38 Bible Verses about Character

Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

With eyes full of adultery, they cannot get enough of sin. They seduce unsteady souls and have had their hearts expertly trained in greed. They are doomed to a curse.

"A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was sowing, some seeds fell along the path, were trampled on, and birds from the sky ate them up. Others fell on stony ground, and as soon as they came up, they dried up because they had no moisture. Others fell among thorn bushes, and the thorn bushes grew with them and choked them. read more.
But others fell on good soil, and when they came up, they produced 100 times as much as was planted." As he said this, he called out, "Let the person who has ears to hear, listen!" Then his disciples began to ask him what this parable meant. So he said, "You have been given knowledge about the secrets of the kingdom of God. But to others they are given in parables, so that "they might look but not see, and they might listen but not understand.'" "Now this is what the parable means. The seed is God's word. The ones on the path are the people who listen, but then the Devil comes and takes the word away from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. The ones on the stony ground are the people who joyfully welcome the word when they hear it. But since they don't have any roots, they believe for a while, but in a time of testing they fall away. The ones that fell among the thorn bushes are the people who listen, but as they go on their way they are choked by the worries, wealth, and pleasures of life, and their fruit doesn't mature. But the ones on the good soil are the people who hear the word but also hold on to it with good and honest hearts, producing a crop through endurance."

Why do you go about changing your mind so much? You will also be disappointed by Egypt, just as you were disappointed by Assyria.

"What am I to do with you, Ephraim? What am I to do with you, Judah? Your love is like a morning rain cloud it passes away like the morning dew.

You will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the person who endures to the end will be saved.

Others are like the seeds sown on good soil. They hear the word, accept it, and produce crops 30, 60, or 100 times what was sown."

My heart is committed, God, my heart is committed, so I will sing and play music.

My heart is firm, God; I will sing and praise you with my whole being.

He need not fear a bad report, for his heart is unshaken, since he trusts in the LORD.

And when the time came to give Saul's daughter Merab to David, she was given as a wife to Adriel of Meholah.

But they didn't listen to their leaders, because they were committing spiritual immorality by following other gods and worshiping them. They quickly turned away from the road on which their ancestors had walked in obedience to the commands of the LORD. They didn't follow their example.

They have been quick to turn aside from the way I commanded them, and they have made for themselves a molten calf. They have bowed down to it in worship, they have offered sacrifices to it, and they have said, "This, Israel, is your god who brought you out of the land of Egypt.'"

However, after the leader had died, they would relapse to a condition more corrupt than their ancestors, following other gods, serving them, and worshiping them. They would not abandon their activities or their obstinate lifestyles.

and they continued to strengthen the kingdom of Judah, supporting Solomon's son Rehoboam for three years, by living the way David and Solomon did for three years.

Keep examining yourselves to see whether you are continuing in the faith. Test yourselves! You know, don't you, that Jesus the Messiah lives in you? Could it be that you are failing the test?

Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and their faith is a counterfeit.

They claim to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, and disqualified to do anything good.

After all, we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, and misled. We were slaves to many kinds of lusts and pleasures, spending our days in malice and jealousy. We were despised, and we hated one another.

"Then they disobeyed, rebelled against you, and threw your Law behind their backs. They murdered your prophets who had admonished the people to return to you, committing terrible blasphemies.

Therefore he is precious to you who believe, but to those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

The arrogance in your heart has deceived you, who inhabit hidden places on rocky cliffs, whose dwelling is in the heights, who say continuously to yourself, 'Who will bring me down to the ground?'

The sin of their mouth is the word on their lips. They will be caught in their own conceit; for they speak curses and lies.

These are the family records of Noah: Noah was a righteous man. Blameless during his times, Noah communed with God.

"Notice their arrogance they have no inward uprightness but the righteous will live by their faith.

Now a man named Simeon was in Jerusalem. This man was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the one who would comfort Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

But when Sanballat the Horonite, his servant Tobiah the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they jeered at us and despised us when they said, "What is this thing that you're doing? You're rebelling against the king, aren't you?"

