Repentance is a fundamental concept in the Christian faith, representing a sincere turning away from sin and turning towards God. It involves a change of mind and heart, leading to a transformation in behavior and a renewed relationship with God. The Bible provides numerous examples of repentance, illustrating its importance and impact on the lives of believers.

David's Repentance (Psalm 51)

One of the most poignant examples of repentance in the Bible is King David's response to his sin with Bathsheba. After being confronted by the prophet Nathan, David acknowledges his sin and seeks God's mercy. In Psalm 51, David cries out, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions" (Psalm 51:1). David's heartfelt plea for forgiveness and his desire for a clean heart exemplify true repentance.

The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)

Jesus' parable of the Prodigal Son provides a vivid illustration of repentance. The younger son squanders his inheritance in reckless living but eventually comes to his senses and decides to return to his father, saying, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son" (Luke 15:21). The father's joyful reception of his repentant son highlights God's readiness to forgive and restore those who turn back to Him.

Nineveh's Repentance (Jonah 3)

The city of Nineveh offers a collective example of repentance. When Jonah finally delivers God's warning of impending judgment, the people of Nineveh believe God, proclaim a fast, and put on sackcloth. The king of Nineveh decrees, "Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence" (Jonah 3:8). Their genuine repentance leads God to relent from the disaster He had planned, demonstrating His mercy in response to sincere repentance.

Peter's Repentance (Luke 22:54-62)

Peter's denial of Jesus is a moment of deep failure, yet it is followed by profound repentance. After denying Jesus three times, Peter remembers Jesus' words and weeps bitterly (Luke 22:61-62). His sorrow and subsequent restoration by Jesus (John 21:15-19) illustrate the process of repentance and the grace available to those who turn back to Christ.

Zacchaeus' Repentance (Luke 19:1-10)

Zacchaeus, a tax collector, exemplifies repentance through his actions. Upon encountering Jesus, Zacchaeus declares, "Look, Lord, half of my possessions I give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will repay it fourfold" (Luke 19:8). His willingness to make restitution and change his ways reflects a genuine transformation of heart, prompted by his encounter with Jesus.

Paul's Repentance (Acts 9:1-19)

The Apostle Paul's conversion is a dramatic example of repentance. Once a persecutor of Christians, Paul encounters the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. Blinded and humbled, he is led into the city where he fasts and prays. Ananias, sent by God, restores his sight, and Paul is baptized (Acts 9:17-18). Paul's subsequent life and ministry demonstrate the power of repentance to redirect a life towards God's purposes.

