What the Bible Says About Friendship

If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;

Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;

Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:

But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty. is afflicted: Heb. melteth

My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook, and as the stream of brooks they pass away;

He hath put my brethren far from me, and mine acquaintance are verily estranged from me.

My kinsfolk have failed, and my familiar friends have forgotten me.

They that dwell in mine house, and my maids, count me for a stranger: I am an alien in their sight.

I called my servant, and he gave me no answer; I intreated him with my mouth.

My breath is strange to my wife, though I intreated for the children's sake of mine own body. mine: Heb. my belly

Yea, young children despised me; I arose, and they spake against me. young: or, the wicked

All my inward friends abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me. my: Heb. the men of my secret

My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth. and to: or, as to

Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.

Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom. humbled: or, afflicted

I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother. behaved myself: Heb. walked as though: Heb. as a friend, as a brother to me

For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him:

But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. mine equal: Heb. according to my rank

We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company. We: Heb. Who sweetened counsel

Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:

Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.

Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.

If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?

Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel. by: Heb. from the counsel of the soul

Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity: for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.

Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?

And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.