'Gracious' in the Bible

And he looked up and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s [only other] son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me?” And Joseph said, “God be gracious to you and show you favor, my son.”

for that is his only covering; it is his clothing for his body. In what shall he sleep? And when he cries to Me [for help], I will hear him, for I am compassionate and gracious.

And God said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the Name of the Lord before you; for I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion (lovingkindness) on whom I will show compassion.”

Then the Lord passed by in front of him, and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth (faithfulness);

The Lord make His face shine upon you [with favor],And be gracious to you [surrounding you with lovingkindness];

David said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I thought, ‘Who knows, the Lord may be gracious to me and the child may live.’

But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them and turned toward them for the sake of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He was unwilling to destroy them, and did not cast them from His presence until now.

For if you return to the Lord, your brothers (relatives) and your children will find compassion in the presence of those who led them away captive and will return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”

“They refused to listen and obey,And did not remember Your wondrous acts which You had performed among them;So they stiffened their necks and [in their rebellion] appointed a leader in order to return them to slavery in Egypt.But You are a God of forgiveness,Gracious and merciful and compassionate,Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;And You did not abandon them.

“Yet in Your great compassion You did not utterly destroy them or abandon them,For You are a gracious and merciful God.

Then the angel is gracious to him, and says,‘Spare him from going down to the pit [of destruction];I have found a ransom [a consideration, or reason for redemption, an atonement]!’

“When He keeps quiet, who then can condemn?When He hides His face [withdrawing His favor and help], who then can behold Him [and make supplication to Him],Whether it be a nation or a man by himself?—

Have mercy on me and be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am weak (faint, frail);Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed and anguished.

Have mercy on me and be gracious to me, O Lord;See how I am afflicted by those who hate me,You who lift me up from the gates of death,

Turn to me [Lord] and be gracious to me,For I am alone and afflicted.

But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;Redeem me and be merciful and gracious to me.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;Be gracious and compassionate to me and answer me.

“Hear, O Lord, be gracious and show favor to me;O Lord, be my helper.”

Be gracious and compassionate to me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;My eye is clouded and weakened by grief, my soul and my body also.

As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”

But You, O Lord, be gracious to me and restore me [to health],So that I may repay them.

Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled on me;All day long the adversary oppresses and torments me.

Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious and merciful to me,For my soul finds shelter and safety in You,And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge and be confidently secureUntil destruction passes by.

God be gracious and kind-hearted to us and bless us,And make His face shine [with favor] on us— Selah.

Be gracious and merciful to me, O Lord,For to You I cry out all the day long.

But You, O Lord, are a God [who protects and is] merciful and gracious,Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness and truth.

Turn to me, and be gracious to me;Grant Your strength [Your might and the power to resist temptation] to Your servant,And save the son of Your handmaid.

The Lord is merciful and gracious,Slow to anger and abounding in compassion and lovingkindness.

He has made His wonderful acts to be remembered;The Lord is gracious and merciful and full of loving compassion.

Light arises in the darkness for the upright;He is gracious and compassionate and righteous (upright—in right standing with God).

Gracious is the Lord, and [consistently] righteous;Yes, our God is compassionate.

I sought Your favor with all my heart;Be merciful and gracious to me according to Your promise.

Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;Sing praises to His name, for it is gracious and lovely.

The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.

The Lord is [unwaveringly] righteous in all His waysAnd gracious and kind in all His works.

Praise the Lord!For it is good to sing praises to our [gracious and majestic] God;Praise is becoming and appropriate.

And they will be life to your soul (your inner self)And a gracious adornment to your neck (your outer self).

A gracious and good woman attains honor,And ruthless men attain riches [but not respect].

He who loves purity of heartAnd whose speech is gracious will have the king as his friend.

The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious and win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him;

Therefore the Lord waits [expectantly] and longs to be gracious to you,And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.For the Lord is a God of justice;Blessed (happy, fortunate) are all those who long for Him [since He will never fail them].

O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will most certainly be gracious to you at the sound of your cry for help; when He hears it, He will answer you.

O Lord, be gracious to us; we have waited [expectantly] for You.Be the arm of Your servants every morning [that is, their strength and their defense],Our salvation also in the time of trouble.

