Hope feels fragile when you’re standing in the rubble of shattered dreams. Maybe the diagnosis came back worse than expected, the relationship you fought for still ended, or the door you prayed would open slammed shut instead. You’ve been disappointed enough times that hope feels dangerous, like setting yourself up for another letdown. It’s easier to expect nothing than to risk believing things could actually get better.
Biblical hope is fundamentally different from wishful thinking or blind optimism. It’s not pretending everything will turn out exactly how you want or denying the reality of present suffering. Hope in Scripture is anchored in confidence in God’s character, His promises, and His ultimate victory over sin, death, and suffering. It’s the certainty that your current chapter isn’t the end of the story, that God is working even when you can’t see it, and that resurrection always follows crucifixion in His kingdom.
These verses remind us that hope isn’t a feeling we manufacture but a gift we receive from the God who specializes in bringing life from death and beauty from ashes. When your own hope runs dry, His never does.
Bible Verses About Hope
1. Romans 15:13 – May the God of Hope Fill You
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
New International Version (NIV)
2. Jeremiah 29:11 – Plans to Give You Hope and a Future
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
English Standard Version (ESV)
3. Romans 5:5 – Hope Does Not Put Us to Shame
Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
New King James Version (NKJV)
4. Psalm 39:7 – My Hope Is in You
And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.
New Living Translation (NLT)
5. Hebrews 6:19 – We Have This Hope as an Anchor
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.
Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
6. Lamentations 3:21-23 – Yet This I Call to Mind
This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
7. Psalm 42:5 – Put Your Hope in God
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
King James Version (KJV)
8. Romans 8:24-25 – Hope That Is Seen Is No Hope at All
For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
9. Psalm 146:5 – Blessed Are Those Whose Hope Is in the Lord
How blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in GOD, their God.
The Message (MSG)
10. 1 Peter 1:3 – A Living Hope Through the Resurrection
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who, according to His abundant mercy, has begotten us again [that is, caused us to be born again] to an ever-living hope and confident assurance through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Amplified Bible (AMP)
11. Psalm 130:5 – I Wait for the Lord, My Whole Being Waits
I wait for the LORD; I wait, and in his word I hope.
New English Translation (NET)
12. Titus 2:13 – While We Wait for the Blessed Hope
while we wait for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
13. Psalm 71:5 – You Have Been My Hope, Sovereign Lord
I depend on you, LORD God, and have trusted you since I was young.
Contemporary English Version (CEV)
14. Romans 12:12 – Be Joyful in Hope
Be joyful because you have hope. Be patient when trouble comes. Pray at all times.
New International Reader’s Version (NIrV)
15. Colossians 1:27 – Christ in You, the Hope of Glory
To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
New King James Version (NKJV)
16. Proverbs 13:12 – Hope Deferred Makes the Heart Sick
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
New International Version (NIV)
17. Isaiah 40:31 – Those Who Hope in the Lord Will Renew Their Strength
but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
English Standard Version (ESV)
18. Psalm 31:24 – Be Strong and Take Heart
Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart, All you who hope in the LORD.
New King James Version (NKJV)
19. 1 Thessalonians 5:8 – Put On the Helmet of the Hope of Salvation
But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
New Living Translation (NLT)
20. Psalm 62:5 – Find Rest, O My Soul, in God Alone
Rest in God alone, my soul, for my hope comes from him.
Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
21. Romans 15:4 – So That Through Endurance We Might Have Hope
For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
22. Job 11:18 – You Will Be Secure, Because There Is Hope
And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.
King James Version (KJV)
23. Hebrews 10:23 – Let Us Hold Unswervingly to the Hope
Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
24. Proverbs 23:18 – There Is Surely a Future Hope for You
Ah yes, a future! Your hopes are not cut short.
The Message (MSG)
25. 1 Corinthians 13:13 – And Now These Three Remain
And so faith, hope, love abide [faith—conviction and belief respecting man’s relation to God and divine things; hope—joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love—true affection for God and man, growing out of God’s love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Amplified Bible (AMP)
26. Zechariah 9:12 – Return to Your Fortress, You Prisoners of Hope
Return to a stronghold, O prisoners who have hope! Today I also declare that I will restore double to you.
