'Compassion' in the Bible

But he hesitated. Because of the Lord’s compassion for him, the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters. Then they brought him out and left him outside the city.

He said, “I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name Yahweh before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”

Nothing set apart for destruction is to remain in your hand, so that the Lord will turn from His burning anger and grant you mercy, show you compassion, and multiply you as He swore to your fathers.

then He will restore your fortunes, have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.

The Lord will indeed vindicate His peopleand have compassion on His servantswhen He sees that their strength is goneand no one is left—slave or free.

But the Israelites had compassion on their brothers, the Benjaminites, and said, “Today a tribe has been cut off from Israel.

The people had compassion on Benjamin, because the Lord had made this gap in the tribes of Israel.

The woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she felt great compassion for her son. “My lord, give her the living baby,” she said, “but please don’t have him killed!”But the other one said, “He will not be mine or yours. Cut him in two!”

May You forgive Your peoplewho sinned against Youand all their rebellions against You,and may You give them compassionin the eyes of their captors,so that they may be compassionate to them.

but the Lord was gracious to them, had compassion on them, and turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was not willing to destroy them. Even now He has not banished them from His presence.

But Yahweh, the God of their ancestors sent word against them by the hand of His messengers, sending them time and time again, for He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place.

Please, Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and to that of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success today, and have compassion on him in the presence of this man.At the time, I was the king’s cupbearer.

You did not abandon them in the wildernessbecause of Your great compassion.During the day the pillar of cloudnever turned away from them,guiding them on their journey.And during the night the pillar of fireilluminated the way they should go.

So You handed them over to their enemies,who oppressed them.In their time of distress, they cried out to You,and You heard from heaven.In Your abundant compassionYou gave them deliverers, who rescued themfrom the power of their enemies.

But as soon as they had relief,they again did what was evil in Your sight.So You abandoned them to the power of their enemies,who dominated them.When they cried out to You again,You heard from heaven and rescued themmany times in Your compassion.

However, in Your abundant compassion,You did not destroy them or abandon them,for You are a gracious and compassionate God.

Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy.Remember me for this also, my God, and look on me with compassion in keeping with Your abundant, faithful love.

Remember, Lord, Your compassionand Your faithful love,for they have existed from antiquity.

Lord, do not withhold Your compassion from me;Your constant love and truth will always guard me.

For the choir director. A Davidic psalm, when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone to Bathsheba.Be gracious to me, God,according to Your faithful love;according to Your abundant compassion,blot out my rebellion.

Answer me, Lord,for Your faithful love is good;in keeping with Your great compassion,turn to me.

Has God forgotten to be gracious?Has He in anger withheld His compassion?”Selah

Do not hold past sins against us;let Your compassion come to us quickly,for we have become weak.

Lord—how long?Turn and have compassion on Your servants.

You will rise up and have compassion on Zion,for it is time to show favor to her—the appointed time has come.

He redeems your life from the Pit;He crowns you with faithful love and compassion.

As a father has compassion on his children,so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.

May Your compassion come to meso that I may live,for Your instruction is my delight.

For Yahweh will vindicate His peopleand have compassion on His servants.

The Lord is good to everyone;His compassion rests on all He has made.

Therefore the Lord does not rejoiceover Israel’s young menand has no compassionon its fatherless and widows,for everyone is a godless evildoer,and every mouth speaks folly.In all this, His anger is not removed,and His hand is still raised to strike.

The land is scorchedby the wrath of the Lord of Hosts,and the people are like fuel for the fire.No one has compassion on his brother.

On that day you will say:“I will praise You, Lord,although You were angry with me.Your anger has turned away,and You have had compassion on me.

Their bows will cut young men to pieces.They will have no compassion on little ones;they will not look with pity on children.

For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob and will choose Israel again. He will settle them on their own land. The foreigner will join them and be united with the house of Jacob.

When its branches dry out, they will be broken off.Women will come and make fires with them,for they are not a people with understanding.Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them,and their Creator will not be gracious to them.

Therefore the Lord is waiting to show you mercy,and is rising up to show you compassion,for the Lord is a just God.All who wait patiently for Him are happy.

Shout for joy, you heavens!Earth, rejoice!Mountains break into joyful shouts!For the Lord has comforted His people,and will have compassion on His afflicted ones.

“Can a woman forget her nursing child,or lack compassion for the child of her womb?Even if these forget,yet I will not forget you.

“I deserted you for a brief moment,but I will take you back with great compassion.

In a surge of angerI hid My face from you for a moment,but I will have compassion on youwith everlasting love,”says the Lord your Redeemer.

Let the wicked one abandon his wayand the sinful one his thoughts;let him return to the Lord,so He may have compassion on him,and to our God, for He will freely forgive.

In all their suffering, He suffered,and the Angel of His Presence saved them.He redeemed thembecause of His love and compassion;He lifted them up and carried themall the days of the past.

Look down from heaven and seefrom Your lofty home—holy and beautiful.Where is Your zeal and Your might?Your yearning and Your compassionare withheld from me.

After I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land.

I will smash them against each other, fathers and sons alike”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “I will allow no mercy, pity, or compassion to keep Me from destroying them.”

You have left Me.This is the Lord’s declaration.You have turned your back,so I have stretched out My hand against youand destroyed you.I am tired of showing compassion.

