Bible Verses About Self Harm

“Then you may call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The God who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people answered, “What you say is good.” Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” And they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound, and no one answered as they leaped around the altar they had made. At noon Elijah began to taunt them, saying, “Shout louder, for he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or occupied, or on a journey. Perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened!” So they shouted louder and cut themselves with knives and lances, as was their custom, until the blood gushed over them. Midday passed, and they kept on raving until the time of the evening sacrifice. But there was no response; no one answered, no one paid attention.”

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.”

“As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, He was met by a man with an unclean spirit, who was coming from the tombs. This man had been living in the tombs and could no longer be restrained, even with chains. Though he was often bound with chains and shackles, he had broken the chains and shattered the shackles. Now there was no one with the strength to subdue him. Night and day in the tombs and in the mountains he kept crying out and cutting himself with stones.”

“Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of His Servant? Who among you walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD; let him lean on his God.”

“The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion.”

“You are sons of the LORD your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead, for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.”

“By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”

“He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“On the other side of the sea, they arrived in the region of the Gerasenes. As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, He was met by a man with an unclean spirit, who was coming from the tombs. This man had been living in the tombs and could no longer be restrained, even with chains. Though he was often bound with chains and shackles, he had broken the chains and shattered the shackles. Now there was no one with the strength to subdue him. Night and day in the tombs and in the mountains he kept crying out and cutting himself with stones. When the man saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees before Him. And he shouted in a loud voice, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You before God not to torture me!” For Jesus had already declared, “Come out of this man, you unclean spirit!” “What is your name?” Jesus asked. “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And he begged Jesus repeatedly not to send them out of that region. There on the nearby hillside a large herd of pigs was feeding. So the demons begged Jesus, “Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.” He gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs, and the herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the water. Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it described what had happened to the demon-possessed man and also to the pigs. And the people began to beg Jesus to leave their region. As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by the demons begged to go with Him. But Jesus would not allow him. “Go home to your own people,” He said, “and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy He has shown you.” So the man went away and began to proclaim throughout the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.”

“No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

“I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.”

“We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.”

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

“Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide Your face from me, or I will be like those who descend to the Pit. Let me hear Your loving devotion in the morning, for I have put my trust in You. Teach me the way I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul.”

“Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.”

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

“Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

“Of David. Blessed be the LORD, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.”

“I can do nothing by Myself; I judge only as I hear. And My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”

“Now after the death of His servant Moses, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, saying, “Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore arise, you and all these people, and cross over the Jordan into the land that I am giving to the children of Israel. I have given you every place where the sole of your foot will tread, just as I promised to Moses. Your territory shall extend from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great River Euphrates— all the land of the Hittites— and west as far as the Great Sea. No one shall stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so will I be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give these people the inheritance of the land that I swore to their fathers I would give them. Above all, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe all the law that My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in all you do. Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people: “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for within three days you will cross the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.’” But to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, “Remember what Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you when he said, ‘The LORD your God will give you rest, and He will give you this land.’ Your wives, your young children, and your livestock may remain in the land that Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But all your mighty men of valor must be armed for battle to cross over ahead of your brothers and help them, until the LORD gives them rest as He has done for you, and your brothers also possess the land that the LORD your God is giving them. Then you may return to the land of your inheritance and take possession of that which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the east side of the Jordan.” So they answered Joshua, “Everything you have commanded us we will do, and everywhere you send us we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. And may the LORD your God be with you, as He was with Moses. Anyone who rebels against your order and does not obey your words, all that you command him, will be put to death. Above all, be strong and courageous!”

“A perverse man spreads dissension, and a gossip divides close friends.”

“This is the text of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders among the exiles and to the priests, the prophets, and all the others Nebuchadnezzar had carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. (This was after King Jeconiah, the queen mother, the court officials, the officials of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the metalsmiths had been exiled from Jerusalem.) The letter was entrusted to Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. It stated: This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles who were carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Multiply there; do not decrease. Seek the prosperity of the city to which I have sent you as exiles. Pray to the LORD on its behalf, for if it prospers, you too will prosper.” For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “Do not be deceived by the prophets and diviners among you, and do not listen to the dreams you elicit from them. For they are falsely prophesying to you in My name; I have not sent them, declares the LORD.” For this is what the LORD says: “When Babylon’s seventy years are complete, I will attend to you and confirm My promise to restore you to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore you from captivity and gather you from all the nations and places to which I have banished you, declares the LORD. I will restore you to the place from which I sent you into exile.” Because you may say, “The LORD has raised up for us prophets in Babylon,” this is what the LORD says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all the people who remain in this city, your brothers who did not go with you into exile— this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “I will send against them sword and famine and plague, and I will make them like rotten figs, so bad they cannot be eaten. I will pursue them with sword and famine and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth— a curse, a desolation, and an object of scorn and reproach among all the nations to which I banish them. I will do this because they have not listened to My words, declares the LORD,which I sent to them again and again through My servants the prophets. And neither have you exiles listened, declares the LORD.” So hear the word of the LORD, all you exiles I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you lies in My name: “I will deliver them to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your very eyes. Because of them, all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire!’ For they have committed an outrage in Israel by committing adultery with the wives of their neighbors and speaking lies in My name, which I did not command them to do. I am He who knows, and I am a witness, declares the LORD.” You are to tell Shemaiah the Nehelamite that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “In your own name you have sent out letters to all the people of Jerusalem, to the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, and to all the priests. You said to Zephaniah: ‘The LORD has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada, to be the chief officer in the house of the LORD, responsible for any madman who acts like a prophet — you must put him in stocks and neck irons. So now, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you? For he has sent to us in Babylon, claiming: Since the exile will be lengthy, build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat their produce.’” (Zephaniah the priest, however, had read this letter to Jeremiah the prophet.) Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “Send a message telling all the exiles what the LORD says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite. Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you— though I did not send him— and has made you trust in a lie, this is what the LORD says: ‘I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants. He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good that I will bring to My people, declares the LORD, for he has preached rebellion against the LORD.’”

