Confession of Sin
39 passages listed in Nave’s Topical Bible and Torrey’s New Topical Textbook. Verse text: Berean Standard Bible; links open in your translation.
24 sections
- Aaron
- Daniel
- David
- Exhortation To
- Ezra
- Followed by Pardon
- God Regards
- God Requires
- Illustrated
- Israelites
- Job
- Levites
- Nehemiah
- Peter
- Promises To
- Saul
- should be Accompanied With: Forsaking Sin
- should be Accompanied With: Godly Sorrow
- should be Accompanied With: Prayer for Forgiveness
- should be Accompanied With: Restitution
- should be Accompanied With: Self-Abasement
- should be Accompanied With: Submission to Punishment
- should be Full and Unreserved
- Thief
Aaron
- Numbers 12:11 and said to Moses, “My lord, please do not hold against us this sin we have so foolishly committed.
Daniel
- Daniel 9:4 And I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed, “O, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of loving devotion to those who love Him and keep His commandments,
David
- 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.”
Exhortation To
- Joshua 7:19 So Joshua said to Achan, “My son, give glory to the LORD, the God of Israel, and make a confession to Him. I urge you to tell me what you have done; do not hide it from me.”
- Jeremiah 3:13 Only acknowledge your guilt, that you have rebelled against the LORD your God. You have scattered your favors to foreign gods under every green tree and have not obeyed My voice,’” declares the LORD.
- James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.
Ezra
- Ezra 9:6 and said: “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached the heavens.
Followed by Pardon
- Psalm 32:5 Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
- 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
God Regards
- Job 33:27–28 Then he sings before men with these words: ‘I have sinned and perverted what was right; yet I did not get what I deserved. …
- Daniel 9:20–23 While I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and that of my people Israel, and presenting my petition before the LORD my God concerning His holy mountain— …
God Requires
- Leviticus 5:5 If someone incurs guilt in one of these ways, he must confess the sin he has committed,
- Hosea 5:15 Then I will return to My place until they admit their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
Illustrated
- Luke 15:21 The son declared, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
- Luke 18:13 But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’
Israelites
- Numbers 21:6–7 So the LORD sent venomous snakes among the people, and many of the Israelites were bitten and died. …
- 1 Samuel 7:6 When they had gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the LORD. On that day they fasted, and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the LORD.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah.
- 1 Samuel 12:19 They pleaded with Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die! For we have added to all our sins the evil of asking for a king.”
Job
- Job 7:20 If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target, so that I am a burden to You?
Levites
- Nehemiah 9:4 And the Levites — Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani — stood on the raised platform and cried out in a loud voice to the LORD their God.
- Nehemiah 9:33–34 You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly. …
Nehemiah
- Nehemiah 1:6–7 let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins that we Israelites have committed against You. Both I …
Peter
- Luke 5:8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Go away from me, Lord,” he said, “for I am a sinful man.”
Promises To
- Leviticus 26:40–42 But if they will confess their iniquity and that of their fathers in the unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, by which they have also walked in hostility toward Me— …
- Proverbs 28:13 He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
Saul
- 1 Samuel 15:24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have transgressed the LORD’s commandment and your instructions, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
should be Accompanied With: Forsaking Sin
- Proverbs 28:13 He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
should be Accompanied With: Godly Sorrow
- Psalm 38:18 Yes, I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.
- Lamentations 1:20 See, O LORD, how distressed I am! I am churning within; my heart is pounding within me, for I have been most rebellious. Outside, the sword bereaves; inside, there is death.
should be Accompanied With: Prayer for Forgiveness
- 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.”
- Psalm 25:11 For the sake of Your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, for it is great.
- Psalm 51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.
- Jeremiah 14:7–9 Although our iniquities testify against us, O LORD, act for the sake of Your name. Indeed, our rebellions are many; we have sinned against You. …
- Jeremiah 14:20 We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, the guilt of our fathers; indeed, we have sinned against You.
should be Accompanied With: Restitution
- Numbers 5:6–7 “Tell the Israelites that when a man or woman acts unfaithfully against the LORD by committing any sin against another, that person is guilty …
should be Accompanied With: Self-Abasement
- Isaiah 64:5–6 You welcome those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. Surely You were angry, for we sinned. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins? …
- Jeremiah 3:25 Let us lie down in our shame; let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the LORD our God, both we and our fathers; from our youth even to this day we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.”
should be Accompanied With: Submission to Punishment
- Leviticus 26:41 and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies— and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity,
- Nehemiah 9:33 You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.
- Ezra 9:13 After all that has come upon us because of our evil deeds and our great guilt (though You, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have given us such a remnant as this),
should be Full and Unreserved
- Psalm 32:5 Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
- Psalm 51:3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
- Psalm 106:6 We have sinned like our fathers; we have done wrong and acted wickedly.
Thief
- Luke 23:41 We are punished justly, for we are receiving what our actions deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
Related topics
Afflictions Made Beneficial in Leading Us to Confession of Sin
Topics: Nave’s Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey’s New Topical Textbook (1897), public domain, via the Berean Bible topical index.