603 verses about Friendship

He said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you are to help me; but if the children of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will help you.

Ahithophel was the king’s counselor: and Hushai the Archite was the king’s friend.

Solomon sent to Huram the king of Tyre, saying, “As you dealt with David my father, and sent him cedars to build him a house in which to dwell, so deal with me.

But he abandoned the counsel of the old men which they had given him, and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him.

Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance; and he allied himself with Ahab.

After some years, he went down to Ahab to Samaria. Ahab killed sheep and cattle for him in abundance, and for the people who were with him, and moved him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead.

Didn’t you, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it to the offspring of Abraham your friend forever?

Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them.

Nevertheless Haman restrained himself, and went home. There, he sent and called for his friends and Zeresh his wife.

Then Zeresh his wife and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on it. Then go in merrily with the king to the banquet.” This pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.

Haman recounted to Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had happened to him. Then his wise men and Zeresh his wife said to him, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him, but you will surely fall before him.”

Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the unwalled towns, make the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, a good day, and a day of sending presents of food to one another.

Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him, they each came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him.

When they lifted up their eyes from a distance, and didn’t recognize him, they raised their voices, and wept; and they each tore his robe, and sprinkled dust on their heads toward the sky.

So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.

“To him who is ready to faint, kindness should be shown from his friend; even to him who forsakes the fear of the Almighty.

My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a brook, as the channel of brooks that pass away;

Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless, and make merchandise of your friend.

My friends scoff at me. My eyes pour out tears to God,

He who denounces his friends for plunder, Even the eyes of his children shall fail.

“He has put my brothers far from me. My acquaintances are wholly estranged from me.

My relatives have gone away. My familiar friends have forgotten me.

Those who dwell in my house and my maids consider me a stranger. I am an alien in their sight.

All my familiar friends abhor me. They whom I loved have turned against me.

“Have pity on me, have pity on me, you my friends; for the hand of God has touched me.

as I was in the ripeness of my days, when the friendship of God was in my tent,

Also his wrath was kindled against his three friends, because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.

It was so, that after Yahweh had spoken these words to Job, Yahweh said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you, and against your two friends; for you have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job has.

Yahweh turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends. Yahweh gave Job twice as much as he had before.

Then came there to him all his brothers, and all his sisters, and all those who had been of his acquaintance before, and ate bread with him in his house. They comforted him, and consoled him concerning all the evil that Yahweh had brought on him. Everyone also gave him a piece of money, and everyone a ring of gold.

He who doesn’t slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his friend, nor casts slurs against his fellow man;

The friendship of Yahweh is with those who fear him. He will show them his covenant.

I behaved myself as though it had been my friend or my brother. I bowed down mourning, as one who mourns his mother.

My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague. My kinsmen stand far away.

Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me.

For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hidden myself from him.

But it was you, a man like me, my companion, and my familiar friend.

We took sweet fellowship together. We walked in God’s house with company.

He raises his hands against his friends. He has violated his covenant.

You have taken my friends from me. You have made me an abomination to them. I am confined, and I can’t escape.

You have put lover and friend far from me, and my friends into darkness.

I am a friend of all those who fear you, of those who observe your precepts.

For my brothers’ and companions’ sakes, I will now say, “Peace be within you.”

See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity!

My son, if sinners entice you, don’t consent.

who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God:

Don’t let kindness and truth forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart.

For the perverse is an abomination to Yahweh, but his friendship is with the upright.

Don’t reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a wise man, and he will love you.

Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all wrongs.

A righteous person is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

One who walks with wise men grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.

The poor person is shunned even by his own neighbor, but the rich person has many friends.

A perverse man stirs up strife. A whisperer separates close friends.

A man of violence entices his neighbor, and leads him in a way that is not good.

He who covers an offense promotes love; but he who repeats a matter separates best friends.

The beginning of strife is like breaching a dam, therefore stop contention before quarreling breaks out.

A friend loves at all times; and a brother is born for adversity.

An unfriendly man pursues selfishness, and defies all sound judgment.

A brother offended is more difficult than a fortified city; and disputes are like the bars of a fortress.

A man of many companions may be ruined, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Wealth adds many friends, but the poor is separated from his friend.

Many will entreat the favor of a ruler, and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts.

All the relatives of the poor shun him: how much more do his friends avoid him! He pursues them with pleas, but they are gone.

It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife; but every fool will be quarreling.

He who goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets; therefore don’t keep company with him who opens wide his lips.

He who loves purity of heart and speaks gracefully is the king’s friend.

Don’t befriend a hot-tempered man, and don’t associate with one who harbors anger:

lest you learn his ways, and ensnare your soul.

Debate your case with your neighbor, and don’t betray the confidence of another;

Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house, lest he be weary of you, and hate you.

Confidence in someone unfaithful in time of trouble is like a bad tooth, or a lame foot.

is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “Am I not joking?”

Better is open rebuke than hidden love.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; although the kisses of an enemy are profuse.

Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart; so does earnest counsel from a man’s friend.

Don’t forsake your friend and your father’s friend. Don’t go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster: better is a neighbor who is near than a distant brother.

Take his garment when he puts up collateral for a stranger. Hold it for a wayward woman!

Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens his friend’s countenance.

One who rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than one who flatters with the tongue.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.

For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and doesn’t have another to lift him up.

Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one keep warm alone?

If a man prevails against one who is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Take me away with you. Let us hurry. The king has brought me into his rooms. Friends We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will praise your love more than wine! Beloved They are right to love you.

I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. Friends Eat, friends! Drink, yes, drink abundantly, beloved. Beloved

His mouth is sweetness; yes, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem.

I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up, nor awaken love, until it so desires. Friends

You who dwell in the gardens, with friends in attendance, let me hear your voice! Beloved

Everyone helps his neighbor. They say to their brothers, “Be strong!”

“But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham my friend,

Therefore Yahweh says, “Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people. The fathers and the sons together will stumble against them. The neighbor and his friend will perish.”

For even your brothers, and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you! Even they have cried aloud after you! Don’t believe them, though they speak beautiful words to you.

What will you say, when he sets over you as head those whom you have yourself taught to be friends to you? Won’t sorrows take hold of you, as of a woman in travail?

For Yahweh says, ‘Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends. They will fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes will see it. I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will carry them captive to Babylon, and will kill them with the sword.

For I have heard the defaming of many, “Terror on every side! Denounce, and we will denounce him!” say all my familiar friends, those who watch for my fall. “Perhaps he will be persuaded, and we will prevail against him, and we will take our revenge on him.”

So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took from there rags and worn-out garments, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah.

‘Behold, all the women who are left in the king of Judah’s house will be brought out to the king of Babylon’s princes, and those women will say, “Your familiar friends have turned on you, and have prevailed over you. Your feet are sunk in the mire, they have turned away from you.”

Now when all the people who were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces who were with him, then they were glad.

She weeps bitterly in the night. Her tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers she has no one to comfort her. All her friends have dealt treacherously with her. They have become her enemies.