death; let no one support him or give him refuge.

Exodus 22:2

“If a thief is caught breaking in [after dark] and is struck [by the owner] so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him.

Job 33:9


‘I am pure, without transgression;
I am innocent and there is no guilt in me.

Jeremiah 33:8

I will cleanse them from all their wickedness (guilt) by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon (forgive) all their sins by which they rebelled against Me.

Leviticus 5:1

‘If anyone sins after he hears a public adjuration (solemn command to testify) when he is a witness, whether he has seen or [otherwise] known [something]—if he fails to report it, then he will bear his guilt and be held responsible.

Hosea 5:15


I will go away and return to My place [on high]
Until they acknowledge their offense and bear their guilt and seek My face;
In their distress they will earnestly seek Me, saying,

John 9:41

Jesus said to them, “If you were blind [to spiritual things], you would have no sin [and would not be blamed for your unbelief]; but since you claim to have [spiritual] sight, [you have no excuse so] your sin and guilt remain.

Job 31:33


“Have I concealed my transgressions like Adam or like other men,
By hiding my wickedness in my bosom,

Psalm 38:4


For my iniquities have gone over my head [like the waves of a flood];
As a heavy burden they weigh too much for me.

Leviticus 19:17

‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you may most certainly rebuke your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him.

Ezra 10:10

Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful [to God] and have married foreign (pagan) women, adding to the guilt of Israel.

Leviticus 4:3

if the anointed priest sins, bringing guilt on the people, then he shall offer to the Lord a young bull without blemish as a sin offering for the sin he has committed.

Ezekiel 14:10

They [both] will bear the punishment of their wickedness; the sin of the [counterfeit] prophet will be the same as the sin of the [hypocritical] inquirer,

Ecclesiastes 5:6

Do not allow your speech to cause you to sin, and do not say before the messenger (priest) of God that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry because of your voice (words) and destroy the work of your hands?

Psalm 5:10


Hold them guilty, O God;
Let them fall by their own designs and councils!
Cast them out because of the abundance of their transgressions,
For they are mutinous and have rebelled against You.

Isaiah 5:23


Who justify the wicked and acquit the guilty for a bribe,
And take away the rights of those who are in the right!

Nahum 1:3


The Lord is slow to anger and great in power
And He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished.
The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm,
And the clouds are the dust beneath His feet.

Leviticus 6:4

then if he has sinned and is guilty, he shall restore what he took by robbery, or what he got by extortion, or the deposit which was entrusted to him, or the lost thing which he found,

Jeremiah 51:5


For neither Israel nor Judah has been abandoned
By his God, the Lord of hosts,
Though their land is full of sin and guilt
Before the Holy One of Israel.

Hosea 13:16


Samaria will be found guilty [and become desolate],
Because she rebelled against her God;
They will fall by the sword,
Their infants will be dashed in pieces,
And their pregnant women will be ripped open.

Luke 23:4

Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no guilt in this Man.”

Matthew 23:32

Fill up, then, the [allotted] measure of the guilt of your fathers’ sins.

Isaiah 24:6

Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live on it suffer the punishment of their guilt. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned [under the curse of God’s wrath], and few people are left.

Deuteronomy 19:15

“A single witness shall not appear in a trial against a man for any wrong or any sin which he has committed; [only] on the testimony or evidence of two or three witnesses shall a charge be confirmed.

Leviticus 5:2

Or if someone touches any [ceremonially] unclean thing—whether the carcass of an unclean wild animal or the carcass of an unclean domestic animal or the carcass of unclean creeping things—even if he is unaware of it, he has become unclean, and he will be guilty.

Deuteronomy 22:8

“When you build a new house, you shall make a railing (parapet) around your [flat] roof, so that you do not bring the guilt of [innocent] blood on your house if someone falls from it.

Jeremiah 14:20


We know and acknowledge, O Lord,
Our wickedness and the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against You.

Nehemiah 4:5

Do not forgive their wrongdoing and do not let their sin be wiped out before You, for they have offended the builders [and provoked You].

John 19:11

Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me at all if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason the sin and guilt of the one who handed Me over to you is greater [than your own].”

Jeremiah 50:20

In those days and at that time,’ says the Lord, ‘a search will be made for the wickedness of Israel, but there will be none and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.’

Isaiah 14:21


“Prepare a slaughtering place for his sons
Because of the wickedness [the sin, the injustice, the wrongdoing] of their fathers.
They must not rise and take possession of the earth,
And fill the face of the world with cities.”

Romans 3:19

Now we know that whatever the Law [of Moses] says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that [the excuses of] every mouth may be silenced [from protesting] and that all the world may be held accountable to God [and subject to His judgment].

Psalm 7:3


O Lord my God, if I have done this,
If there is injustice in my hands,

Zechariah 11:5

whose buyers slay them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I have become rich!’ And their own shepherds have no pity on them nor protect them [from the wolves].

John 16:8

And He, when He comes, will convict the world about [the guilt of] sin [and the need for a Savior], and about righteousness, and about judgment:

Hebrews 10:2

For if it were otherwise, would not these sacrifices have stopped being offered? For the worshipers, having once [for all time] been cleansed, would no longer have a consciousness of sin.

From Thematic Bible


Guilt » Joseph's brethren

Genesis 42:21

And they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty regarding our brother [Joseph], because we saw the distress and anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us [to let him go], yet we would not listen [to his cry]; so this distress and anguish has come on us.”

Exodus 9:27

Then Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time; the Lord is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.

Guilt » Israel in the wilderness

Numbers 21:7

So the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord, so that He will remove the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

Guilt » The psalmist

Psalm 40:12


For innumerable evils have encompassed me;
My sins have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see.
They are more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my heart has failed me.

Guilt » The scribes and pharisees

John 8:9

They listened [to His reply], and they began to go out one by one, starting with the oldest ones, until He was left alone, with the woman [standing there before Him] in the center of the court.

Guilt » The jews of ezra's time

Ezra 9:6

and I said, “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, for our wrongdoings have risen higher than our heads and our guilt has grown to the heavens.

Topics on Guilt

Blood, as symbol of guilt

Isaiah 59:2-3


But your wickedness has separated you from your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.

Guilt Offering

Leviticus 5:17

“Now if anyone sins and does any of the things which the Lord has forbidden, though he was not aware of it, still he is guilty and shall bear his punishment.

Guilt, Human Aspects Of

Psalm 51:3-5


For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them;
My sin is always before me.

Guilt, Removal Of

Romans 8:33

Who will bring any charge against God’s elect (His chosen ones)? It is God who justifies us [declaring us blameless and putting us in a right relationship with Himself].

Incurring Guilt

Leviticus 19:17

‘You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you may most certainly rebuke your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him.

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