He addressed his allies and the Samaritan officials, saying "What are these pathetic Jews doing? Are they intending to rebuild it by themselves? Do they intend to offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a single day? Can they make stones from this burned out rubble?"

unfeeling, uncooperative, slanderous, degenerate, brutal, hateful of what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

The wicked go astray from the womb; they go astray, telling lies even from birth.

They plan to cast him down from his exalted position. They delight in lies; their mouth utters blessings, while their heart is cursing. Interlude

No one brings a lawsuit fairly, and no one goes to law honestly; they have relied on empty arguments and they tell lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to iniquity.

But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, just as the LORD had predicted.

But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart, and he did not let the people go.

When Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had stopped, he continued to sin. He, along with his officials,hardened his heart.

When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his officials changed toward the people, and they said, "What have we done in releasing Israel from serving us?"

They wait in ambush in the villages, they kill the innocent in secret.

The wicked kill widows and foreigners; they murder orphans.

They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, quarreling, deceit, and viciousness. They are gossips,

Therefore, as God's chosen ones, holy and loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.

because you are a holy people to the LORD your God. The LORD your God chose you to be his people, his treasured possession from all the nations on the face of the earth."

because you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD chose to make you his precious possession from among all the nations of the earth."

And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that in town after town the Holy Spirit assures me that imprisonment and suffering are waiting for me. But I don't place any value on my life, if only I can finish my race and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.

At this Paul replied, "What do you mean by crying and breaking my heart? I'm ready not only to be tied up in Jerusalem but even to die for the name of the Lord Jesus!" When he could not be persuaded otherwise, we remained silent except to say, "May the Lord's will be done."

So they all conspired together to invade and fight against Jerusalem, creating confusion there.

Sanballat and Geshem sent word to me, saying "Come, let's meet together at Kephirim on the Ono Plain." But they were just trying to do me harm.

Those who seek my life lay snares for me; those who seek to do me harm brag all day long about their wicked planning.

Later on, Ahab asked Elijah, "Have you found me, my enemy?"

They passed their sons and daughters through fire, practiced divination, cast spells, and sold themselves to practice what the LORD considered to be evil, thereby provoking him.

Their destiny is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on worldly things.

These are the people who cause divisions. They are worldly, devoid of the Spirit.

"Then there are those who rebel against the light; they are not acquainted with its ways; and they don't stay on its course.

Everyone who practices wickedness hates the light and does not come to the light, so that his actions may not be exposed.

For some of these men go into homes and deceive foolish women who are burdened with sins and swayed by all kinds of desires.

My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, "Come with us! Let's lie in wait for blood; let's ambush some innocent person for no reason at all. Let's swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those who go down into the Pit. read more.
We'll find all kinds of valuable wealth, and we'll fill our houses with spoil. Throw your lot in with us, and all of us will have one purse."

The anointing you received from God abides in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you this. Instead, because God's anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not a lie, abide in him, as he taught you to do.

Then all your children will be taught by the LORD, and great will be your children's prosperity.

They will hold to an outward form of godliness but deny its power. Stay away from such people.

Then the Lord said: "Because these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, worship of me has become merely like rules taught by human beings.

Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? Where's the profit in talking to him?'

Will those who do evil ever learn? They devour my people like they devour bread, and never call on God.

Will I tolerate those who maintain deceptive standards and who use deceitful weights in their business?

The wicked borrow but never pay back; but the righteous are generous and give.

Because of his wicked greed I was angry, so I punished him; and I hid my face, and was angry but he kept turning back to his stubborn will.

The conduct of a guilty man is perverse, but the behavior of the pure is upright.

When a wicked person dies, his hope vanishes; and what he expected from his scheming comes to nothing.

We were pregnant, writhing in pain, but we gave birth only to wind. We have not won your victory on earth, nor have the inhabitants of the world been born."

They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart.

You who were once alienated with a hostile attitude, doing evil,

Can an Ethiopian change his skin, or a leopard his spots? Then you who are trained to do evil will also be able to do good.

