Bible verses about comfort
Scripture describes God as the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). Jesus says those who mourn are blessed, for they shall be comforted (Matthew 5:4), and Psalm 23:4 finds comfort in God's presence in the valley of the shadow of death. Isaiah 66:13 uses the image of a mother comforting her child, and Revelation 21:4 looks ahead to the day God wipes away every tear.
12 verses about comfort
3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; 4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (KJV) →4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Matthew 5:4 (KJV) →4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Psalm 23:4 (KJV) →1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God.
Isaiah 40:1 (KJV) →13 As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
Isaiah 66:13 (KJV) →50 This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.
Psalm 119:50 (KJV) →3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
Psalm 147:3 (KJV) →16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
John 14:16-18 (KJV) →13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
Isaiah 49:13 (KJV) →31 For the Lord will not cast off for ever: 32 But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. 33 For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.
Lamentations 3:31-33 (KJV) →18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Psalm 34:18 (KJV) →4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Revelation 21:4 (KJV) →
Comfort is presence, not explanation
The comfort passages are notable for what they leave out. Psalm 23:4 gives no account of why the valley exists; it says thou art with me. Psalm 34:18 says the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart. When Jesus promises the Holy Spirit in John 14:16 he calls him the Comforter — the Greek word means a helper or advocate, and comes from a verb for calling someone to your side — and two verses later says I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Isaiah 66:13 reaches for a strikingly physical image — as one whom his mother comforteth. A child being held is not being given reasons. This is worth knowing if you have been waiting for an explanation before allowing yourself to be comforted.
Blessed are they that mourn
Matthew 5:4 does not say blessed are those who have stopped mourning. The promise of comfort is attached to the grief itself, which means mourning is not a condition to get out of before God will draw near. Lamentations 3:31-33, written after Jerusalem had fallen, holds the same ground from inside real devastation: the Lord will not cast off for ever, and he doth not afflict willingly. In Hebrew that last phrase is literally not from his heart. The book does not resolve the suffering, but it refuses to conclude that grief is where God wants people to stay.
Comfort that gets passed on
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 gives comfort a direction beyond the person receiving it: God comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted. This is not a claim that suffering was sent for that purpose. It is an observation about what becomes possible afterward — the people best able to sit with someone in a particular loss are usually those who have been through it. Revelation 21:4 sets the horizon for all of it: God himself wiping away all tears, and no more death, sorrow, crying or pain. Until then, comfort is real but partial, and Scripture is honest about both halves.
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.