50 Easter Bible Verses and Quotes (He Is Risen)

The best Bible verses on Easter are the ones that tell the actual Easter story, and here are 50 of them arranged in order -- from the promises made centuries early, through Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, the cross, and the sealed tomb, to the morning the stone rolled away. Read straight down the list and you will have walked the entire Easter arc in Scripture, with one line under each verse explaining what it means.

Verses are quoted in NIV-style wording. Read them from whatever translation your family uses. At the end you will find a short list of verses that work beautifully in Easter cards, and a set sized for kids to memorize.

Part 1: The Promises -- Prophecy Verses

Easter did not start in Jerusalem. It started with promises God made hundreds of years earlier, which is why these verses land so hard once kids know the ending.

1. Genesis 3:15 -- "He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." The very first promise of a rescuer. The serpent would wound Him, but He would win.

2. Psalm 22:1 -- "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Written a thousand years early, and quoted by Jesus from the cross itself.

3. Psalm 22:16 -- "They pierce my hands and my feet." A description of crucifixion written centuries before anyone used a cross that way.

4. Psalm 16:10 -- "You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay." The tomb was never going to be the last chapter.

5. Isaiah 53:3 -- "He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain." The Savior would not arrive as a celebrity. He would arrive as someone who understood hurting.

6. Isaiah 53:5 -- "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities... and by his wounds we are healed." The clearest sentence in the Old Testament about why the cross had to happen.

7. Isaiah 53:6 -- "We all, like sheep, have gone astray... and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." Everyone wandered. One person carried it all back.

Part 2: Palm Sunday -- The King Arrives

Jesus enters Jerusalem to cheers, knowing exactly what Friday holds. For the full scene, see the triumphal entry for kids.

8. Zechariah 9:9 -- "See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey." Prophesied about 500 years early, right down to the animal.

9. Matthew 21:9 -- "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna" means "save us now." The crowd was more right than it knew.

10. Luke 19:40 -- "I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." Some news is too big for silence.

11. John 12:24 -- "Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." Jesus explained His own death using a garden, which is a picture kids never forget.

Part 3: The Last Supper -- The Night Before

12. Luke 22:19 -- "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." Every communion service since traces back to this table.

13. Matthew 26:28 -- "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Jesus told them what Friday meant before Friday happened.

14. John 13:14 -- "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet." The most important person in the room took the dirtiest job.

15. John 13:34 -- "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." His last instruction was not a rule about behavior. It was a standard of love.

16. John 15:13 -- "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." He said it hours before He proved it.

Part 4: Gethsemane and the Trial -- The Hardest Night

17. Matthew 26:38 -- "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death." Jesus was not pretending to be brave. He tells us honestly how hard it was.

18. Luke 22:42 -- "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." The bravest prayer ever prayed, and a model for every hard prayer since.

19. Matthew 26:41 -- "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Said gently to friends who kept falling asleep on Him.

20. Luke 22:61-62 -- "The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter... And he went outside and wept bitterly." Peter failed badly, and Jesus still restored him later. Kids need to hear both halves.

Part 5: The Cross -- Good Friday

These include all seven of Jesus' recorded sayings from the cross. Our gentle retelling for children is at the cross for kids, and how to explain Easter to a child gives age-by-age wording if a young child asks hard questions partway through.

21. John 19:17-18 -- "Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull... There they crucified him." The plainest sentence in the Bible about the hardest moment in history.

22. Luke 23:34 -- "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." His first words on the cross were forgiveness for the people putting Him there.

23. Luke 23:43 -- "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise." Spoken to a criminal dying beside Him. Nobody is too far gone.

24. John 19:26-27 -- "Woman, here is your son... Here is your mother." In agony, He made sure His mother would be cared for.

25. Matthew 27:46 -- "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" ("My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?") He experienced being cut off so that we never have to be.

26. John 19:28 -- "I am thirsty." A reminder that Jesus was fully human, in a real body, in real pain.

27. John 19:30 -- "It is finished." Not "I am finished." The work was complete. Nothing is left for us to add.

28. Luke 23:46 -- "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." He gave His life. It was not taken from Him.

29. Matthew 27:51 -- "At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom." The curtain that kept people out of God's presence was torn from the top down, by God, not by us.

Part 6: The Burial -- The Silence of Saturday

30. John 19:41 -- "At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb." The story began in a garden in Genesis and turns around in a garden here.

31. Matthew 27:60 -- "He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away." To everyone watching, this looked like the end.

32. Matthew 27:66 -- "So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard." A sealed stone and armed guards make what happens next impossible to explain away.

Part 7: The Empty Tomb -- Easter Sunday Morning

The heart of Easter, told for children at the empty tomb for kids.

33. Matthew 28:2 -- "There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it." The stone was not moved to let Jesus out. It was moved to let witnesses in.

34. Matthew 28:5-6 -- "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said." The "He is risen" verse, and the four words that matter most: just as he said.

35. Mark 16:6 -- "Don't be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him." The angel invites them to check for themselves.

36. Luke 24:5-6 -- "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!" One of the great questions of the Bible, asked with something close to joy.

37. Luke 24:12 -- "Peter got up and ran to the tomb... he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves." Grave robbers do not fold the wrappings and leave them behind.

38. John 20:8 -- "Finally the other disciple... also went inside. He saw and believed." Belief began the moment someone actually looked.

39. John 20:16 -- "Jesus said to her, 'Mary.' She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, 'Rabboni!'" He rose from the dead and the first thing He did was say a friend's name.