And speaking of evil, they practice it eagerly with both hands! Both leader and judge demand a bribe, the famous confess their perverted desires, and they scheme together.

Since they have lost all sense of shame, they have abandoned themselves to sensuality and practice every kind of sexual perversion without restraint.

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a filthy rag; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind, our iniquities sweep us away.

For your obedience has become known to everyone, and I am full of joy for you. But I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

As obedient children, do not be shaped by the desires that used to influence you when you were ignorant.

But those who are decent plan noble things, and by noble deeds they stand."

Because your service in giving proves your love, you will be glorifying God as you obey what your confession of the Messiah's gospel demands, since you are generous in sharing with them and with everyone else.

Therefore, if anyone is in the Messiah, he is a new creation. Old things have disappeared, and look! all things have become new!

For we are God's masterpiece, created in the Messiah Jesus to perform good actions that God prepared long ago to be our way of life.

and they were burned by the fierce heat. They cursed the name of God, who has the authority over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.

And they kept insulting him in many other ways.

Throw this useless servant into the darkness outside! In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'"

All have turned away. They have become completely worthless. No one shows kindness, not even one person!

In their case, the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe to keep them from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of the Messiah, who is the image of God.

They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart.

In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a rotten tree produces bad fruit.

Regarding your former way of life, you were taught to strip off your old nature, which is being ruined by its deceptive desires,

unfeeling, uncooperative, slanderous, degenerate, brutal, hateful of what is good,

A violent man entices his companion and leads him on a path that is not good.

"How blessed are those who are humble, because it is they who will inherit the earth!

The humble will again experience joy in the LORD, and the poorest people will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

He was a devout man who feared God, as did everyone in his home. He gave many gifts to the poor among the people and always prayed to God.

Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other. The LORD listened and took note, and a scroll of remembrance was written in his presence about those who fear the LORD and honor His name.

Then your people will all be righteous; They'll possess the land forever. They are the shoot that the LORD planted, the works of his hands, so that I might be glorified.

Both of them were righteous before God, having lived blamelessly according to all of the commandments and regulations of the Lord.

"You stubborn people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do.

The LORD had told Moses, "Say to the Israelis, "You are an obstinate people, and if for one moment I went up among you, I would put an end to you. Now take off your ornaments so I may decide what to do with you.'"

And speaking of evil, they practice it eagerly with both hands! Both leader and judge demand a bribe, the famous confess their perverted desires, and they scheme together.

The person who plans on doing evil will be called a schemer.

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

Rather, love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind even to ungrateful and evil people.

After all, we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, and misled. We were slaves to many kinds of lusts and pleasures, spending our days in malice and jealousy. We were despised, and we hated one another.

But when Sanballat the Horonite and his servant Tobiah the Ammonite heard of this, they were greatly distressed because someone had come to do good for the Israelis.

The wicked flee, though no one pursues, but the righteous are bold like a lion.

But people who are cowardly, unfaithful, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will find themselves in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death."

who delight in doing evil, and rejoice in the perverseness of evil;

Although they know God's just requirement that those who practice such things deserve to die they not only do these things but even applaud others who practice them.

You who were once alienated with a hostile attitude, doing evil,

That is why the mind that focuses on human nature is hostile toward God. It refuses to submit to the authority of God's Law because it is powerless to do so.

For they persecute those whom you have struck, and they brag about the pain of those you have wounded.

For he didn't think to extend gracious love; he harassed to death the poor, the needy, and the broken hearted.

They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, quarreling, deceit, and viciousness. They are gossips,

They covet fields and seize them; they covet houses, and grab them, too. They harass the valiant man, along with his household, an individual and his estate.

The believers continued to devote themselves to what the apostles were teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to times of prayer.

For although I am physically absent, I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how stable you are and how firm your faith in the Messiah is.

"How blessed are those who are merciful, because it is they who will receive mercy!

Every day he is generous, lending freely, and his descendants are blessed.

So Solomon said:

The one who lives with integrity, who does righteous deeds, and who speaks truth to himself.