“For I am afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I wish, and you may not find me as you wish. I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, rage, rivalry, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder.”

“Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you must stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. I urge Euodia and Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, my true yokefellow, to help these women who have contended at my side for the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be apparent to all. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think on these things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Now I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this out of need, for I have learned to be content regardless of my circumstances. I know how to live humbly, and I know how to abound. In any and every situation I have learned the secret of being filled and being hungry, of having plenty and having need. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Nevertheless, you have done well to share in my affliction. And as you Philippians know, in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church but you partnered with me in the matter of giving and receiving. For even while I was in Thessalonica, you provided for my needs again and again. Not that I am seeking a gift, but I am looking for the fruit that may be credited to your account. I have all I need and more, now that I have received your gifts from Epaphroditus. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. Greet all the saints in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send you greetings. All the saints send you greetings, especially those from the household of Caesar. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”

“Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.”

“The LORD will guard you from all evil; He will preserve your soul. The LORD will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.”

“He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.”

“For I do not trust in my bow, nor does my sword save me. For You save us from our enemies; You put those who hate us to shame.”

“Be silent before Me, O islands, and let the peoples renew their strength. Let them come forward and testify; let us together draw near for judgment. Who has aroused one from the east and called him to his feet in righteousness? He hands nations over to him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to dust with his sword, to windblown chaff with his bow. He pursues them, going on safely, hardly touching the path with his feet. Who has performed this and carried it out, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD — the first and the last— I am He.” The islands see and fear; the ends of the earth tremble. They approach and come forward. Each one helps the other and says to his brother, “Be strong!” The craftsman encourages the goldsmith, and he who wields the hammer cheers him who strikes the anvil, saying of the welding, “It is good.” He nails it down so it will not be toppled. “But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend— I brought you from the ends of the earth and called you from its farthest corners. I said, ‘You are My servant.’ I have chosen and not rejected you. Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will surely help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Behold, all who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced; those who contend with you will be reduced to nothing and will perish. You will seek them but will not find them. Those who wage war against you will come to nothing. For I am the LORD your God, who takes hold of your right hand and tells you: Do not fear, I will help you. Do not fear, O Jacob, you worm, O few men of Israel. I will help you,” declares the LORD. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff. You will winnow them, and a wind will carry them away; a gale will scatter them. But you will rejoice in the LORD; you will glory in the Holy One of Israel. The poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers on the barren heights, and fountains in the middle of the valleys. I will turn the desert into a pool of water, and the dry land into flowing springs. I will plant cedars in the wilderness, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees. I will set cypresses in the desert, elms and boxwood together, so that all may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this and the Holy One of Israel has created it.” “Present your case,” says the LORD. “Submit your arguments,” says the King of Jacob. “Let them come and tell us what will happen. Tell the former things, so that we may reflect on them and know the outcome. Or announce to us what is coming. Tell us the things that are to come, so that we may know that you are gods. Yes, do something good or evil, that we may look on together in dismay. Behold, you are nothing and your work is of no value. Anyone who chooses you is detestable. I have raised up one from the north, and he has come — one from the east who calls on My name. He will march over rulers as if they were mortar, like a potter who treads the clay. Who has declared this from the beginning, so that we may know, and from times past, so that we may say: ‘He was right’? No one announced it, no one foretold it, no one heard your words. I was the first to tell Zion: ‘Look, here they are!’ And I gave to Jerusalem a herald of good news. When I look, there is no one; there is no counselor among them; when I ask them, they have nothing to say. See, they are all a delusion; their works amount to nothing; their images are as empty as the wind.[’]”

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.”

“Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.”

“The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged.”

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

“Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will repay the man according to his work.”

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise — in God I trust. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;”

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

“And Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself as he sat among the ashes.”

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; His understanding is beyond searching out. He gives power to the faint and increases the strength of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall. But those who wait upon the LORD will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.”

“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, his possessions are secure.”

“Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

“And when you stand to pray, if you hold anything against another, forgive it, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well.”

“Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.”

“The next day he came upon two Israelites who were fighting, and he tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you mistreating each other?’

“In everything, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

“Do not become a stumbling block, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God—”

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.”

“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.”