42 Bible Verses about Repentance, Examples Of

Peter said unto them, "Repent, and be baptised every one of of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the holy ghost.

But the sure ground of God remaineth, and hath this seal: the Lord knoweth them that are his, and let every man that calleth on the name of Christ, depart from iniquity.

And the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam that he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand. And he bowed himself and fell flat on his face. And the angel of the LORD said unto him, "Wherefore smitest thou thine ass this three times? Behold, I came out to resist thee, for the way is contrary unto me, and the ass saw me and avoided me three times: or else, had she not turned from me, I had surely slain thee and saved her alive."read more.
And Balaam said unto the angel of the LORD, "I have sinned: for I wist not that thou stoodest in the way against me. Now therefore if it displease thine eyes, I will turn again." And the angel said unto Balaam, "Go with the men: but in any wise, what I say unto thee, that say." And Balaam went with the lords of Balak.

And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And he said unto the LORD, "I have sinned exceedingly in that I have done. And now LORD take away the trespass of thy servant: for I have done foolishly."

Then said David to God, "I have sinned exceedingly in doing this thing. Nevertheless, yet do away the wickedness of thy servant, for I have done above measure foolishly."

When Ahab heard those words, he rent his clothes and put sackcloth about his flesh and fasted, and lay in sack and went comfortless. And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, "Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? Because he so submitteth himself before me, I will not bring that evil in his days: but in his son's days, I will bring evil upon his house."

Because thine heart did melt and thou meekedest thyself before me, the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place and the inhabiters of the same, how that it should be destroyed and made accursed: and tearest thy clothes and weepest before me: of that also I have heard sayeth the LORD.

Wherefore I give mine own self the blame, and take repentance in the dust and ashes."

{To the chanter, a Psalm of David, when the Prophet Nathan came unto him, after he was gone in to Bathsheba} Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness; according to the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences. Wash me well from my wickedness, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my faults, and my sin is ever before me.read more.
Against thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and clear when thou shalt judge. Behold, I was born in wickedness, and in sin hath my mother conceived me. But lo, thou hast a pleasure in the truth, and hast showed me secret wisdom. Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Oh let me hear of joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Turn thy face from my sins, and put out all my misdeeds. Make in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy holy spirit from me. O give me the comfort of thy help again, and establish me with thy free spirit. Then shall I teach thy ways unto the wicked, that sinners may be converted unto thee. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou that art the God of my health; that my tongue may praise thy righteousness. Open my lips, O LORD, that my mouth may show thy praise. For if thou hadst pleasure in sacrifice, I would give it thee: but thou delightest not in burnt-offerings. The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, shalt thou not despise.

And the son said unto him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy henceforth to be called thy son.'

And the publican stood afar off, and would not lift up his eyes to heaven, but smote his breast, saying, 'God be merciful to me, a sinner.'

And Peter remembered the words of Jesus, which he said unto him, "Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice": and went out at the doors and wept bitterly.

And again the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word that Jesus said unto him. "Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice," and began to weep.

And the Lord turned back and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the words of the Lord, how he said unto him, "Before the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice." And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.

When they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon the son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?" He said unto him, "Yea Lord, thou knowest, that I love thee." He said unto him, "Feed my lambs." He said to him again the second time, "Simon the son of Jonas, lovest thou me?" He said unto him, "Yea Lord thou knowest that I love thee." He said unto him, "Feed my sheep." He said unto him the third time, "Simon the son of Jonas, lovest thou me?" And Peter sorrowed because he said to him the third time, "Lovest thou me," and said unto him, "Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee." Jesus said unto him, "Feed my sheep.

Repent, therefore, of this thy wickedness, and pray God that the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art full of bitter gall, and wrapped in iniquity." Then answered Simon, and said, "Pray ye to the Lord for me that none of these things which ye have spoken fall on me."

When I take in hand to root out, to destroy, or to waste away any people or kingdom; if that people against whom I have thus devised convert from their wickedness: Immediately, I repent of the plague, that I devised to bring upon them.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius the Emperor, Pontius Pilate being leftenant of Jewry, and Herod being Tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip Tetrarch in Ituraea, and in the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the Tetrarch of Abilene: When Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests: The word of God came unto John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. And he came into all the coasts about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,read more.
as it is written in the book of the sayings of Isaiah the prophet, which sayeth, "The voice of a crier in wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low: And crooked things shall be made straight: and the rough ways shall be made smooth. And all flesh shall see the saviour sent of God."

And the people came to Moses, and said, "We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against thee: make intercession to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us." And Moses made intercession for the people.

But the children of Israel said unto the LORD, "We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever please thee, and deliver us only at this time." And they put away the strange gods from them and served the LORD. And the misery of Israel grieved his soul.

And Samuel spake unto all Israel, saying, "If ye be come again unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods from among you, and Ashtaroth, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD and serve him alone; and so shall he rid you out of the hands of the Philistines." And then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only.

Thus the LORD shall smite Egypt, and heal it again: and so shall they turn to the LORD, and he also shall have mercy upon them, and save them.

And it chanced that as Peter walked throughout all quarters, he came to the saints which dwelt at Lydda. And there he found a certain man named Aeneas, which had kept his bed eight years sick of the palsy. Then said Peter unto him, "Aeneas, the Lord Jesus Christ make thee whole: Arise and make thy bed." And he arose immediately.read more.
And all that dwelt at Lydda and Sharon, saw him, and turned to the Lord.

