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Bible verses about hope

Romans 15:13 is the fullest one: may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope. Lamentations 3:21-23 is the one written from the bottom — mercies new every morning, recalled deliberately by a man surrounded by rubble. And Jeremiah 29:11 is the famous one, which means something better and harder than the coffee mugs suggest.

12 passages · World English Bible & King James · public domain

  1. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope in the power of the Holy Spirit.Romans 15:13 · World English Bible

    Joy and peace 'in believing', and then abounding hope. The fullest single sentence about hope in the New Testament.

    King James

    Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

  2. For I know the thoughts that I think towards you,” says the LORD, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future.Jeremiah 29:11 · World English Bible

    Read verse 10 first — this is said to exiles told they'll be there seventy years. Better than the coffee-mug version, and harder.

    King James

    For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

  3. Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.Romans 5:3-5 · World English Bible

    A chain: suffering to perseverance to character to hope. Nobody wants the first link, but it's where the sequence starts.

    King James

    And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

  4. Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.Hebrews 11:1 · World English Bible

    Hope defined as substance and evidence — sturdier language than the way we normally use the word.

    King James

    Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

  5. Now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you.Psalms 39:7 · World English Bible

    Now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in you. A short, exhausted question with a short answer.

    King James

    And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.

  6. This I recall to my mind; therefore I have hope. It is because of The LORD’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his mercies don’t fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.Lamentations 3:21-23 · World English Bible

    Written by a man surrounded by rubble. The recalling is deliberate — hope as an act rather than a mood.

    King James

    This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It 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.

  7. but those who wait for the LORD will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.Isaiah 40:31 · World English Bible

    Waiting first, then renewal. The order is the encouragement.

    King James

    But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

  8. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,1 Peter 1:3 · World English Bible

    A living hope — the adjective is doing the work. Not a wish, something with a pulse.

    King James

    Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

  9. Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him, the saving help of my countenance, and my God.Psalms 42:11 · World English Bible

    The writer interrogates his own despair out loud and instructs himself. Permission to talk to yourself.

    King James

    Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

  10. For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees? But if we hope for that which we don’t see, we wait for it with patience.Romans 8:24-25 · World English Bible

    Hope that is seen isn't hope. An honest account of why waiting feels like this.

    King James

    For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

  11. But as for me, I will look to the LORD. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.Micah 7:7 · World English Bible

    I will look to the LORD. I will wait. Said at the end of a chapter about everything falling apart.

    King James

    Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.

  12. Indeed surely there is a future hope, and your hope will not be cut off.Proverbs 23:18 · World English Bible

    Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. Plain and steadying.

    King James

    For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

What Jeremiah 29:11 actually says

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future.” It is on more graduation cards than any other verse in Scripture, usually meaning good things are coming soon.

Read verse 10. God has just told a group of deported exiles that they will be in Babylon for seventy years. Most of the people first hearing this promise would die in exile. The letter's practical advice, a few verses earlier, is: build houses, plant gardens, have children, seek the good of the city that carried you off.

That makes it a far better verse than the greetings-card version. It is not a promise that the hard thing ends shortly. It's a promise that the hard thing is not the end of the story, and that there is a life to be lived inside it in the meantime. If you're in year three of something, that's the version you need.

Hope as a discipline, not a mood

Lamentations 3:21 says this I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. The recalling is deliberate — an act, on a bad morning, rather than a feeling that arrived. Psalm 42:11 works the same way: the writer interrogates his own despair out loud and instructs himself to hope. Both are permission to speak to yourself when you don't feel it.

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For year three of the wait

This I recall to my mind; therefore I have hope. It is because of The LORD’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his mercies don’t fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:21-23

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Questions

What does Jeremiah 29:11 really mean?

It is a promise given to Judean exiles in Babylon who have just been told, in verse 10, that they will be there for seventy years — meaning most of the original hearers would die in exile. The surrounding letter tells them to build houses, plant gardens and seek the good of the city. It promises that the hard season is not the end of the story, not that it ends soon.

What is the best Bible verse about hope?

Romans 15:13 — may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope. Lamentations 3:21-23, with its mercies that are new every morning, is the one most often turned to from inside a hard season.

What does the Bible say hope actually is?

Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Romans 8:24-25 notes that hope which is seen is not hope — biblical hope is confident expectation of something not yet in hand, rather than optimism about outcomes.

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