40. John 20:18 -- "Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: 'I have seen the Lord!'" The first person to preach the resurrection was a woman who had come to a grave to grieve.

Part 8: He Appeared -- The Forty Days

41. Luke 24:32 -- "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road?" Two travelers walked miles with Jesus before realizing who He was.

42. John 20:29 -- "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Jesus is talking about us here, and He calls us blessed.

43. Acts 1:9 -- "He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight." The Easter story ends with Jesus going home, not disappearing.

44. Matthew 28:19-20 -- "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations... And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." His final instruction, and His final promise, in the same breath.

Part 9: What Easter Means for Us

45. John 11:25 -- "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die." Jesus said this before Easter, at a friend's grave, and then backed it up.

46. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 -- "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day." The entire Easter story in one sentence, worth memorizing for exactly that reason.

47. 1 Corinthians 15:20 -- "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." "Firstfruits" means first of many. He went ahead of us.

48. 1 Corinthians 15:55 -- "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" Paul is genuinely taunting death here, and he has earned the right.

49. Romans 6:4 -- "Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." Easter is not only about someday. It is about a different kind of life starting now.

50. 1 Peter 1:3 -- "He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." Hope that is alive, because the one it rests on is alive.

Easter Quotes from the Bible for Cards and Notes

These are the verses that fit on a card, a chalkboard, or a text message on Sunday morning. They are short, they stand on their own without context, and they carry the whole point.

• Matthew 28:6 -- "He is not here; he has risen, just as he said." (The classic. Short enough for a card front.)
• Luke 24:5 -- "Why do you look for the living among the dead?"
• John 11:25 -- "I am the resurrection and the life."
• 1 Corinthians 15:57 -- "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
• Revelation 1:18 -- "I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!"
• 1 Peter 1:3 -- "New birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead."
• Psalm 118:24 -- "The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad."
• Romans 5:8 -- "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 -- "If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"

For a sympathy card or a note to someone grieving at Easter, John 11:25 and 1 Corinthians 15:55 do the most work with the fewest words.

Which Easter Verses Should Kids Memorize?

Start with Matthew 28:6. It is eight words long, it is the center of the entire faith, and most kids have it down in three days. Here is a quick age guide:

Three things that make Easter verses stick: act them out (kids will invent a great motion for "rolled back the stone"), practice in the car on the way to church rather than at a desk, and always pair the verse with the story it comes from. That pairing is exactly how the lessons at Faithful Kids are built -- a short video of the story, then a quiz that quotes the verse. Our general tips for Bible verses for kids to memorize apply here too.

Reading these verses one per day through Lent or Holy Week works beautifully. Verses 8-11 fit Palm Sunday, 12-16 fit Thursday, 21-29 fit Good Friday, 30-32 fit Saturday, and 33-50 belong to Sunday morning. Our Holy Week day-by-day guide for kids maps that same rhythm onto the week with activities, and the Easter story in the Bible walks through the full narrative scene by scene if your kids want the story between the verses.

Bedtime is when most of these verses actually get read out loud in real houses. Our free Bedtime Bible Kit gives you seven nights of short readings, a question to talk about, and a goodnight prayer -- print it and attach the habit to a routine you already have.

Once the verses are familiar, test them with our Easter Bible trivia for kids, and if you want the stories behind each verse, Easter Bible stories for kids covers all ten scenes. To put the verses in kids' hands rather than just their ears, tuck them into the eggs and crafts in 15 resurrection activities for kids.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main Bible verse for Easter?

Matthew 28:6 -- "He is not here; he has risen, just as he said" -- is the central Easter verse, spoken by an angel at the empty tomb. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 is the close runner-up because it summarizes the entire event in one sentence: Christ died for our sins, was buried, and was raised on the third day. Both are short enough for a child to memorize.

Where is the Easter story in the Bible?

The Easter story appears in all four Gospels: Matthew 21-28, Mark 11-16, Luke 19-24, and John 12-21. Each writer includes details the others leave out, which is why reading two accounts side by side is so useful. The prophecies about it come centuries earlier in Psalm 22, Psalm 16:10, and Isaiah 53.

What are the seven last words of Jesus on the cross?

They are seven sayings recorded across the Gospels: "Father, forgive them" (Luke 23:34), "Today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43), "Woman, here is your son" (John 19:26-27), "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46), "I am thirsty" (John 19:28), "It is finished" (John 19:30), and "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46). Verses 22-28 above list them in order.

What is a good Easter Bible verse for a card?

Matthew 28:6 for the front, and 1 Peter 1:3 or 1 Corinthians 15:57 inside. For someone going through a hard season, John 11:25 carries more comfort than any greeting-card sentiment. Keep it to one verse per card and let it stand alone without extra commentary.

Which Old Testament verses predicted Easter?

Isaiah 53:5-6 describes a substitute pierced for others' wrongs, Psalm 22:1 and 22:16 describe crucifixion in detail, Psalm 16:10 promises the grave will not hold God's faithful one, and Zechariah 9:9 names the donkey of Palm Sunday. Genesis 3:15 is the earliest hint of all. Reading these before the Gospel accounts helps kids see that Easter was the plan, not a rescue improvised at the last minute.

How do I use these Easter verses with young children?

Read one verse a day through the two weeks before Easter, in the order listed, and say the single explanation line under it. That is a 45-second devotion. For ages 3-5, skip to the sections on Palm Sunday and the empty tomb and save the crucifixion verses for age 6 and up, always ending on Sunday's verses so the story closes with hope.