25 Bible Verses About Offending Someone (NIV)

¹⁵ "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. ¹⁶ But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

¹ Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.

¹⁵ "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.

⁹ With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.

¹⁹ Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. ²⁰ To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. ²¹ To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. ²² To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. ²³ I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

¹ Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; ² for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. ³ Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. ⁴ Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. ⁵ Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: ⁶ He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. ⁷ Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. ⁸ Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret-it leads only to evil. ⁹ For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land. ¹⁰ A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. ¹¹ But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace. ¹² The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; ¹³ but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he knows their day is coming. ¹⁴ The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright. ¹⁵ But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken. ¹⁶ Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked; ¹⁷ for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous. ¹⁸ The days of the blameless are known to the LORD, and their inheritance will endure forever. ¹⁹ In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty. ²⁰ But the wicked will perish: The LORD's enemies will be like the beauty of the fields, they will vanish-vanish like smoke. ²¹ The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously; ²² those the LORD blesses will inherit the land, but those he curses will be cut off. ²³ If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; ²⁴ though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. ²⁵ I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. ²⁶ They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed. ²⁷ Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever. ²⁸ For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off; ²⁹ the righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. ³⁰ The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just. ³¹ The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip. ³² The wicked lie in wait for the righteous, seeking their very lives; ³³ but the LORD will not leave them in their power or let them be condemned when brought to trial. ³⁴ Wait for the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it. ³⁵ I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a green tree in its native soil, ³⁶ but he soon passed away and was no more; though I looked for him, he could not be found. ³⁷ Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace. ³⁸ But all sinners will be destroyed; the future of the wicked will be cut off. ³⁹ The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. ⁴⁰ The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.

¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

¹⁹ An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city, and disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.

²³ "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. ²⁵ "Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.

¹ James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. ² Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴ Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷ That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. ⁹ The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. ¹⁰ But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. ¹¹ For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business. ¹² Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. ¹³ When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; ¹⁴ but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. ¹⁶ Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. ¹⁷ Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. ¹⁸ He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. ¹⁹ My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰ for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. ²¹ Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. ²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does. ²⁶ If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. ²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

¹⁷ If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?

⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. ² Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

¹ My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ² He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. ³ We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. ⁴ The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: ⁶ Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. ⁷ Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. ⁸ Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. ⁹ Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. ¹⁰ Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. ¹¹ But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him. ¹² I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. ¹³ I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father. ¹⁴ I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one. ¹⁵ Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. ¹⁸ Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. ²⁰ But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. ²¹ I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. ²² Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son. ²³ No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. ²⁴ See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵ And this is what he promised us--even eternal life. ²⁶ I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. ²⁷ As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit--just as it has taught you, remain in him. ²⁸ And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming. ²⁹ If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

⁶ But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. ⁷ "Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! ⁸ If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. ⁹ And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell. ¹⁰ "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.

¹² When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

³² Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God--

⁴² "And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.

⁶ Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

¹³ This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Ammon, even for four, I will not turn back {my wrath}. Because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to extend his borders,

¹ Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness. ² He will judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice. ³ The mountains will bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness. ⁴ He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor. ⁵ He will endure as long as the sun, as long as the moon, through all generations. ⁶ He will be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth. ⁷ In his days the righteous will flourish; prosperity will abound till the moon is no more. ⁸ He will rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. ⁹ The desert tribes will bow before him and his enemies will lick the dust. ¹⁰ The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores will bring tribute to him; the kings of Sheba and Seba will present him gifts. ¹¹ All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him. ¹² For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. ¹³ He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. ¹⁴ He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight. ¹⁵ Long may he live! May gold from Sheba be given him. May people ever pray for him and bless him all day long. ¹⁶ Let grain abound throughout the land; on the tops of the hills may it sway. Let its fruit flourish like Lebanon; let it thrive like the grass of the field. ¹⁷ May his name endure forever; may it continue as long as the sun. All nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed. ¹⁸ Praise be to the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds. ¹⁹ Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen. ²⁰ This concludes the prayers of David son of Jesse.

²⁵ Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.

²⁹ If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.

¹ Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. ² Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD or fully declare his praise? ³ Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right. ⁴ Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people, come to my aid when you save them, ⁵ that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise. ⁶ We have sinned, even as our fathers did; we have done wrong and acted wickedly. ⁷ When our fathers were in Egypt, they gave no thought to your miracles; they did not remember your many kindnesses, and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea. ⁸ Yet he saved them for his name's sake, to make his mighty power known. ⁹ He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; he led them through the depths as through a desert. ¹⁰ He saved them from the hand of the foe; from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them. ¹¹ The waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived. ¹² Then they believed his promises and sang his praise. ¹³ But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his counsel. ¹⁴ In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wasteland they put God to the test. ¹⁵ So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease upon them. ¹⁶ In the camp they grew envious of Moses and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the LORD. ¹⁷ The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it buried the company of Abiram. ¹⁸ Fire blazed among their followers; a flame consumed the wicked. ¹⁹ At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped an idol cast from metal. ²⁰ They exchanged their Glory for an image of a bull, which eats grass. ²¹ They forgot the God who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt, ²² miracles in the land of Ham and awesome deeds by the Red Sea. ²³ So he said he would destroy them- had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them. ²⁴ Then they despised the pleasant land; they did not believe his promise. ²⁵ They grumbled in their tents and did not obey the LORD. ²⁶ So he swore to them with uplifted hand that he would make them fall in the desert, ²⁷ make their descendants fall among the nations and scatter them throughout the lands. ²⁸ They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods; ²⁹ they provoked the LORD to anger by their wicked deeds, and a plague broke out among them. ³⁰ But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was checked. ³¹ This was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come. ³² By the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD, and trouble came to Moses because of them; ³³ for they rebelled against the Spirit of God, and rash words came from Moses' lips. ³⁴ They did not destroy the peoples as the LORD had commanded them, ³⁵ but they mingled with the nations and adopted their customs. ³⁶ They worshiped their idols, which became a snare to them. ³⁷ They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons. ³⁸ They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood. ³⁹ They defiled themselves by what they did; by their deeds they prostituted themselves. ⁴⁰ Therefore the LORD was angry with his people and abhorred his inheritance. ⁴¹ He handed them over to the nations, and their foes ruled over them. ⁴² Their enemies oppressed them and subjected them to their power. ⁴³ Many times he delivered them, but they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin. ⁴⁴ But he took note of their distress when he heard their cry; ⁴⁵ for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented. ⁴⁶ He caused them to be pitied by all who held them captive. ⁴⁷ Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. ⁴⁸ Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, "Amen!" Praise the LORD.