New English Translation (NET)
27. Acts 24:15 – I Have the Same Hope in God
and I have a hope in God, which these men themselves also accept, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
28. Psalm 33:18 – The Eyes of the Lord Are on Those Who Fear Him
The LORD watches over those who honor him and trust his love.
Contemporary English Version (CEV)
29. Ephesians 1:18 – The Hope to Which He Has Called You
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people.
New International Version (NIV)
30. Psalm 119:114 – You Are My Refuge and My Shield
You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.
English Standard Version (ESV)
31. 1 Timothy 4:10 – We Have Put Our Hope in the Living God
For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.
New King James Version (NKJV)
32. Micah 7:7 – But as for Me, I Watch in Hope
As for me, I look to the LORD for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me.
New Living Translation (NLT)
33. Romans 4:18 – Against All Hope, Abraham in Hope Believed
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
New International Version (NIV)
34. Psalm 147:11 – The Lord Delights in Those Who Hope
but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.
English Standard Version (ESV)
35. 2 Corinthians 3:12 – Since We Have Such a Hope
Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech.
New King James Version (NKJV)
Our Thoughts On What the Bible Says About Hope
Biblical hope isn’t optimism about circumstances but confidence in God’s character and promises. It’s the certainty that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He’ll do, regardless of what we’re currently experiencing. This hope sustained believers through persecution, exile, suffering, and death because it was anchored not in changing situations but in an unchanging God who specializes in resurrection and redemption.
What strikes me most about Scripture’s teaching on hope is how it thrives precisely where human hope dies. The early Christians had hope in the face of martyrdom. Job expressed hope while sitting in ashes. Paul wrote about overflowing hope from prison. Their hope wasn’t based on favorable circumstances but on knowing the end of the story, that God wins and His people share in that victory.
Hope in the Bible is also active, not passive. It’s described as an anchor that holds us steady, armor that protects us, and something we choose to put on daily. It grows as we remember God’s past faithfulness and meditate on His promises. When our hearts grow sick from hope deferred, Scripture invites us to lift our eyes beyond present disappointments to the God who makes all things new and whose mercies are fresh every morning.
Say This Prayer
God of Hope, I’m struggling to hold onto hope right now. The disappointments have piled up, and it feels safer to expect nothing than to risk believing things could change. But I know that’s not the kind of hope You offer. Your hope isn’t based on my circumstances but on Your unchanging character and promises.
Fill me with hope by the power of Your Holy Spirit. When I can’t see how things could possibly work out, remind me that You specialize in resurrection and redemption. Help me to anchor my hope not in my plans succeeding but in Your goodness prevailing, even when I can’t trace how You’re working.
Renew my strength as I wait on You. Give me the patience to hope for what I cannot yet see and the faith to trust that You’re writing a story bigger and better than anything I could imagine. Let my hope overflow so that others who are struggling might catch a glimpse of the living hope found only in You.
Thank You that my hope is secure because it rests in You, not in myself.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Evang. Anabelle Thompson is the founder of Believers Refuge, a Scripture-based resource that helps Christians to find biblical guidance for life’s challenges.
With over 15 years of ministry experience and a decade of dedicated Bible study, she creates content that connects believers with relevant Scripture for their daily struggles.
Her work has reached over 76,000 monthly readers (which is projected to reach 100,000 readers by the end of 2025) seeking practical faith applications, biblical encouragement, and spiritual guidance rooted in God’s Word.
She writes from personal experience, having walked through seasons of waiting, breakthrough, and spiritual growth that inform her teaching.
Evang. Thompson brings 12 years of active ministry and evangelism experience, along with over 10 years of systematic Bible study and theological research.
As a former small group leader and Sunday school teacher, she has published over 200 biblical resources and devotional studies.
She specializes in applying Scripture to everyday life challenges and regularly studies the original Hebrew and Greek texts for a deeper biblical understanding.