Now you do not need anyone to write to you about brotherly love, since you have been taught by God to love each other.

because we have heard about your faith in the Messiah Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints,

My soul will glorify the LORD; the humble will hear about it and rejoice.

In a similar way, you young people must submit to the elders. All of you must clothe yourselves with humility for the sake of each other, because: "God opposes the arrogant, but gives grace to the humble."

This is not the way to repay the LORD, is it, you foolish and witless people? Is he not your father, who bought you, formed you, and established you?

Boastful ones will not stand before you; you hate all those who practice wickedness.

in blazing fire. He will take revenge on those who do not know God and on those who refuse to obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

"Hear this message from the LORD, people of Israel. Indeed, the LORD brings a charge against the people who live in the land for there is no truth and no gracious love or knowledge of God in the land.

You will destroy those who speak lies. The LORD abhors the person of bloodshed and deceit.

Their throats are open graves. With their tongues they deceive. The venom of poisonous snakes is under their lips.

"For this is what the high and lofty One says, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "He lives in the height and in holiness, and also with the one who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.

All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came into being," declares the LORD. "But this is the one to whom I will look favorably: to the one who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at my message.

"How blessed are those who are pure in heart, because it is they who will see God!

And everyone who has this hope based on him keeps himself pure, just as the Messiah is pure.

then the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials and to hold unrighteous people for punishment on the day of judgment,

But understand this: the LORD has set apart the godly for himself! The LORD will hear me when I cry out to him!

A good reputation is more desirable than great wealth, and favorable acceptance more than silver and gold.

A good name exceeds the value of fine perfume, and the day of someone's death exceeds the value of the day of his birth.

For this is what we boast about: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world with pure motives and godly sincerity, without earthly wisdom but with God's grace especially toward you.

At least we are not commercializing God's word like so many others. Instead, we speak with sincerity in the Messiah's name, like people who are sent from God and are accountable to God.

Listen, you heavens, and let the earth pay attention, because the LORD has spoken: "I reared children and brought them to adulthood, but then they rebelled against me.

For they are a rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to hear the LORD's instruction.

For the wicked one boasts about his own desire; he blesses the greedy and despises the LORD.

those who put confidence in their wealth and boast about their great riches?

With haughty arrogance, the wicked thinks, "God will not seek justice." He always presumes "There is no God."

Fools say to themselves, "There is no God." They are corrupt and commit evil deeds; not one of them practices what is good.

"A certain Ananias, who was a devout man with respect to the Law and who was highly regarded by all the Jews living there,

Devout men buried Stephen as they mourned loudly for him.

When he has driven out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.

My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.

"Suppose a man marries a wife, but after having sexual relations with her, he despises her, invents charges against her, and defames her by saying, "I have married this woman, but when I had sexual relations with her I found that she wasn't a virgin.' Then the father of the young lady, along with her mother, is to bring evidence of the young lady's virginity to the elders at the gate. read more.
The father of the young lady is to then say to the elders: "I have given my daughter to this man as a wife, but he despises her. Now look, he has invented charges against her by saying, "I haven't found your daughter to be a virgin." But here is the proof of my daughter's virginity.' Then they are to spread the cloth before the elders of the city. The elders of that city will then take the man, punish him, fine him 100 shekels of silver, and then give them to the young lady's father, because he defamed a virgin of Israel. She is to remain his wife and he can't divorce her as long as he lives.

because as Solomon grew older, his wives turned his affections away after other gods, and his heart was not fully as devoted to the LORD his God as his father David's heart had been. Solomon pursued Astarte, the Sidonian goddess, and Milcom, that detestable Ammonite idol. Solomon practiced what the LORD considered to be evil by not fully following the LORD, as had his father David. read more.
Later, Solomon even constructed a high place on the mountain east of Jerusalem that was dedicated to Chemosh, that detestable Moabite idol, and to Molech, the detestable Ammonite idol. Solomon did this for all of his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their own gods.

