"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."
— Psalm 34:18 (NIV)
Funeral Bible verses are readings for a service when someone has died, and for the people who sit with that loss afterward. Bible verses for funerals, and comforting Bible verses for a funeral, are that same list. They are not a way to hurry grief, and they are not one verse explained at length. The groups below follow how a service uses them: comfort for mourners, hope in the resurrection, God's presence, and short readings a program can print. Each entry has a short quotation from the NIV, one sentence of context, and a link when this site has a page that stays with that verse. For short lines to write in a card, see What to write in a sympathy card.
Grief these readings sit beside is Love and loss. Comfort that remains when a wound is not finished is Love and healing. The mercy that stays with someone who is hurting is Love and compassion. Hope that does not cancel the sorrow is Love and hope. Short notes for a sympathy card, each with a verse, are Sympathy card messages. Shorter lines for a card or a quiet visit are Sympathy Bible verses.
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Comfort for mourners
Psalm 34:18. "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." The psalm says God is near the person who is broken, not that the break should already be over.
Matthew 5:4. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Jesus names mourning as a real state, and comfort as what God gives to it. The verse does not say the comfort arrives on the day of the funeral.
Psalm 23:4. "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." The speaker is still in the valley. The comfort named here is God's presence with the person who walks through it.
Matthew 11:28. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Jesus speaks this to people who are worn down. A funeral reads it as an invitation, not as a command to feel rested.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." Paul is writing to a church about comfort that can be passed on. It does not require the mourner to comfort anyone else on the day of the service.
Hope in the resurrection
John 11:25-26. "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die." Jesus says this to Martha before he raises Lazarus. The claim is about himself. A service uses it when it is willing to say that about Jesus, not as a slogan that ends the family's grief.
1 Thessalonians 4:14. "For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him." The verse before this tells the church not to grieve like people who have no hope. Paul does not tell them not to grieve. The hope is for those who have fallen asleep in Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:20. "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." Paul argues that Jesus' resurrection is the first of the resurrection still to come. The reading is about Christ, and then about those who belong to him.
John 14:2-3. "My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." Jesus says this to his disciples on the night before the cross. A funeral reads it as his promise to come and take his own to be with him.
Revelation 21:4. "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." John is shown the end of death, not a reason to pretend death is small now. The study of that hope, beyond this reading, is Love and heaven. The life that hope is for is Love and eternal life.
God's presence
Isaiah 41:10. "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." The LORD says this to his servant Israel. A funeral borrows it as his promise to be with his people, not as a rebuke for being afraid.
Psalm 46:1. "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." The psalm calls God a refuge while the trouble is still trouble. It is a place to go, not a claim that the trouble has already ended.
Romans 8:38-39. "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Paul includes death in the list of things that cannot separate people in Christ from God's love. The page for the verses is Romans 8:38-39 meaning.
Deuteronomy 31:8. "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Moses says this to Joshua and to Israel as they face what is ahead. A service reads it for the people who have to go on.
Psalm 73:26. "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." The singer admits that body and heart can fail. The line does not deny the failure. It names God as what remains.
Lamentations 3:22-23. "Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." These lines sit in a book of grief over a destroyed city. They are not a denial of the ruin around them.
Short readings
These are passages a service can read when the guests need one short text they can follow. The lines above stay available when the service wants only a sentence.
Psalm 23:1. "The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing." Many funerals read the whole psalm. Verse 4, above, is the line for the darkest valley. The psalm is a shepherd staying with the sheep, not an explanation of why the person died.
John 11:25. "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die." This is the short form of the saying to Martha. It belongs in the service when the church is confessing Jesus, not when it is trying to make the loss feel smaller.
Revelation 21:4. "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain." Read as a promise about the world to come. It is a poor verse for telling a person they should have no tears today.
Matthew 5:4. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." One sentence. It blesses the mourner and leaves the timing of comfort with God.
A blessing some services speak at the end is Numbers 6:24-26. "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." It was the blessing Aaron and his sons put on Israel. At a funeral it asks that keeping and peace for the people who remain. None of these readings makes a death good by being read aloud. They say who God is toward the people who are grieving, and, where the verse says so, what he has promised in Christ.
Questions people ask
What are good funeral Bible verses?
Start with Psalm 34:18, Psalm 23:4, Matthew 5:4, John 11:25-26, and Romans 8:38-39. The sections above group those readings by how a service uses them: comfort, resurrection hope, God's presence, and a short text for the program. Each line is a short NIV quotation.
What are Bible verses for funerals?
Bible verses for funerals are readings chosen because someone has died and the people gathered need Scripture that tells the truth about grief and about God. This page is that list. It is not a study of every verse about death, and it is not advice to stop mourning.
What are comforting Bible verses for a funeral?
Comforting Bible verses for a funeral, on this page, are the comfort section and the presence section: Psalm 34:18, Matthew 5:4, Psalm 23:4, Matthew 11:28, Isaiah 41:10, and Psalm 46:1. Comfort in these lines is God near the brokenhearted, not a demand that the family feel better before they leave the room.
What are Bible verses for loss?
Bible verses for loss are these same readings when the loss is a death: God close to the crushed, mourning that will be comforted, a valley God walks through with his people, and a resurrection hope where the verse is about Christ. Grief as its own study, beyond the funeral list, is Love and loss. Suffering that lasts is Love and suffering.
What short reading can be used at a funeral?
Psalm 23, John 11:25, Revelation 21:4, and Matthew 5:4 are short enough for a program. Numbers 6:24-26 can close the service as a blessing. The short-readings section above says what each one is for, and what it should not be made to do.
Does the Bible say not to grieve at a funeral?
No. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 tells the church not to grieve like people who have no hope. The next verse gives the hope: Jesus died and rose, and God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. Tears are not a failure of faith. Matthew 5:4 blesses those who mourn.
Which verse says God is close to the brokenhearted?
Psalm 34:18. "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Romans 8:38-39 adds that death itself cannot separate people in Christ from the love of God. That passage is Romans 8:38-39 meaning.
