65 Bible Verses about Mockery

But now, what do I have here,” declares the Lord, “seeing that My people have been taken away without reason? Those who rule over them howl [with taunting and mockery of salvation],” declares the Lord, “and My name is continually blasphemed all day long.

O God, how long will the adversary scoff?
Is the enemy to revile Your name forever?

“But now those younger than I mock and laugh at me,
Whose fathers I refused to put with the sheepdogs of my flock.

“Surely there are mockers and mockery with me,
And my eye gazes on their obstinacy and provocation.

“Bear with me, and I also will speak;
And after I have spoken, you may [continue to] mock [me].

“And now I have become [the subject of] their taunting;
Yes, I am a byword and a laughingstock to them.

But they kept mocking the messengers of God and despising His words and scoffing at His prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, until there was no remedy or healing.

But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked us and regarded us with contempt and said, “What is this thing you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”

All who see me laugh at me and mock me;
They [insultingly] open their lips, they shake their head, saying,

But in my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered together [against me];
The slanderers whom I did not know gathered against me;
They slandered and reviled me without ceasing.

Like godless jesters at a feast,
They gnashed at me with their teeth [in malice].

They who sit in the [city’s] gate talk about me and mock me,
And I am the song of the drunkards.

You make us an object of contention to our neighbors,
And our enemies laugh [at our suffering] among themselves.

Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants [scorned, insulted, and disgraced];
How I bear in my heart the reproach of all the many peoples,

With which Your enemies have taunted, O Lord,
With which they have mocked the footsteps of Your anointed.

The arrogant utterly ridicule me,
Yet I do not turn away from Your law.

[Jeremiah said,] O Lord, You have persuaded me and I was deceived;
You are stronger than I and You have prevailed.
I am a laughingstock all day long;
Everyone mocks me.

I have become the [object of] ridicule to all my people,
And [the subject of] their mocking song all the day.

But others were laughing and joking and ridiculing them, saying, “They are full of sweet wine and are drunk!”

Now when they heard [the term] resurrection from the dead, some mocked and sneered; but others said, “We will hear from you again about this matter.”

While Paul was making this defense, Festus said loudly, “Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great education is turning you toward madness.”

As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve [disciples] aside, and along the way He said to them, “Listen carefully: we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), and they will [judicially] condemn Him and sentence Him to death, and will hand Him over to the Gentiles (Roman authorities) to be mocked and scourged and crucified, and He will be raised [to life] on the third day.”

Now they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking on ahead of them; and they were perplexed [at what Jesus had said], and those who were following were alarmed and afraid. And again He took the twelve [disciples] aside and began telling them what was going to happen to Him, saying, “Listen very carefully: we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed and handed over to the chief priests and the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and hand Him over to the Gentiles (Romans). They will mock and ridicule Him and spit on Him, and whip (scourge) Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise [from the dead].”

Then taking the twelve [disciples] aside, He said to them, “Listen carefully: we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that have been written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled and completed. He will be betrayed and handed over to the Gentiles (Roman authorities), and will be mocked and ridiculed and insulted and abused and spit on, and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and on the third day He will rise [from the dead].”

Then they spat in His face and struck Him with their fists; and some slapped Him, saying, “Prophesy to us, You Christ (Messiah, Anointed); who was it that struck You?”

And some began to spit on Him, and to blindfold Him, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, “Prophesy [by telling us who hit you]!” Then the officers took custody of Him and struck him in the face.

Now the men who were holding Jesus in custody were mocking and ridiculing Him [and treating Him with contempt] and beating Him. They blindfolded Him and asked, “Prophesy, who is it that struck You?” And they were saying many other [evil and slanderous] things against Him, blaspheming [speaking sacrilegiously and abusively about] Him.

And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking and ridiculing Him, dressed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate.

Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium, and they gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on Him [as a king’s robe]. And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and put a reed in His right hand [as a scepter]. Kneeling before Him, they ridiculed Him, saying, “Hail (rejoice), King of the Jews!” read more.
They spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him repeatedly on the head. After they finished ridiculing Him, they stripped Him of the scarlet robe and put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.

The soldiers led Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the entire [Roman] battalion [of 600 soldiers]. They dressed Him up in [a ranking Roman officer’s robe of] purple, and after twisting [together] a crown of thorns, they placed it on Him; and they began saluting and mocking Him: “Hail, King of the Jews!” read more.
They kept beating Him on the head with a reed and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing in [mock] homage to Him. After they had mocked Him, they took off the purple robe and put His own clothes on Him. And they led Him out [of the city] to crucify Him.

