God’s Word says a lot in these Bible verses about children. Kids matter to Jesus – the Bible says it loud & clear. Get this list of short bible verses in a printable PDF or scroll down to see even more. Reference links to comparison translations.
See more Bible verses about children from Let the Little Children Come. Their page features scripture about children in 6 translations and each verse comes with 2 downloadable wallpapers. 1 for mobile, and 1 for desktop.
Luke 18:16 Jesus said Let the Little Children Come
But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Jesus speaking in Luke 18:16 NIV (poster)
Mark 9:37 Welcome Children in My Name Bible Verse
“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
Jesus speaking Mark 9:37 NIV
Luke 18:17 Receive the Kingdom like a child scripture
Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
Jesus speaking in Luke 18:17 NIV
Matthew 18:10 Angels watch over God’s kids Jesus quote
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
Jesus speaking in Matthew 18:10 NIV
Matthew 18:6 Those who cause a child to stumble Biblical reference
“If anyone causes one of these little ones–those who believe in me–to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
Jesus speaking in Matthew 18:6 NIV
Matthew 18:14
In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.
Jesus speaking in Matthew 18:14 NIV
Psalm 127:3 Children are a heritage from the Lord reference verse
Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him.
King Solomon in Psalm 127:3 NIV
Exodus 20:12 Honor your parents scripture quote
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
God in 10 Commandments, Exodus 20:12 NIV
Ephesians 6:1 children obey parents bible verse
Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord, for this is the right thing to do.
Paul in Ephesians 6:1 NIV
Proverbs 22:6 Train up the child biblical quote for parents
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6 ESV
Bible Verses about Children’s Ministry
The following scriptures are often quoted when talking about the importance of children’s ministry. Most are equally relevant to Christian parenting, but as believers we have this opportunity to see kids accept Christ.
Mark 16:15
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
Mark 16:15 NIV **This include children
Deuteronomy 6:7
And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Deuteronomy 6:7 NIV
2 Timothy 3:14-15
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
Paul writing in 2 Timothy 3:14-15 ESV
Psalm 78:4
We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.
Psalm 78:4 NIV
2 John 1:4 and 3 John 1:4
It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.
2 John 1:4 NIV
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
3 John 1:4 NIV
Deuteronomy 29:29
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
Moses in Deuteronomy 29:29 NIV
Jesus Said “Let Them Come”
God’s Word on Kids
God’s word has much more to say about the value of children, their responsibility to parents, and how they need training in wisdom. Don’t miss our suggested list of 52 verses for kids to memorize. and Bible verses about parenting. We’re including many of those references below to help you continue your study.
Children Are A Gift From God
Psalms 127:3-5 ESV — Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
Genesis 33:5 ESV — And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”
Psalm 113:9 ESV — He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the LORD!
Children Can Praise and Worship
Matthew 21:15-16 ESV — But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”
Psalms 8:2 ESV –Out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
Kids are Examples Faith
Matthew 18:2-6 ESV
And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
Matthew 18:10 ESV — “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.
1 Peter 2:2-3 ESV — Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation– if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Jesus Wants Kids to Be Saved
Matthew 18:12-14 ESV — What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
Jesus Blessed The Children
And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.
(Mark 10:13-16 ESV)
Now they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
(Luke 18:15-17 ESV)
Discipline and Child Training of Children
Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
(Proverbs 22:6 ESV)
Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
(Proverbs 22:15 ESV)
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
(Deuteronomy 6:7 ESV)
Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.
(Leviticus 19:3 ESV)
My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching.
(Proverbs 6:20 ESV)
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
(Ephesians 6:1-4 ESV)
Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.
(Proverbs 29:17 ESV)
Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
(Hebrews 12:9-11 ESV)
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
(Ephesians 6:4 ESV)
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
(Exodus 20:12 ESV)
Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.
(Proverbs 17:6 ESV)
“You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.
(Leviticus 19:32 ESV)
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
(1 Peter 5:5 ESV)
Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.
(Proverbs 29:17 ESV)
Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.
(Proverbs 1:8-9 ESV)
(Jesus) went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
(Luke 2:51-52 ESV)
More Bible Scriptures that Reference Children
Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.
(1 Corinthians 14:20 ESV)
“And I said to their children in the wilderness, Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules, nor defile yourselves with their idols.
(Ezekiel 20:18 ESV)
Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;
(Ecclesiastes 12:1 ESV)
My son, fear the LORD and the king, and do not join with those who do otherwise, for disaster from them will rise suddenly, and who knows the ruin that will come from them both?
(Proverbs 24:21-22 ESV)
When all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”
(Deuteronomy 31:11-13 ESV)
“And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you, and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you.
(Deuteronomy 30:1-3 ESV)
But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.
(1 Timothy 5:4 ESV)
May the LORD give you increase, you and your children!
(Psalms 115:14 ESV)
I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
(Galatians 4:1-5 ESV)
You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
(Exodus 20:5-6 ESV)
“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children–
(Deuteronomy 4:9 ESV)
You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
(Deuteronomy 11:19 ESV)
So the water has been healed to this day, according to the word that Elisha spoke. He went up from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys.
(2 Kings 2:22-24 Holy Bible ESV)
“But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ (Matthew 11:16-17 Holy Bible ESV)
“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.” (Isaiah 11:6 ESV)
I hope these children Bible verses were encouraging and inspiration. Perhaps you’ve already used some of these for Bible memory. These are some of the most famous Bible quotes. If you would like to suggest a popular bible verse, scripture quote or Bible story to add to this list, leave the reference in a comment below.