“For this is what the Lord says: Don’t enter a house where a mourning feast is taking place. Don’t go to lament or sympathize with them, for I have removed My peace from these people”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“as well as My faithful love and compassion.

Let that man be like the citiesthe Lord demolished without compassion.Let him hear an outcry in the morningand a war cry at noontime

Afterward’”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“‘King Zedekiah of Judah, his officers, and the people—those in this city who survive the plague, the sword, and the famine—I will hand over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, to their enemies, yes, to those who want to take their lives. He will put them to the sword; he won’t spare them or show pity or compassion.’

This is what the Lord says:I will certainly restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tentsand show compassion on his dwellings.Every city will be rebuilt on its mound;every citadel will stand on its proper site.

Isn’t Ephraim a precious son to Me,a delightful child?Whenever I speak against him,I certainly still think about him.Therefore, My inner being yearns for him;I will truly have compassion on him.This is the Lord’s declaration.

then I might also reject the seed of Jacob and of My servant David—not taking from his descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them.”

I will grant you compassion, and he will have compassion on you and allow you to return to your own soil.

ב BetWithout compassion the Lord has swallowed upall the dwellings of Jacob.In His wrath He has demolishedthe fortified cities of Daughter Judah.He brought them to the groundand defiled the kingdom and its leaders.

ע AyinThe Lord has done what He planned;He has accomplished His decree,which He ordained in days of old.He has demolished without compassion,letting the enemy gloat over youand exalting the horn of your adversaries.

שׁ ShinBoth young and oldare lying on the ground in the streets.My young men and womenhave fallen by the sword.You have killed them in the day of Your anger,slaughtering without compassion.

Even if He causes suffering,He will show compassionaccording to His abundant, faithful love.

ס SamekYou have covered Yourself in anger and pursued us;You have killed without compassion.

No one cared enough about you to do even one of these things out of compassion for you. But you were thrown out into the open field because you were despised on the day you were born.

“So this is what the Lord God says: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have compassion on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for My holy name.

God had granted Daniel favor and compassion from the chief official,

Compassion and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God, though we have rebelled against Him

Listen, my God, and hear. Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city called by Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You based on our righteous acts, but based on Your abundant compassion.

She conceived again and gave birth to a daughter, and the Lord said to him:Name her No Compassion,for I will no longer have compassionon the house of Israel.I will certainly take them away.

But I will have compassion on the house of Judah,and I will deliver them by the Lord their God.I will not deliver them by bow, sword, or war,or by horses and cavalry.

After Gomer had weaned No Compassion, she conceived and gave birth to a son.

Call your brothers: My Peopleand your sisters: Compassion.

I will have no compassion on her childrenbecause they are the children of promiscuity.

I will take you to be My wife forever.I will take you to be My wife in righteousness,justice, love, and compassion.

I will sow her in the land for Myself,and I will have compassionon No Compassion;I will say to Not My People:You are My people,and he will say, “You are My God.”

How can I give you up, Ephraim?How can I surrender you, Israel?How can I make you like Admah?How can I treat you like Zeboiim?I have had a change of heart;My compassion is stirred!

I will ransom them from the power of Sheol.I will redeem them from death.Death, where are your barbs?Sheol, where is your sting?Compassion is hidden from My eyes.

Assyria will not save us,we will not ride on horses,and we will no longer proclaim, ‘Our gods!’to the work of our hands.For the fatherless receives compassion in You.”

The Lord says:I will not relent from punishing Edomfor three crimes, even four,because he pursued his brother with the sword.He stifled his compassion,his anger tore at them continually,and he harbored his rage incessantly.

He will again have compassion on us;He will vanquish our iniquities.You will cast all our sinsinto the depths of the sea.

“The Lord of Hosts says this: Make fair decisions. Show faithful love and compassion to one another.

I will strengthen the house of Judahand deliver the house of Joseph.I will restore thembecause I have compassion on them,and they will beas though I had never rejected them.For I am Yahweh their God,and I will answer them.

Those who buy them slaughter them but are not punished. Those who sell them say: Praise the Lord because I have become rich! Even their own shepherds have no compassion for them.

Indeed, I will no longer have compassion on the inhabitants of the land”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Instead, I will turn everyone over to his neighbor and his king. They will devastate the land, and I will not deliver it from them.”

“They will be Mine,” says the Lord of Hosts, “a special possession on the day I am preparing. I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him.

When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were weary and worn out, like sheep without a shepherd.

As He stepped ashore, He saw a huge crowd, felt compassion for them, and healed their sick.

Now Jesus summoned His disciples and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they’ve already stayed with Me three days and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry; otherwise they might collapse on the way.”

Then the master of that slave had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan.

Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes. Immediately they could see, and they followed Him.

Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out His hand and touched him. “I am willing,” He told him. “Be made clean.”

So as He stepped ashore, He saw a huge crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then He began to teach them many things.

“I have compassion on the crowd, because they’ve already stayed with Me three days and have nothing to eat.

“And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

Because of our God’s merciful compassion,the Dawn from on high will visit us

When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said, “Don’t cry.”

But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion.

So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him.

For He tells Moses:I will show mercyto whom I will show mercy,and I will have compassionon whom I will have compassion.

Therefore, God’s chosen ones, holy and loved, put on heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,

If anyone has this world’s goods and sees his brother in need but closes his eyes to his need—how can God’s love reside in him?