Bible verses about anger
The Bible does not treat anger itself as sin; it treats what anger is allowed to do as the danger. Ephesians 4:26 says be ye angry, and sin not, and adds a time limit — let not the sun go down upon your wrath. James 1:19-20 calls for being swift to hear, slow to speak and slow to wrath, and Proverbs 15:1 observes that a soft answer turns away wrath while grievous words stir it up.
12 verses about anger
26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: 27 Neither give place to the devil.
Ephesians 4:26-27 (KJV) →19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
James 1:19-20 (KJV) →1 A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.
Proverbs 15:1 (KJV) →29 He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.
Proverbs 14:29 (KJV) →32 He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
Proverbs 16:32 (KJV) →11 A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.
Proverbs 29:11 (KJV) →11 The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.
Proverbs 19:11 (KJV) →9 Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.
Ecclesiastes 7:9 (KJV) →8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
Psalm 37:8 (KJV) →4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
Psalm 4:4 (KJV) →19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Romans 12:19 (KJV) →31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:31-32 (KJV) →
Be ye angry, and sin not
Ephesians 4:26 begins with a permission that is easy to read past. Paul's words follow Psalm 4:4 as it reads in the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament; the King James Version, translating the Hebrew, has stand in awe, and sin not. Neither says do not be angry. Some anger is the right response to something wrong; Mark 3:5 describes Jesus looking around at a room with anger, grieved at the hardness of their hearts. What Ephesians restricts is duration and direction. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath puts a limit on how long it is kept, and the next verse gives the reason — neither give place to the devil. Anger that is stored becomes a foothold for something else. Verse 31 names what it turns into: bitterness, clamour, evil speaking, malice.
Slow is the word that keeps recurring
Proverbs returns to one idea again and again: slowness. He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding (14:29). He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city (16:32). A wise man keepeth it in till afterwards (29:11). James 1:19 puts the same thing in order — swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath — and the order is the method: listening first is what buys the time. None of this asks for suppression. Keeping it in till afterwards assumes there is an afterwards, when the thing can be said without the heat doing the talking.
What to do with a real wrong
Some anger is about a genuine injury, and Scripture does not ask you to pretend otherwise. Romans 12:19 does not say the wrong does not matter; it says vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. The instruction to give place to wrath means stepping back and leaving room for God's judgment rather than supplying your own. That is a way of taking the injury seriously, not of dismissing it. Proverbs 19:11 calls it a person's glory to pass over a transgression — a strength, in other words, not a weakness. If anger is frequent, explosive, or frightening to the people around you, that is worth talking through with a counsellor or pastor as well as praying about.
Scripture quoted from the King James Version, which is in the public domain. Esther reads seven more translations in the app, including the ESV, NIV and NLT.