If your loved one held a Christian faith and it was their wish to have a religious funeral, or if you wish a service with a measure of Christian input, Bible readings can form an important part of the service.
Verses from the Bible can help acknowledge the loss of someone and bring comfort for those mourning the death of a friend or relative.
Here are just a few exerpts of the most popular Bible verses and readings for funerals:
Romans 8 : 35, 37- 39
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Isaiah 57 : 1-2
The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.
Psalm 23
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.
John 14 : 1-3
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?
Ecclesiastes 3 : 1-4
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die.
Job 19 : 23-27
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
1 Thessalonians 4 : 14-17
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.
2 Corinthians 1 : 3-4
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Philippians 1:21-23
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labour for me.
Revelation 21 : 1-7
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
Matthew 11 : 28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.