Old Testament Funeral Verses

The Old Testament has been the language of mourning for three thousand years. Long before there were funeral homes or orders of service, there were the Psalms — and there is a reason families still reach for them first. Hebrew scripture is honest about grief in a way few texts are: it weeps, it argues, it waits, and only then does it hope.

Below are sixteen passages organized by book, since each book brings its own voice to a funeral — the Psalms console, Ecclesiastes accepts, Isaiah promises, Job defies. All quotations are from the King James Version. These work in any Christian or Jewish service, at a graveside, or printed in a program; if you are assembling readings for a Catholic Mass, the First Reading slot is where these belong — our guide to Catholic funeral readings explains the structure.

From the Psalms: the consolers

Psalm 23:1–4 — the shepherd psalm. If a congregation knows one piece of scripture by heart, it is this; reading it invites the whole room to mouth the words with you.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul… Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. (KJV)

Psalm 34:18 — for a death that has left the family shattered. It makes no argument; it simply locates God next to the broken.

The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. (KJV)

Psalm 46:1 — eleven words, ideal for a young reader or a card inscription.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (KJV)

Psalm 121:1–4 — the traveler’s psalm, fitting for someone who loved hills, journeys, or the outdoors, and short enough to read entire.

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. (KJV)

Psalm 116:15 — a single, surprising line that reframes the loss: what we grieve, God treasures.

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. (KJV)

From Ecclesiastes: the accepter

Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 — “a time for everything.” The most chosen Old Testament funeral reading outside the Psalms, and one that non-religious mourners receive as easily as believers. Its cadence carries even a shaking voice.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted… a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance… a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. (KJV)

Ecclesiastes 12:7 — one verse for the committal, often spoken at the graveside as the body is returned to the earth.

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. (KJV)

From Isaiah: the promiser

Isaiah 25:8 — the boldest promise in the prophets, and the verse Paul later quotes when he mocks death itself.

He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces. (KJV)

Isaiah 40:31 — for someone who endured: a long illness, hard years, a life of perseverance. The eagle image also makes it a favorite for memorial cards.

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. (KJV)

Isaiah 41:10 — addressed to the living. Send it home with the family; it is a verse for the empty weeks after the funeral.

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. (KJV)

Isaiah 57:1–2 — a quieter, lesser-known choice that answers the bitter question of why the good die: they enter into peace.

The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart… he shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness. (KJV)

From Job: the defier

Job 19:25–26 — spoken by a man who had lost everything and still would not let go of hope. Choose it after a hard or unjust death, when the service needs a reading with clenched fists.

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. (KJV)

Job 1:21 — the oldest words of surrender in scripture, still spoken at gravesides today.

Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. (KJV)

From Proverbs: for a mother

Proverbs 31:25–31 — the portrait of the valiant woman, and the closest thing in scripture to a ready-made eulogy for a mother or grandmother. When a daughter reads “her children arise up, and call her blessed,” the verse enacts itself.

Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness… Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. (KJV)

From Wisdom and Lamentations: the steady hopes

Wisdom 3:1–3 — from the Apocrypha (and the most popular First Reading at Catholic funerals). Protestant services sometimes skip it; everyone else finds its first line unforgettable.

But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them… they are in peace. (KJV, Apocrypha)

Lamentations 3:22–23 — written amid the ruins of Jerusalem, which is exactly why it carries weight at a funeral: hope from someone who had earned the right to despair.

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. (KJV)

Pairing Old Testament readings with the rest of the service

An Old Testament passage usually does its best work alongside something that answers it: Ecclesiastes 3 followed by a hopeful New Testament reading, or Job 19 resolved by a resurrection Gospel. Our complete collection of funeral verses from the Bible includes the New Testament passages most often paired with these, grouped by theme so you can build a service that moves from grief toward hope.