Zeal

Zeal is wholehearted eagerness for God and for doing good, and lukewarmness is its absence. This page lists verses on fervent service, zeal for the Lord and his house, eagerness for what is good, the zeal of the Lord, lukewarmness, and zeal without knowledge.

Fervent in spirit

• Romans 12:11
  Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
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• Ecclesiastes 9:10
  Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
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• Colossians 3:23
  And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men,
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• Revelation 3:19
  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.
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Zeal for the Lord and his house

• Psalm 69:9
  For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.because zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult You have fallen on me.
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• John 2:17
  And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for Your house will consume Me.”
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• Psalm 119:139
  My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.My zeal has consumed me because my foes forget Your words.
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• Numbers 25:11
  Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.“Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned My wrath away from the Israelites; for he was zealous for My sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in My zeal.
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• 1 Kings 19:10
  And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.”
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Zealous for what is good

• Titus 2:14
  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.
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• Galatians 4:18
  But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.Nevertheless, it is good to be zealous if it serves a noble purpose—at any time, and not only when I am with you.
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• 2 Corinthians 9:2
  For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many.For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting to the Macedonians that since last year you in Achaia were prepared to give. And your zeal has stirred most of them to do likewise.
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• 2 Corinthians 7:11
  For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.Consider what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what vindication! In every way you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.
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• 1 Corinthians 14:12
  Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.It is the same with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, strive to excel in gifts that build up the church.
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The zeal of the Lord

• Isaiah 9:7
  Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
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• Isaiah 59:17
  For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on His head; He put on garments of vengeance and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal.
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• 2 Kings 19:31
  For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.For a remnant will go forth from Jerusalem, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
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• Isaiah 63:15
  Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained?Look down from heaven and see, from Your holy and glorious habitation. Where are Your zeal and might? Your yearning and compassion for me are restrained.
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Lukewarm and cold

• Revelation 3:15-16
  ¹⁵I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other! ¹⁶So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to vomit you out of My mouth!
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• Revelation 2:4-5
  ⁴Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love. ⁵Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
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• Matthew 24:12
  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.
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• Amos 6:1
  Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came!Woe to those at ease in Zion and those secure on Mount Samaria, the distinguished ones of the foremost nation, to whom the house of Israel comes.
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Zeal without knowledge

• Romans 10:2-3
  ²For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.For I testify about them that they are zealous for God, but not on the basis of knowledge. ³For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
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• Galatians 1:13-14
  ¹³For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. ¹⁴And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
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• Philippians 3:6
  Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.as to zeal, persecuting the church; as to righteousness in the law, faultless.
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• John 16:2
  They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.
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See also

• Revival
• Service
• Seeking God
• Worship

Notes

1. Verses are quoted in the translation chosen in the Translation menu at the top of the page. See Translations for sources and copyright notices.
2. Each reference links to the full chapter so the verse can be read in context.