In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, mocked Him, saying, “He saved others [from death]; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him and acknowledge Him. He trusts in God; let God rescue Him now, if He delights in Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” read more.
The robbers who had been crucified with Him also began to insult Him in the same way.

In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were ridiculing and mocking Him among themselves and saying, “He saved others [from death]; He cannot save Himself! Let the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe and trust [in Him]!” Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.

Now the people stood by, watching; but even the rulers ridiculed and sneered at Him, saying, “He saved others [from death]; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) of God, His Chosen One.”

The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him and [cruelly] offering Him sour wine,

Though He scoffs at the scoffers and scorns the scorners,
Yet He gives His grace [His undeserved favor] to the humble [those who give up self-importance].

Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘I have heard your prayer to Me regarding Sennacherib king of Assyria.’ This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:‘The virgin daughter of Zion
Has despised you and mocked you;
The daughter of Jerusalem
Has shaken her head behind you!

‘Whom have you taunted and blasphemed?
Against whom have you raised your voice,
And haughtily lifted up your eyes?
Against the Holy One of Israel!
read more.

‘Through your messengers you have taunted and defied the Lord,
And have said [boastfully], “With my many chariots
I came up to the heights of the mountains,
To the remotest parts of Lebanon;
I cut down its tall cedar trees and its choicest cypress trees.
I entered its most distant lodging, its densest forest.

“I dug wells and drank foreign waters,
And with the sole of my feet I dried up
All the rivers of [the Lower Nile of] Egypt.”
‘Have you not heard [asks the God of Israel]?
Long ago I did it;
From ancient times I planned it.
Now I have brought it to pass,
That you [king of Assyria] should [be My instrument to] turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

‘Therefore their inhabitants were powerless,
They were shattered [in spirit] and put to shame;
They were like plants of the field, the green herb,
As grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up.

‘But I [the Lord] know your sitting down [O Sennacherib],
Your going out, your coming in,
And your raging against Me.

‘Because of your raging against Me,
And because your arrogance and complacency have come up to My ears,
I will put My hook in your nose,
And My bridle in your lips,
And I will turn you back [to Assyria] by the way that you came.

this is the word that the Lord has spoken against him:

“She has shown contempt for you and mocked you,
The Virgin Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem);
She has shaken her head behind you,
The Daughter of Jerusalem!

“Whom have you taunted and blasphemed?
And against whom have you raised your voice
And haughtily lifted up your eyes?
Against the Holy One of Israel!

“Through your servants you have taunted and defied the Lord,
And you have said, ‘With my many chariots I have gone up to the heights of the mountains,
To the remotest parts of Lebanon.
I cut down its tallest cedars and its choicest cypress trees;
And I will go to its remotest height, its most luxuriant and thickest forest.
read more.

‘I dug wells and drank [foreign] waters,
And with the sole of my feet I dried up
All the canals [of the Nile] of Egypt.’

“Have you not heard [says the God of Israel]
That I did it long ago,
That I planned it in ancient times?
Now I have brought it to pass,
That you [king of Assyria] would [be My instrument to] turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

“Therefore their inhabitants had little power,
They were terrorized and shamed;
They were like the grass of the field and the green vegetation,
Like grass on the housetops and like a field [of grain] scorched before it is grown.

“But I know your sitting down
And your going out and your coming in [every detail of your life],
And your raging against Me.

“Because your raging against Me
And your arrogance has come up to My ears,
I will put My hook in your nose
And My bridle in your mouth,
And I will turn you back by the way you came.

“They said to God, ‘Depart from us!
What can the Almighty do for us or to us?’

“Yet He filled their houses with good things;
But the counsel of the wicked and ungodly is far from me.

“The righteous see it and are glad;
And the innocent mock and laugh at them, saying,
read more.

‘Surely our adversaries are cut off and destroyed,
And fire has consumed their abundance.’

Every man has become [like a brute] irrational and stupid, without knowledge [of God];
Every goldsmith is shamed by his carved idols;
For his molten images are frauds and lies,
And there is no breath in them.

They are worthless and devoid of promise, a work of delusion and mockery;
In their time of [trial and] punishment they will perish [without hope].

The Portion of Jacob [the true God on whom Israel has a claim] is not like these;
For He is the Designer and Maker of all things,
And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance [and He will not fail them]—
The Lord of hosts is His name.

Every man has become stupid and brutelike, without knowledge [of God];
Every goldsmith is shamed by the cast images he has made;
For his molten idols are a lie,
And there is no breath [of life] or spirit in them.

They are worthless (empty, false, futile), a work of delusion and worthy of derision;
In the time of their inspection and punishment they will perish.

The Portion of Jacob [the true God of Israel] is not like these [handmade gods];
For He is the Maker of all and the One who formed and fashioned all things,
And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance—
The Lord of hosts is His name.