Rip your heart to pieces [in sorrow and contrition] and not your garments.”Now return [in repentance] to the Lord your God,For He is gracious and compassionate,Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness [faithful to His covenant with His people];And He relents [His sentence of] evil [when His people genuinely repent].

Hate evil and love good,And establish justice in the [court of the city] gate.Perhaps the Lord God of hostsWill be gracious to the remnant of Joseph [that is, those who remain after God’s judgment].

He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still in my country? That is why I ran to Tarshish, because I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and great in lovingkindness, and [when sinners turn to You] You revoke the [sentence of] disaster [against them].

And the Lord answered the angel who was speaking with me with gracious and comforting words.

“But now will you not entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering from your hand [as an imperfect animal for sacrifice], will He show favor to any of you?” says the Lord of hosts.

Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.

For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.”

At that very hour Jesus healed many people of sicknesses and infirmities and evil spirits; and He gave [the gracious gift of] sight to many who were blind.

In that very hour He was overjoyed and rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and He said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things [relating to salvation] from the wise and intelligent, and have revealed them to infants [the childlike and untaught]. Yes, Father, for this way was [Your gracious will and choice, and was] well-pleasing in Your sight.

But the tax collector, standing at a distance, would not even raise his eyes toward heaven, but was striking his chest [in humility and repentance], saying, ‘God, be merciful and gracious to me, the [especially wicked] sinner [that I am]!’

and they will level you to the ground, you [Jerusalem] and your children within you. They will not leave in you one stone on another, all because you did not [come progressively to] recognize [from observation and personal experience] the time of your visitation [when God was gracious toward you and offered you salvation].”

Then appreciate the gracious kindness and the severity of God: to those who fell [into spiritual ruin], severity, but to you, God’s gracious kindness—if you continue in His kindness [by faith and obedience to Him]; otherwise you too will be cut off.

For He says,“At the acceptable time (the time of grace) I listened to you,And I helped you on the day of salvation.” Behold, now is “the acceptable time,” behold, now is “the day of salvation”—

So we urged Titus that, as he began it, he should also complete this gracious work among you as well.

But just as you excel in everything, [and lead the way] in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in genuine concern, and in your love for us, see that you excel in this gracious work [of giving] also.

For you are recognizing [more clearly] the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [His astonishing kindness, His generosity, His gracious favor], that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich (abundantly blessed).

I do not ignore or nullify the [gracious gift of the] grace of God [His amazing, unmerited favor], for if righteousness comes through [observing] the Law, then Christ died needlessly. [His suffering and death would have had no purpose whatsoever.]”

You have been severed from Christ, if you seek to be justified [that is, declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty, and placed in right standing with God] through the Law; you have fallen from grace [for you have lost your grasp on God’s unmerited favor and blessing].

In Him we have redemption [that is, our deliverance and salvation] through His blood, [which paid the penalty for our sin and resulted in] the forgiveness and complete pardon of our sin, in accordance with the riches of His grace

Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].

Let your speech at all times be gracious and pleasant, seasoned with salt, so that you will know how to answer each one [who questions you].

With this in view, we constantly pray for you, that our God will count you worthy of your calling [to faith] and with [His] power fulfill every desire for goodness, and complete [your] every work of faith,

That is why I remind you to fan into flame the gracious gift of God, [that inner fire—the special endowment] which is in you through the laying on of my hands [with those of the elders at your ordination].

At the same time also prepare a guest room for me [in expectation of a visit], for I hope that through your prayers I will be [granted the gracious privilege of] coming to you [at Colossae].

“For I will be merciful and gracious toward their wickedness,And I will remember their sins no more.”

and to Jesus, the Mediator of a new covenant [uniting God and man], and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks [of mercy], a better and nobler and more gracious message than the blood of Abel [which cried out for vengeance].

Do not neglect to extend hospitality to strangers [especially among the family of believers—being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously], for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Just as each one of you has received a special gift [a spiritual talent, an ability graciously given by God], employ it in serving one another as [is appropriate for] good stewards of God’s multi-faceted grace [faithfully using the diverse, varied gifts and abilities granted to Christians by God’s unmerited favor].