Funeral Scriptures for a Woman: Short and Full-Length Bible Readings

Someone needs a verse from you, and probably by tonight. It might be for the program, the obituary, the back of a memorial card, or the two minutes you have been given at the front of the church. You are grieving and you are being asked to edit.

This page collects funeral scriptures for a woman in the order you will most likely need them: short verses first, then full-length readings, then passages sorted by who she was to you. Everything here is quoted from the King James Version or the World English Bible, both in the public domain, so you can reprint any of it without asking permission.

Short Funeral Scriptures for a Woman

These are one or two verses each, sized for a program, a memorial card, an obituary line, a headstone, or the opening sentence of a eulogy. Every one of them can also stand alone as a spoken reading if you say the reference first and then pause.

• Psalm 23:1 (KJV): "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want." The line most of the room can finish without a worship aid.
• Proverbs 31:25 (KJV): "Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come." The most-used short verse written specifically about a woman.
• Proverbs 31:28 (KJV): "Her children arise up, and call her blessed." Four words of praise from the people who knew her best. Good for a mother or grandmother.
• Psalm 116:15 (KJV): "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." For a woman whose faith was the center of her life.
• Psalm 34:18 (KJV): "The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." Aimed at the mourners rather than the deceased.
• Psalm 46:1 (KJV): "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Steady rather than sentimental. Works on a program cover.
• Psalm 139:9-10 (KJV): "If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." For a woman who traveled, or who died far from home.
• Isaiah 40:31 (KJV): "They shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." For a long illness that finally ended.
• John 14:1 (KJV): "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." The gentlest opening line in the New Testament.
• John 11:25 (KJV): "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." The verse most often read at the graveside.
• Romans 8:38-39 (KJV): "Neither death, nor life ... shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." For a family whose grief is anger as much as sadness.
• 2 Timothy 4:7 (KJV): "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." For a woman who was tough, and who would have hated a soft verse.
• Revelation 21:4 (KJV): "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying." The most requested verse at any funeral, in any denomination.

If you need more options for one particular relationship, the collections of Bible verses chosen for mothers and verses chosen for grandmothers go deeper than the short list here.

Full-Length Readings for a Woman's Funeral

A spoken reading at a service usually runs one to three minutes. These passages fit that window, and each one comes with a note on the kind of woman and the kind of room it suits.

Proverbs 31:10-31

The classic. Read the whole passage or, more commonly, verses 25 to 31.

Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. (Proverbs 31:25-28, KJV)

Why it works: it honors ordinary, unglamorous, unrecorded work. Read it for a woman who held a household or a business together and never got thanked for it in public.

One caution. The full passage praises a wife and a mother in fairly traditional terms. If she was neither, or if she would have rolled her eyes at it, skip it. There is no obligation.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2, KJV)

Why it works: it does not try to make the death better. It places it. That is the right note for a woman who lived a long life and for a family that is tired more than shocked.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up ... Charity never faileth. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8, KJV)

Why it works: everyone knows it from weddings, and hearing it at a funeral reframes a marriage or a friendship as one continuous thing. Powerful for a wife, a sister, or a lifelong friend.

Romans 8:31-39

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (Romans 8:35, KJV)

Why it works: it argues. If the family is furious about the death, this passage meets that energy rather than asking them to calm down.

John 14:1-6

In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2, KJV)

Why it works: the image is a house with room kept in it. For a woman who fed people and made room for them, that is her own life read back to her.

Isaiah 40:28-31

Best for a death after a long decline. The passage is about exhaustion and what comes after it, which is what the family in the front row is living in.

Revelation 21:1-7

The reading that promises the end of grief rather than comfort inside it. It closes a service well, and it works at a graveside where people are cold and want something final.

Ruth 1:16-17

Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. (Ruth 1:16, KJV)

Why it works: it is about a woman choosing to stay with another woman when leaving would have been reasonable. Read it for a mother-in-law, a stepmother, or the friend who never left.

More options, including non-biblical pieces, are gathered in our full collection of funeral poems and readings.

