The Bible has a great deal to say about revenge. This study gathers passages from across Scripture and sets them out for reading and reflection.
What Scripture Says
Revenge appears in Scripture in more than one light, and the passages gathered here show that the Bible treats the subject with real complexity. In Jeremiah 15:15, the prophet does not take vengeance into his own hands; he brings his case before God: “O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors.” Jeremiah has suffered rebuke for God’s sake, and he asks the Lord to act on his behalf. Whatever else this verse teaches, it shows that the desire for justice in the face of persecution can be poured out before God rather than executed by the sufferer. The plea is directed upward, not outward.
Ezekiel 25:15 speaks to the other side of the matter. The Philistines “have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred.” Here revenge is not presented as a righteous plea but as a settled malice rooted in ancient hostility. The heart behind it is “despiteful,” and its aim is destruction. This passage warns that vengeance can harden into a way of life, fed by old grievances and nursed hatreds. What begins as a response to a wrong can become a character of its own, and God takes notice of it.
Then 2 Corinthians 7:11 introduces a striking use of the word. Paul describes the Corinthians’ godly sorrow and asks, “what revenge!” Their grief over sin produced a whole cluster of good effects: carefulness, clearing of themselves, indignation, fear, vehement desire, and zeal. Here “revenge” is turned against sin itself rather than against a person. It is a holy intolerance of the wrong that had been tolerated, an earnestness to make things right. In all these things, Paul says, they approved themselves clear in the matter.
Taken together, these verses do not flatten the subject into a single rule. They show a plea for God to avenge, a warning against vengeful hatred, and a picture of zeal against sin within one’s own life. The common thread is that vengeance belongs ultimately to God, while the human heart must be examined for the spirit in which it responds to wrong.
Living It Out
Practically, this means the first move when we have been wronged is not to plan our payback but to bring the matter honestly to God. Jeremiah’s prayer gives permission to tell the Lord plainly what we have suffered and to ask Him to act. That is different from quietly scheming, spreading the offense to others, or waiting for the moment when we can make someone feel the same pain. If old hatred is feeding our thoughts the way it fed the Philistines, that is a signal to repent, not to justify ourselves.
At the same time, 2 Corinthians 7:11 calls us to turn a kind of zeal against our own sin. If we have contributed to a conflict, godly sorrow should produce carefulness, clearing of ourselves, and a real desire to make things right. Revenge against our own wrongs is healthy; revenge against people is not. Ask God for the wisdom to know the difference.
Reflection
- When you have been wronged, do you bring your case to God as Jeremiah did, or do you rehearse it in your mind until it hardens into old hatred?
- Is there a sin in your own life that deserves the same zeal and “revenge” the Corinthians turned against their wrongdoing?
Verses to Consider
- Jeremiah 15:15 — O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.
- Ezekiel 25:15 — Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred;
- 2 Corinthians 7:11 — For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in …
Where These Come From
These verses are drawn from different parts of the Bible on purpose. A subject is rarely settled by a single line; the whole counsel of Scripture gives the shape of it.