Conscience

Passages on this topic

From Nave’s Topical Bible (1896), a historical reference index. The groupings are Nave’s; the verses are shown in the text used across this site.

General scriptures concerning

• Job 15:21 Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
• Job 15:24 Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.
• Job 27:6 I will cling to my righteousness and never let go. As long as I live, my conscience will not accuse me.
• Proverbs 20:12 Ears that hear and eyes that see— the LORD has made them both.
• Matthew 5:15–16 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they set it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
• Matthew 6:22–23 The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
• Luke 11:33–36 No one lights a lamp and puts it in a cellar or under a basket. Instead, he sets it on a stand, so those who enter can see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body is full of darkness. Be careful…
• Acts 23:1 Paul looked directly at the Sanhedrin and said, “Brothers, I have conducted myself before God in all good conscience to this day.”
• Acts 24:16 In this hope, I strive always to maintain a clear conscience before God and man.
• Romans 2:14–15 Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. So they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts either accusing or def…

Faithful

Instances of

Of Pharaoh, when he took Abraham's wife for a concubine

• Genesis 12:18–19 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and asked, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!”

Of Abimelech, when he took Isaac's wife for a concubine

• Genesis 26:9–11 Abimelech sent for Isaac and said, “So she is really your wife! How could you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac replied, “Because I thought I might die on account of her.” “What is this you have done to us?” asked Abimelech. “One of the people could easily have slept with your wife, and you would hav…

Of Jacob, in his care of Laban's property

• Genesis 31:39 I did not bring you anything torn by wild beasts; I bore the loss myself. And you demanded payment from me for what was stolen by day or night.

Of Joseph, when Potiphar's wife tried to seduce him

• Genesis 39:7–12 and after some time his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.” But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has entrusted everything he owns to my care. No one in this house is…

Of Nehemiah, in the matter of taxes

• Nehemiah 5:15 The governors before me had heavily burdened the people, taking from them bread and wine plus forty shekels of silver. Their servants also oppressed the people. But I did not do this, because of my fear of God.

Of Daniel, in refusing to eat of the king's meat and wine

• Daniel 1:8 But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or wine. So he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself.

Of Peter, in declaring the whole counsel of God

• Acts 4:19–20 But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than God. For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
• Acts 5:29 But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.

See Honesty

See Integrity

Guilty

• Job 15:21 Sounds of terror fill his ears; in his prosperity the destroyer attacks him.
• Job 15:24 Distress and anguish terrify him, overwhelming him like a king poised to attack.
• Psalm 51:1–4 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. When Nathan the prophet came to him after his adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions. Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I kn…
• Psalm 51:7–14 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones You have crushed rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not a…
• Psalm 73:21 When my heart was grieved and I was pierced within,
• Proverbs 28:1 The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.
• Isaiah 59:9–14 Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom. Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall, groping like those without eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; among the vigorous we are…
• Matthew 14:1–2 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the reports about Jesus and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
• Matthew 27:3–5 When Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was filled with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said. “What is that to us?” they replied. “You bear the responsibility.” So Judas thre…
• Mark 6:14 Now King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known, and people were saying, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

Instances of

Of Adam and Eve, after they sinned

• Genesis 3:7–8 And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day, and they hid themselves from the presence of t…

Of Jacob, after he defrauded Esau

• Genesis 33:1–12 Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming toward him with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants. He put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph at the rear. But Jacob himself went on ahead and…

Of Joseph's brethren

• Genesis 42:21 Then they said to one another, “Surely we are being punished because of our brother. We saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.”
• Genesis 44:16 “What can we say to my lord?” Judah replied. “How can we plead? How can we justify ourselves? God has exposed the iniquity of your servants. We are now my lord’s slaves— both we and the one who was found with the cup.”

Of Pharaoh, after the plagues

• Exodus 9:27 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he said. “The LORD is righteous, and I and my people are wicked.

Of Micah, after stealing

• Judges 17:2 said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you and about which I heard you utter a curse— I have the silver here with me; I took it.” Then his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the LORD!”

Of David

For having cut off Saul's skirt

• 1 Samuel 24:5 Afterward, David’s conscience was stricken because he had cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.

For having numbered the people of Israel

• 2 Samuel 24:10 After David had numbered the troops, his conscience was stricken and he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O LORD, I beg You to take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

For his adultery and the murder of Uriah

• Psalm 32 Of David. A Maskil. Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose iniquity the LORD does not count against him, in whose spirit there is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long. For day and night Your h… (whole chapter)
• Psalm 38 A Psalm of David, for remembrance. O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger or discipline me in Your wrath. For Your arrows have pierced me deeply, and Your hand has pressed down on me. There is no soundness in my body because of Your anger; there is no rest in my bones because of my sin. For my iniq… (whole chapter)
• Psalm 40:11–12 O LORD, do not withhold Your mercy from me; Your loving devotion and faithfulness will always guard me. For evils without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, so that I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart has failed within me.
• Psalm 51 For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. When Nathan the prophet came to him after his adultery with Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions. Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I kn… (whole chapter)

Of Joab, for numbering Israel

• 1 Chronicles 21:1–7 Then Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan and bring me a report, so that I may know their number.” But Joab replied, “May the LORD multiply His troops a h…

Of the lepers of Samaria

• 2 Kings 7:8–10 When the lepers reached the edge of the camp, they went into a tent to eat and drink. Then they carried off the silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid them. On returning, they entered another tent, carried off some items from there, and hid them. Finally, they said to one another, “We are not…

Of the old prophet of Beth-el

• 1 Kings 13:29–32 So the old prophet lifted up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him. Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they lamented over him, “Oh, my brother!” After he had buried him, the prophet said to his sons, “When I die…

Of Herod for beheading John the Baptist

• Matthew 14:2 and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
• Luke 9:7 When Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, he was perplexed. For some were saying that John had risen from the dead,

Of Peter, after denying the Lord

• Matthew 26:75 Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
• Mark 14:72 And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
• Luke 22:62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Of Judas, after betraying the Lord Jesus

• Matthew 27:3–5 When Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was filled with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders. “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said. “What is that to us?” they replied. “You bear the responsibility.” So Judas thre…

The accusers of the woman taken in adultery

• John 8:9 When they heard this, they began to go away one by one, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there.

Dead

• Proverbs 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.
• Proverbs 30:20 This is the way of an adulteress: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I have done nothing wrong.’
• Jeremiah 6:15 Are they ashamed of the abomination they have committed? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they will collapse,” says the LORD.
• Amos 6:1 Woe to those at ease in Zion and those secure on Mount Samaria, the distinguished ones of the foremost nation, to whom the house of Israel comes.
• Amos 6:3–6 You dismiss the day of calamity and bring near a reign of violence. You lie on beds inlaid with ivory, and lounge upon your couches. You dine on lambs from the flock and calves from the stall. You improvise songs on the harp like David and invent your own musical instruments. You drink wine by the…
• John 16:2–3 They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me.
• Romans 1:21–25 For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds an…
• Ephesians 4:17–19 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts. Having lost…
• 1 Timothy 4:2 influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.
• Titus 1:15 To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their consciences are defiled.

See BLINDNESS, SPIRITUAL