Now Joseph was well built and good looking. That's why, sometime later, Joseph's master's wife looked straight at Joseph and propositioned him: "Come on! Let's have a little sex!" But he refused, telling his master's wife, "Look! My master doesn't have to worry about anything in the house with me in charge, and he has entrusted everything into my care. No one has more authority in this house than I do. He has withheld nothing from me, except you, and that's because you're his wife. So how can I commit such a horrible evil? How can I sin against God?" read more.
She kept on talking to him like this day after day, but he wouldn't listen to her. Not only would he refuse to have sex with her, he refused even to stay around her. One day, though, he went into the house to do his work. None of the household servants were inside, so she grabbed Joseph by his outer garment and demanded "Let's have some sex!"

It's to him the gatekeeper opens the gate, and it's his voice the sheep hear. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.

"Reuben, you're my firstborn, my strength, and the first fruit of my vitality. You excel in rank and excel in power. But you're as undisciplined as a roaring river, so eventually you won't succeed, because you got in your father's bed, defiled it, and then approached my couch."

Pilate replied, "What I have written I have written."

You'll remember all your practices and evil actions by which you've become defiled. You'll loathe yourselves because of all the evil things you've done.

For there are many people who are rebellious, especially those who are converts from Judaism. They speak utter nonsense and deceive people.

But when I stumbled, they rejoiced and gathered together. They gathered together against me attackers whom I did not know. They tore me apart and would not stop.

Their destiny is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on worldly things.

Egypt, Judah, Edom, the people of Ammon, Moab, all those who live in the desert and shave the corners of their beard; indeed all the other nations that are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel that is uncircumcised of heart."

Such are the paths of everyone who forgets God the hope of the godless will be destroyed:

Their feet rush to evil, and they are quick to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; ruin, destruction, and violence are in their paths.

A worthless person concocts evil gossip his lips are like a burning fire.

How blessed are those whose life is blameless, who walk in the Law of the LORD!

How blessed are those servants whom the master finds watching for him when he comes! I tell all of you with certainty, he himself will put on an apron, make them sit down at the table, and go around and serve them.

The wise-hearted person is told to be discerning, and that pleasant speech promotes instruction.

so that you may be blameless and innocent, God's children without any faults among a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world

He gave himself for us to set us free from every wrong and to cleanse us so that we could be his special people who are enthusiastic about doing good deeds.

Jesus saw Nathaniel coming toward him and said about him, "Look, a genuine Israeli, in whom there is no deceit!"

They will wage war against the lamb, but the lamb will conquer them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings. Those who are called, chosen, and faithful are with him."

Better to be humble among the poor, than to share what is stolen with the proud.

traitors, reckless, conceited, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

They're stubborn and strong willed. I'm sending you to them to tell them what the LORD says.

But the house of Israel won't listen to you, since they weren't willing to listen to me. That's because the entire house of Israel is hard-headed and hard-hearted.

unfeeling, uncooperative, slanderous, degenerate, brutal, hateful of what is good,

But people who are cowardly, unfaithful, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will find themselves in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death."

foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless.

A righteous person hates deceit, but the wicked person is shameful and disgraceful.

Using many different expressions, Peter continued to testify and to plead: "Be saved," he urged them, "from this corrupt generation!"

But those who are not his children acted corruptly against him; they are a defective and perverted generation.

They're stubborn and strong willed. I'm sending you to them to tell them what the LORD says.

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

traitors, reckless, conceited, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

This is not the way to repay the LORD, is it, you foolish and witless people? Is he not your father, who bought you, formed you, and established you?

For all who are led by God's Spirit are God's children.

through honor and dishonor; through ill repute and good repute; perceived as deceivers and yet true,

The wicked flee, though no one pursues, but the righteous are bold like a lion.

"The expressions on their faces give them away. They parade their sin around like Sodom; they don't even try to hide it. How horrible it will be for them, because they have brought disaster on themselves!"

"How blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, because it is they who will be satisfied!

"How blessed are those who are destitute in spirit, because the kingdom from heaven belongs to them!

I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by your Name, the Name that you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.