# Bible Verses About Forgiveness > Scripture connects the forgiveness God gives with the forgiveness people extend to one another. It describes God's forgiveness in sweeping images, including sins removed as far as east is from west. The Lord's Prayer ties receiving mercy to showing it. Forgiveness still leaves room to name the wrong, maintain boundaries, and pursue justice. _Scripture text is not reproduced in this file: the translations BibleHearth serves are licensed from their publishers and require a copyright notice beside the text. Every reference below links to the verse on BibleHearth, where the passage and its notice appear together._ ## The forgiveness described is thorough Biblical writers use images of immeasurable distance, deep water, and erasure to describe how completely God deals with confessed sin. - [Psalm 103:12](https://biblehearth.online/verse/psalms/103/12) — The distance chosen is east from west, which unlike north and south has no meeting point. - [1 John 1:9](https://biblehearth.online/verse/1-john/1/9) — Confession is met with forgiveness described as faithful and just, grounding the promise in God's character and reliability. - [Micah 7:19](https://biblehearth.online/verse/micah/7/19) — Micah pictures sins being thrown into the depths of the sea. The image conveys decisive removal. ## Receiving and extending are tied together The New Testament repeatedly connects God's mercy with the way forgiven people treat others. The Lord's Prayer makes that relationship explicit. - [Matthew 6:14-15](https://biblehearth.online/verse/matthew/6/14) — Jesus attaches a condition immediately after teaching the prayer, which is the only line of it he stops to explain. - [Ephesians 4:32](https://biblehearth.online/verse/ephesians/4/32) — God's forgiveness supplies the pattern for forgiving one another. - [Colossians 3:13](https://biblehearth.online/verse/colossians/3/13) — Paul assumes that grievances will arise within the church. He joins patience with one another to the call to forgive. ## The hard cases are addressed directly Scripture recognizes that forgiveness can be difficult and repeated. Its best-known teaching on the subject begins with Peter asking how often he must do it. - [Matthew 18:21-22](https://biblehearth.online/verse/matthew/18/21) — Peter proposes forgiving seven times. Jesus answers with a number so large that keeping score no longer makes sense. - [Luke 23:34](https://biblehearth.online/verse/luke/23/34) — Jesus speaks these words during the crucifixion and frames them as a request to the Father. - [Romans 12:19](https://biblehearth.online/verse/romans/12/19) — Paul tells believers to leave vengeance to God. A person can release the claim to revenge while still recognizing that the wrong was real. ## What these verses do not mean Forgiveness, reconciliation, trust, and removal of consequences are different things in Scripture. Confusing them can cause serious harm, especially when someone experiencing abuse is told that forgiveness requires returning to an unsafe person. Romans 12:19 calls believers to release personal vengeance; it doesn't declare the offense acceptable or the offender safe. Scripture still allows consequences for wrongdoing, and Matthew 18 places repeated forgiveness in the same chapter as a process for confronting sin. Forgiveness may also take time. Anger returning doesn't prove that a person has failed, and renewed boundaries can remain necessary throughout the process. The passages on this page move in two directions. Scripture describes God's forgiveness through images of distance, depth, and complete removal. It then calls forgiven people to extend mercy to others. The order matters. Paul grounds the difficult work of forgiving in mercy that has already been received. The model comes from God's action, not from the size of the offense or the offender's deserving. ## Common questions about forgiveness ### How many times does the Bible say to forgive? In Matthew 18:21-22 Peter asks whether seven times is enough and Jesus answers seventy-seven times, or seventy times seven depending on the translation and manuscript. Either reading makes keeping a tally beside the purpose of the instruction. ### Does forgiving someone mean trusting them again? No. Scripture distinguishes forgiveness from reconciliation and from trust. Romans 12:19 frames forgiveness as giving up your claim to revenge, while the Bible continues to prescribe consequences for wrongdoing and warns repeatedly about unsafe people. Forgiving someone does not oblige you to restore access, particularly where there has been abuse. ## Related topics - [Bible verses about peace](https://biblehearth.online/topics/peace) - [Bible verses about grief](https://biblehearth.online/topics/grief) - [Bible verses about anxiety](https://biblehearth.online/topics/anxiety) --- Source: https://biblehearth.online/topics/forgiveness Reviewed: 2026-08-21 Original writing © BibleHearth. Licensed Scripture is not included in this file.