Funeral readings
Bible verses for a funeral or memorial service
Psalm 23 is the passage read at more funerals than any other, and Psalm 121, John 14, Romans 8, Revelation 21 and Ecclesiastes 3 are the ones that follow it. All are public domain — the King James text, with the Jewish Publication Society’s 1917 alongside it for the psalms a Jewish family is more likely to expect — so each one carries its full wording on its own page.
Families ask for these by half-remembered phrase more often than by reference — "the valley of the shadow", "in my Father’s house are many mansions", "a time to be born and a time to die". The titles below carry the phrase as well as the citation.
If the family belongs to a church with its own lectionary, ask which passages the minister expects. Denominational practice varies, and a service is not the place to discover that.
40 bible verses for a funeral or memorial service, shortest first
- 15 secondsRevelation 14:13King James Bible · One verse. "That they may rest from their labours."
- 20 secondsMatthew 11:28–30King James Bible · Twenty seconds, and it is about rest. Often the committal reading.
- 25 seconds2 Timothy 4:6–8King James Bible · "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course."
- 30 secondsRuth 1:16–17aKing James Bible · Said between two women, and the most quoted promise in scripture.
- 35 secondsPsalm 100King James Bible · Short, glad, and useful right at the top of a service.
- 35 secondsIsaiah 43:1–3aKing James Bible · "I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine."
- 35 secondsLamentations 3:22–26King James Bible · "New every morning" — from the middle of a book of grief.
- 35 secondsMicah 6:6–8King James Bible · For someone who lived it rather than talked about it.
- 40 secondsPsalm 27:1, 4, 13–14King James Bible · Light and courage, and short enough to open with.
- 40 secondsIsaiah 40:28–31King James Bible · For a family worn out by a long illness.
- 40 secondsJob 19:23–27King James Bible · Job says it from the worst place a person can say it from.
- 40 secondsDeuteronomy 31:6–8King James Bible · One generation handing the work to the next.
- 40 seconds2 Corinthians 4:16–18, 5:1King James Bible · For a body that failed long before the person did.
- 40 secondsPsalm 15 (JPS 1917)JPS 1917 translation · A portrait of an honest person. Read at Jewish funerals for exactly that reason.
- 45 secondsPsalm 130King James Bible · The De Profundis. For grief that is not ready to be comforted.
- 45 secondsIsaiah 25:6–9King James Bible · The feast on the mountain, and tears wiped from every face.
- 45 secondsHebrews 11:1–2, 13–16King James Bible · Pilgrims and strangers looking for a country. Lands hard for a family who emigrated.
- 45 secondsSirach (Ecclesiasticus) 38:16–23King James Bible, Apocrypha · Unusually practical about grief. Check the wording with the family before you use it.Words not set here
- 50 secondsPsalm 121King James Bible · A travelling psalm. Often read at the graveside rather than in the chapel.
- 50 secondsPsalm 91:1–6, 11King James Bible · Shelter and wings. Often chosen for someone who was afraid at the end.
- 50 secondsEcclesiastes 3:1–8King James Bible · Reads as well at a secular service as a religious one. Everyone knows it.
- 50 seconds1 Corinthians 15:20–26King James Bible · "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."
- 50 secondsRevelation 21:1–5aKing James Bible · No more death, no more crying, no more pain. Often chosen after a hard death.
- 55 seconds1 John 4:7–12King James Bible · The passage that says plainly where the tradition thinks love comes from.
- 55 secondsJohn 11:21–27King James Bible · Martha says the thing everyone is thinking: you could have stopped this.
- 55 secondsJohn 14:1–6, 27King James Bible · The most-read funeral gospel. "In my Father’s house are many mansions."
- 55 secondsRomans 6:3–9King James Bible · A common epistle at a Catholic funeral, tying the death back to the baptism.
- 55 seconds1 Corinthians 15:51–57King James Bible · The one that turns and speaks directly to death.
- 55 seconds1 Thessalonians 4:13–18King James Bible · Ends with an instruction: comfort one another with these words.
- 55 secondsWisdom 3:1–9King James Bible · The most common first reading at a Catholic funeral.
- 55 secondsPsalm 23 (Jewish Publication Society, 1917)JPS 1917 translation · The Jewish translation rather than the King James, if the family would prefer it.
- 55 secondsEshet Chayil — A Woman of Valour (Proverbs 31, JPS 1917)JPS 1917 translation · Sung on Shabbat, read at the funeral of a mother or grandmother.
- a minute and a halfProverbs 31:10–12, 25–31King James Bible · Read at weddings, and often at the funeral of a mother or grandmother.
- a minute and a halfPsalm 23King James Bible · The one almost every family asks for, and the one most guests can say along with you.
- a minute and a halfPsalm 46:1–7, 10–11King James Bible · For a death that shook the ground. "Be still, and know."
- a minute and a halfPsalm 90:1–6, 10, 12King James Bible · The psalm of threescore years and ten. Fits a long life well lived.
- a minute and a halfPsalm 103:8–17King James Bible · "He remembereth that we are dust." Mercy rather than judgement.
- a minute and a halfPsalm 139:1–12King James Bible · Nowhere is out of reach — including the dark.
- a minute and a halfMatthew 5:1–12 — the BeatitudesKing James Bible · "Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted."
- a minute and a halfRomans 8:31–35, 37–39King James Bible · The list at the end is the point. Nothing on it wins.
Questions
Bible verses for a funeral or memorial service: what is usually chosen?
Psalm 23 is the passage read at more funerals than any other, and Psalm 121, John 14, Romans 8, Revelation 21 and Ecclesiastes 3 are the ones that follow it. All are public domain — the King James text, with the Jewish Publication Society’s 1917 alongside it for the psalms a Jewish family is more likely to expect — so each one carries its full wording on its own page.
Which of these can be printed in the script?
39 of the 40 readings on this page carry their full text on their own page, so they can go straight into a ceremony script or an order of service. 1 is public domain and still not set out here — each one's page says why, and what to bring instead.
Texts last checked .
The reading is two minutes. The service is the rest of it.
Answer some questions about them and get the whole service written out — the welcome, the account of their life, the remembrances, the committal — with your chosen readings in place and a run-sheet that knows how long each one takes.