These examples from Scripture highlight the transformative power of repentance, emphasizing its role in restoring individuals to a right relationship with God. Through repentance, believers experience God's forgiveness, mercy, and grace, leading to a renewed life in Christ.Numbers 21:7
Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against you; pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
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2 Samuel 24:10,17
And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said to the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech you, O LORD, take away the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly.
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1 Chronicles 21:17
And David said to God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let your hand, I pray you, O LORD my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on your people, that they should be plagued.
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2 Chronicles 29:6
For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the LORD our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the LORD, and turned their backs.
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Ezra 9:4,6,10,13,14
Then were assembled to me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonished until the evening sacrifice.
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Nehemiah 1:6,7
Let your ear now be attentive, and your eyes open, that you may hear the prayer of your servant, which I pray before you now, day and night, for the children of Israel your servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against you: both I and my father's house have sinned.
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Nehemiah 9:16-37
But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and listened not to your commandments,
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Job 7:20
I have sinned; what shall I do to you, O you preserver of men? why have you set me as a mark against you, so that I am a burden to myself?
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Job 9:20
If I justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.
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Job 13:23
How many are my iniquities and sins? make me to know my transgression and my sin.
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Job 40:4
Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer you? I will lay my hand on my mouth.
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Job 42:5
I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear: but now my eye sees you.
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Psalm 32:5
I acknowledge my sin to you, and my iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the LORD; and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah.
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Psalm 38:3,4,18
There is no soundness in my flesh because of your anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.
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Psalm 40:12
For innumerable evils have compassed me about: my iniquities have taken hold on me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of my head: therefore my heart fails me.
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Psalm 41:4
I said, LORD, be merciful to me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against you.
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Psalm 51:1-4,7-17
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving kindness: according to the multitude of your tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
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Psalm 69:5,10
O God, you know my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from you.
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Psalm 73:21,22
Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.
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Psalm 106:6
We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.
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Psalm 119:59,176
I thought on my ways, and turned my feet to your testimonies.
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Psalm 130:1-3
Out of the depths have I cried to you, O LORD.
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Isaiah 6:5
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the middle of a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
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Isaiah 38:15,17
What shall I say? he has both spoken to me, and himself has done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
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Isaiah 59:12-15
For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them;
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Isaiah 64:5-7
You meet him that rejoices and works righteousness, those that remember you in your ways: behold, you are wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
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Jeremiah 3:21,22,25
A voice was heard on the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.
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Jeremiah 8:14
Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defended cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God has put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.
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Jeremiah 14:7,20
O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do you it for your name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against you.
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Jeremiah 31:18,19
I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn you me, and I shall be turned; for you are the LORD my God.
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Lamentations 3:40,41
Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.
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Daniel 9:5-7
We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from your precepts and from your judgments:
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Daniel 10:12
Then said he to me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that you did set your heart to understand, and to chasten yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I am come for your words.
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Hosea 6:1
Come, and let us return to the LORD: for he has torn, and he will heal us; he has smitten, and he will bind us up.
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Hosea 14:3,8
Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride on horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, You are our gods: for in you the fatherless finds mercy.
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Jonah 3:10
And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do to them; and he did it not.
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Micah 7:9
I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
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Luke 15:17-20
And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
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1 Corinthians 15:9
For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
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2 Corinthians 7:9-11
Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that you sorrowed to repentance: for you were made sorry after a godly manner, that you might receive damage by us in nothing.
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1 Peter 2:25
For you were as sheep going astray; but are now returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
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Heavenly Contemplation Exemplified, and the Whole Work Concluded.
... CHAPTER XVI. HEAVENLY CONTEMPLATION EXEMPLIFIED, AND THE WHOLE WORK CONCLUDED. ...
Are your tears of repentance now bitter or sweet? ...
/.../the saints everlasting rest/chapter xvi heavenly contemplation exemplified.htm

Of the Jurisdiction of the Church, and the Abuses of It, as ...
... THE JURISDICTION OF THE CHURCH, AND THE ABUSES OF IT, AS EXEMPLIFIED IN THE ... consequence
will be, that the offender wil1 give no signs of repentance, but will ...
/.../the institutes of the christian religion/chapter 11 of the jurisdiction.htm

Repentance
... Ask Him to give you repentance, to reveal Christ to you in His infinite ... life the
principles of God's law"love to God and man"were perfectly exemplified. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/white/steps to christ/chapter 3 repentance.htm

Threefold Repentance
... of Jonah is to teach the possibility and efficacy of repentance, and to ... evangelic
teaching of the blessedness of true penitence, whether exemplified in the ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture a/threefold repentance.htm

Whether after the Resurrection Every one Will Know what Sins He ...
... the New and Old Testaments in whom God's commandments are exemplified." Hence Richard ...
manner those demerits which are not blotted out by repentance remain in ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether after the resurrection every.htm

A More Particular Account of the Way by which this Salvation is to ...
... An inquiry into the way of salvation by Christ being supposed."2. The sinner is
in general directed to repentance and faith ... Which is exemplified at large."11 ...
/.../the rise and progress of religion in the soul/chapter ix a more particular.htm

The Prophecy of Obadiah.
... He did not receive the mission to call to repentance, or to represent the ... in future,
Israel's [Pg 402] relation to it would assume, has been exemplified by him ...
/.../hengstenberg/christology of the old testament/the prophecy of obadiah.htm

Homilies on Galatians and Ephesians.
... Government, in its origin paternal, [302]82; must be centered in one, [303]146;
exemplified in a household ... Judgments, temporal, a call to repentance, [369]79. ...
/.../homilies on galatians and ephesians.htm

The Christian Honoring God by his Dying Behavior.
... And to commit the departing spirit to God, in the genuine exercises of gratitude
and repentance, faith and charity, which are exemplified in the concluding ...
/.../chapter xxx the christian honoring.htm

Thirdly, the Peculiar Manner and Circumstances with which the ...
... the meanest capacities with great weight and authority, and exemplified in the ... The
giving them gracious assurances that true repentance shall be accepted for ...
/.../xii proposition xii thirdly the.htm

What is repentance and is it necessary for salvation? | GotQuestions.org

What does the Bible say about repentance? What does it mean to repent? | GotQuestions.org

Is repentance a change of mind or a turning from sin? | GotQuestions.org

Repentance: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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