Scripture for a Woman's Funeral, Sorted by Relationship

Here's the thing about a general list: the verse that guts you is usually the one that names your actual relationship to her. Start here instead.

For a Mother

Proverbs 31:28 ("Her children arise up, and call her blessed") and Psalm 103:13 ("Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him") both fit. If you want the reading to carry the whole service rather than sit on a card, our page on longer funeral readings for a mother has the passages families choose most.

For a Grandmother

2 Timothy 1:5 is the one most people have never heard and never forget.

When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice. (2 Timothy 1:5, KJV)

It names a grandmother as the source of a family's faith, by name, in scripture. Psalm 92:14 ("They shall still bring forth fruit in old age") and Proverbs 17:6 ("Children's children are the crown of old men") are the other two that suit a long life.

For a Wife

Proverbs 31:10 ("Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies") is the traditional choice. Song of Solomon 8:6-7 is the one that sounds like grief rather than a tribute.

Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death ... Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it. (Song of Solomon 8:6-7, KJV)

Our list of Bible verses for a wife has more, including shorter options for a program.

For a Sister

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 is the passage that fits a sibling.

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. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, KJV)

Read it for the sister who was your first phone call for forty years. Proverbs 17:17 also works and is shorter.

For a Friend

John 15:13 ("Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends") is the standard choice. Proverbs 17:17 ("A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity") is the quieter one, and it fits a friendship that was mostly steady rather than dramatic.

How to Choose Between Them

Three questions settle it faster than reading the whole list again.

1. Which Bible did she read? Open it. Look for underlining, a bookmark left in place, an index card in the front cover, a verse written inside a birthday card she sent you. If you find one, stop looking. That is the reading.
2. Who is in the room? A congregation that attends weekly can handle Lamentations. A mixed room of coworkers and neighbors does better with Psalm 23 or Revelation 21:4.
3. What do you need it to do? Some passages praise her. Some comfort the mourners. Some state what Christians believe about death. A service usually needs one of each, not three of the same kind.

If the officiant is a priest or pastor, run your choice past them before printing anything. They have heard these passages read aloud hundreds of times and they know which ones land in that particular room.

Reading Scripture Aloud Without Falling Apart

You might be wondering whether you can even get through it. A few things that help:

• Print the passage in 16-point type, double-spaced, on one page. Do not read from a phone.
• Read it out loud twice at home, once standing up. The second time is always steadier.
• Mark your breath points with a slash. Most people rush the middle and run out of air.
• Say the reference first ("A reading from the book of Proverbs"), then wait two seconds before starting.
• If you break, stop and breathe. The room will wait. Nobody has ever left a funeral thinking a reader took too long to recover.
• Ask a backup to sit in the front row with the same printout, and tell them what the signal is if you need them.

One more thing worth saying out loud to whoever is planning: you can choose the verse and still ask someone else to read it. Those are two different jobs, and taking the first one is not a failure to take the second.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best short Bible verse for a woman's funeral?

Proverbs 31:25 is the most chosen short verse for a woman, and Psalm 23:1 is the most chosen for any funeral. Pick Proverbs 31:25 if you want the verse to be about her, and Psalm 23:1 if you want a line the whole room can say along with you.

Which Bible translation should I use for a funeral reading?

Use the one she read. If her Bible was a King James, read the King James, even though the language is older. If she had no preference, the NIV and NRSV are easiest for a congregation that does not attend church often.

How long should a funeral scripture reading be?

One to three minutes, which is roughly six to fifteen verses. Long passages are routinely shortened at funerals. Proverbs 31:10-31 is often trimmed to verses 25 through 31, and nobody will notice the cut.

Can a woman's funeral reading come from the Old Testament only?

Yes at most Protestant services, where the family chooses freely. Catholic funeral Masses use a set order with an Old Testament reading, a psalm, a New Testament reading, and a Gospel, so you would be choosing within that structure rather than instead of it.

Is it acceptable to read scripture at a non-religious funeral?

Yes, if it meant something to her or to you. Say a sentence about why you chose it before you read, which gives the passage a reason for being there and keeps it from feeling imposed on the room.