Bible verses about
Bible Verses About God's Faithfulness
Faithfulness is the quality most often written on things and least often examined.
It is not the same as things going well. In Scripture the word is closest to reliability over time — a character that does not vary — and it is very often asserted by people whose circumstances had not improved at all.
Twelve passages below, quoted in full in both translations. The most famous of them comes from the middle of the book of Lamentations, which is worth knowing before you read it.
12 verses for when you need them
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 ESVIt is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 KJVGreat is thy faithfulness — and the book it sits in is five poems about a destroyed city. The verses just before it are wormwood and gall, and a soul bowed down. He says it with nothing resolved, which is what makes it a claim about God rather than about circumstances.
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,
Deuteronomy 7:9 ESVKnow therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
Deuteronomy 7:9 KJVThe faithful God, which keepeth covenant. Faithfulness here is legal language — a promise being kept — rather than an emotional warmth, and the timescale given is a thousand generations.
if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.
2 Timothy 2:13 ESVIf we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
2 Timothy 2:13 KJVIf we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. The reasoning is that his reliability is a matter of his own nature, not a response to yours — which is either very comforting or very humbling.
God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:9 ESVGod is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:9 KJVGod is faithful, by whom ye were called. The faithfulness is attached to the calling: the argument is that the one who started it is the sort who finishes, so the evidence is in the beginning rather than the outcome.
Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
Psalm 36:5 ESVThy mercy, O LORD, is in the heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
Psalm 36:5 KJVThy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. The psalm measures it against the sky, which is a way of saying the quantity is not the question — and the next verses use mountains and the deep for the same purpose.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 10:23 ESVLet us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)
Hebrews 10:23 KJVHe is faithful that promised. Notice the instruction that precedes it: hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering. The holding on is asked of you, and the reason given is about him.
He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
1 Thessalonians 5:24 ESVFaithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
1 Thessalonians 5:24 KJVFaithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. Four words at the end carry the weight — who also will do it — moving the responsibility for the outcome away from the reader.
I will sing of the steadfast love of the LORD, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 89:1 ESVI will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
Psalm 89:1 KJVWith my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. Praise as testimony rather than feeling: the psalmist commits to saying it out loud, and the psalm goes on to ask hard questions later.
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 ESVThere hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 KJVGod is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able. Two things people take from this that are not in it: it is about temptation specifically, not suffering, and the way of escape is described as made rather than obvious.
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
Numbers 23:19 ESVGod is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Numbers 23:19 KJVGod is not a man, that he should lie. The comparison is unflattering to us on purpose — the reliability is defined by contrast with how people actually behave about their promises.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. [The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.]
Psalm 145:13 ESVThy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
Psalm 145:13 KJVThe LORD is faithful in all his words, and holy in all his works. The scope is all, twice, which is the sort of claim that only means anything if it holds in the cases you would rather it did not.
For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
Isaiah 54:10 ESVFor the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.
Isaiah 54:10 KJVThe mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart. The comparison is to the most permanent thing available, and the point is that it is the less permanent of the two.
The one to understand properly is Lamentations 3:22-23.
Great is thy faithfulness sits in a book called Lamentations — five poems about a destroyed city, written by someone who watched it happen. The verses immediately before it describe bitterness and being walled in. Nothing has been fixed. He says it anyway, and says the mercies are new every morning, which is a statement about God rather than a report on the situation.
That is the pattern across the list. Faithfulness is asserted by people still waiting: Abraham with no child, Israel in exile, Paul in chains, a psalmist in the dark.
And 2 Timothy 2:13 is the strangest and the most reassuring. If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful — the claim is that his reliability does not depend on the quality of yours, which is either the most comforting sentence here or the most humbling, depending on the week.
Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version, which is in the public domain. Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.