And when Ezra prayed after this manner, and knowledged, wept, and lay before the house of God, there resorted unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: For the people wept very sore.

And then the king sent and gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabiters of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the Prophets and all the people both small and great. And he read in the ears of them all the words of the book of the covenant, which was found in the house of the LORD. And the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD that they should walk after the LORD, and keep his commandments and his witnesses and his ordinances with all their hearts and all their souls, and make good the words of the said covenant that were written in the foresaid book. And all the people consented to the covenant.read more.
And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the inferior priests and the keepers of the door, to bring out of the temple of the LORD, all the vessels that were made for Baal and for the grove and for all the host of heaven. And he burnt them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried the ashes of them into Bethel. And he put down the Chemarims which the kings of Judah had set to burn offerings in the hill altars in the cities of Judah round about Jerusalem and also them that burnt sacrifices unto Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. And he brought out the grove from the temple of the LORD without Jerusalem unto the brook Kidron, and stamped it to powder, and cast the dust thereof upon the graves of people of the country. And he brake down the cells of the male whores that were in the house of the LORD, where the women wove little houses for the grove.

When Asa heard those words and the prophecy of Azariah the son of Obed the Prophet, he took courage and put away the abominations out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he won in mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD that was before the porch of the LORD. And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim, Manasseh and Simeon. For there fell many to him out of Israel, when they saw that God was with him. And they assembled at Jerusalem the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.read more.
And they offered unto the LORD that same time of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep. And they made a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers, with all their hearts and all their souls: so that all that sought not the LORD God of Israel, should die for it, whether he were small or great, man or woman. And they sware unto the LORD with a loud voice and shouting and with trumpets and horns. And all Judah rejoiced in the oath, for they had sworn with all their hearts, and sought him with all their lust, and he was found of them. And the LORD gave them rest round about.

And the messengers went with letters of the hand of the king and of his lords throughout all Israel and Judah, at the commandment of the king; which said, "Children of Israel, turn again unto the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and so will he turn to the remnant of you that are escaped out of the hands of the king of Assyria. And be ye not like your fathers and your brethren which trespassed against the LORD of your fathers, which therefore gave them up that they are wasted, as ye see. Wherefore, be not stiff-necked like unto your fathers, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and come to his holy place which he hath sanctified forever, and serve the LORD your God, that his wrath may turn from you.read more.
For if ye turn unto the LORD, then your brethren and your children shall find compassion in the presence of them that hold them captive, that they may come again unto this land: for the LORD your God is full of mercy and compassion, and will not turn his face from you, if ye turn again to him."

And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, "Ye have transgressed, that have taken strange wives, to make the trespass of Israel yet more: confess now therefore unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure, and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives." Then answered all the congregation and said with a loud voice, "Let it be done as thou hast said.

And the tidings came unto the king of Nineveh, which arose out of his seat, and did his apparel off and put on sackcloth, and sat him down in ashes. And it was cried and commanded in Nineveh by the authority of the king and of his lords, saying, "See that neither man or beast, ox or sheep taste ought at all, and that they neither feed or drink water." And they put on sackcloth both man and beast, and cried unto God mightily, and turned every man from his wicked way, and from doing wrong in which they were accustomed, saying,

Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, for thou hast left thy first love. Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works. Or else I will come unto thee shortly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

But I now rejoice, not that ye were sorry, but that ye so sorrowed, that ye repented. For ye sorrowed godly: so that in nothing were ye hurt by us. For godly sorrow causeth repentance, unto salvation not to be repented of: when worldly sorrow causeth death. Behold what diligence this godly sorrow that ye took hath wrought in you: yea it caused you to clear yourselves. It caused indignation, it caused fear, it caused desire, it caused a fervent mind, it caused punishment. For in all things ye have showed yourselves that ye were clear in that matter.

But I have a few things against thee: that thou hast, there, they that maintain the doctrine of Balaam, which taught in Balak to put occasion of sin before the children of Israel, that they should eat of meat dedicated unto idols, and to commit fornication. Even so hast thou them that maintain the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. But be converted, or else I will come unto thee shortly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

Remember, therefore, how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If you shalt not watch, I will come on you as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

When Ahab heard those words, he rent his clothes and put sackcloth about his flesh and fasted, and lay in sack and went comfortless.

And the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed fasting, and arrayed themselves in sackcloth, as well the great as the small of them.

And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water and poured it out before the LORD and fasted the same day, and said there, "We have sinned against the LORD." And Samuel judged the causes of the children of Israel in Mizpeh.

And even there at the water beside Ahava, I proclaimed a fast, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and our children and all our substance.

In the four and twentieth day of this month came the children of Israel together with fasting, and sackcloth, and earth upon them,

And this was done in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, when it was commanded that all the people of Jerusalem should fast before the LORD, and they also that were come from the cities of Judah unto Jerusalem.

Gird you, and make your moan, O ye priests: mourn ye ministers of the alter: go your way in, and sleep in sackcloth, O ye officers of my God: for the meat and drink offering shall be taken away from the house of your God. Proclaim a fasting, call the congregation, gather the elders and all the inhabiters of the land together in to the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD.

And now therefore saith the LORD: Turn to me with all your hearts, in fasting and lamentation.

As it is written in the prophets, "Behold, I send my messenger before thy face which shall prepare thy way before thee;" "The voice of a crier in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." John did baptise in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance, for the remission of sins.