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “And you, son of man [Ezekiel], will you judge, will you judge the city of bloodshed? Then make her recognize all her repulsive acts. You shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “A city that sheds blood in her midst, so that her time [of doom] will come, and makes idols to defile her, contrary to her interest! read more.
You have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and you are defiled by the idols which you have made. Thus you have caused your day [of judgment and punishment] to approach and have arrived at [the completion of] your years; therefore, I have made you an object of scorn to the [pagan] nations and a thing to be mocked by all countries. Those who are near and those who are far from you will mock you, you [infamous one] of ill repute, full of turmoil.

Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
“Shall a multitude of words not be answered?
And should a talkative man [making such a long-winded defense] be acquitted?

“Should your boasts and babble silence men?
And shall you scoff and no one put you to shame?

“[Though] I am blameless,
I do not care about myself;
I despise my life.

“It is all one; therefore I say,
‘He destroys [both] the blameless and the wicked.’

“When [His] scourge kills suddenly,
He mocks at the despair of the innocent.
read more.

“The earth is given into the hands of the wicked;
He covers the faces of its judges [so that they are blind to justice].
If it is not He, then who is it [that is responsible for all this injustice]?

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a riotous brawler;
And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.

“Proud,” “Haughty,” “Scoffer,” are his names
Who acts with overbearing and insolent pride.

Drive out the scoffer, and contention will go away;
Even strife and dishonor will cease.

He who corrects and instructs a scoffer gets dishonor for himself,
And he who rebukes a wicked man gets insults for himself.

Scoffers set a city afire [by stirring up trouble],
But wise men turn away anger [and restore order with their good judgment].

A scoffer [unlike a wise man] resents one who rebukes him and tries to teach him;
Nor will he go to the wise [for counsel and instruction].

“How long, O naive ones [you who are easily misled], will you love being simple-minded and undiscerning?
How long will scoffers [who ridicule and deride] delight in scoffing,
How long will fools [who obstinately mock truth] hate knowledge?

“If you will turn and pay attention to my rebuke,
Behold, I [Wisdom] will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.

“Because I called and you refused [to answer],
I stretched out my hand and no one has paid attention [to my offer];
read more.

And you treated all my counsel as nothing
And would not accept my reprimand,

I also will laugh at your disaster;
I will mock when your dread and panic come,

A wise son heeds and accepts [and is the result of] his father’s discipline and instruction,
But a scoffer does not listen to reprimand and does not learn from his errors.

Strike a scoffer [for refusing to learn], and the naive may [be warned and] become prudent;
Reprimand one who has understanding and a teachable spirit, and he will gain knowledge and insight.

Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked [following their advice and example],
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit [down to rest] in the seat of scoffers (ridiculers).

A scoffer seeks wisdom and finds none [for his ears are closed to wisdom],
But knowledge is easy for one who understands [because he is willing to learn].

Fools mock sin [but sin mocks the fools],
But among the upright there is good will and the favor and blessing of God.

The devising of folly is sin,
And the scoffer is repulsive to men.

“Of whom do you make fun?
Against whom do you open wide your mouth
And stick out your tongue?
Are you not children of rebellion (sin),
Offspring of deceit,

On the [special] day of our king, the princes became sick with the heat of wine;
The king stretched out his hand [in association] with scoffers (lawless people).

If you are wise, you are wise for yourself [for your own benefit];
If you scoff [thoughtlessly ridicule and disdain], you alone will pay the penalty.

Whoever mocks the poor taunts his Maker,
And he who rejoices at [another’s] disaster will not go unpunished.

A wicked and worthless witness mocks justice,
And the mouth of the wicked spreads iniquity.

Judgments are prepared for scoffers,
And beatings for the backs of [thickheaded] fools.

When the scoffer is punished, the naive [observes the lesson and] becomes wise;
But when the wise and teachable person is instructed, he receives knowledge.

The eye that mocks a father
And scorns a mother,
The ravens of the valley will pick it out,
And the young vultures will devour it.

Now do not carry on as scoffers,
Or the bands which bind you will be made stronger;
For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts [a decree]
Of decisive destruction on all the earth.

For the tyrant will come to an end and the scorner will be finished,
Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off—

This they shall have in return for their pride, because they have taunted and become arrogant against the people of the Lord of hosts. The Lord will be terrifying and awesome to them, for He will starve all the gods of the earth; and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down and worship Him, everyone from his own place.

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked [He will not allow Himself to be ridiculed, nor treated with contempt nor allow His precepts to be scornfully set aside]; for whatever a man sows, this and this only is what he will reap.