Bible Verses About Fear
Scripture addresses two distinct kinds of fear. The first is the debilitating anxiety and dread that paralyzes — this is what "fear not" commands throughout the Bible address, and they outnumber almost any other divine command in Scripture. The second is the "fear of the Lord" — a reverent awe before the living God that is called the beginning of wisdom and is listed among the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Catholic tradition carefully distinguishes these, affirming that the first kind of fear is to be overcome by trust in God, while the second is to be cultivated as a virtue.
"Fear not" appears over three hundred times across the Bible. This repetition is itself significant: God consistently meets his people in their fear and counters it not with lectures but with the reminder of his presence.
Note: 1 verse on this page is from the deuterocanonical books — books included in the Catholic Bible but absent from most Protestant translations (Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1–2 Maccabees).
9 verses — Douay-Rheims Bible (1899 Challoner revision) — Public domain
And now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and formed thee, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, and called thee by thy name: thou art mine.Isaiah 43:1 — Douay-Rheims
Among the most personal of God's addresses in Isaiah — grounding fearlessness in the fact of redemption and personal election.
The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?Psalm 27:1 — Douay-Rheims
David's great psalm of confidence, which the Church has long prayed at Lauds on Sundays.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is prudence.Proverbs 9:10 — Douay-Rheims
The classic statement of the positive fear of the Lord as the foundation of all true wisdom.
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sobriety.2 Timothy 1:7 — Douay-Rheims
Paul encourages Timothy, who is timid by temperament, by reminding him of the Spirit he has received.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and was created with the faithful in the womb, it walketh with chosen women, and is known with the just and faithful.Sirach 1:16Deuterocanonical — Douay-Rheims
Sirach's extended meditation on the fear of the Lord as a gift given from birth — a deuterocanonical perspective.
And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.Luke 1:30 — Douay-Rheims
The angel Gabriel's words at the Annunciation — the divine "fear not" addressed to Mary at the most pivotal moment in history.
And fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell.Matthew 10:28 — Douay-Rheims
Jesus reorders the objects of fear: the right fear of God displaces the wrong fear of human enemies.
I sought the Lord, and he heard me; and he delivered me from all my fears.Psalm 34:4 — Douay-Rheims
An acrostic psalm of David — deliverance from fear comes through seeking the Lord in prayer.
Fear is not in charity: but perfect charity casteth out fear, because fear hath pain. And he that feareth, is not perfected in charity.1 John 4:18 — Douay-Rheims
John identifies perfect love as the remedy for tormenting fear — the logic of the spiritual life.
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Source
All verse texts from the Douay-Rheims Bible (1899 Challoner revision), public domain. The Douay-Rheims is the traditional Catholic English Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate.