Confession in the Bible: the key verses

Confession of sins runs through the whole Bible. In the Old Testament, the Law told people to confess their sins out loud and bring an offering to the priest (Leviticus 5:5–6). In the New Testament, crowds confessed their sins as John the Baptist baptized them, and the risen Jesus gave his apostles the power to forgive sins in his name (John 20:21–23). Here are the key passages, in order, with how the Catholic Church reads them.

Does the Old Testament talk about confessing sins?

Yes, often, and usually out loud, many times with a priest or a prophet involved.

• Leviticus 5:5–6. Someone who realizes they've sinned "shall confess the sin he has committed," then bring an offering, and the priest makes atonement for them. Confession, a priest, and a concrete act afterward.
• Numbers 5:6–7. A man or woman who wrongs another "shall confess his sin" and make full restitution, adding a fifth to it. Saying it isn't the end: you also repair what you can.
• Leviticus 16:21. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest lays his hands on the goat and confesses over it all the sins of the people.
• 2 Samuel 12:13. After the prophet Nathan confronts King David over Bathsheba and Uriah, David says, "I have sinned against the LORD." Nathan answers that the Lord has put away his sin. A man of God hears the confession and speaks God's forgiveness.

The Psalms of confession

Psalm 32 describes what hiding a sin feels like. While the psalmist kept silent, his body wasted away. Then: "I acknowledged my sin to thee, and I did not hide my iniquity," and God forgave the guilt of his sin (Psalm 32:5). Anyone who has put off Confession for a long time knows both halves of that psalm.

Psalm 51 is the prayer tradition gives to David after Nathan's visit. It begins, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy steadfast love," and asks God to create a clean heart. It's one of the best prayers to pray before you go to Confession yourself.

Confession in the Gospels

John the Baptist (Matthew 3:6). People came from Jerusalem and all Judea, and were baptized by John in the Jordan, "confessing their sins." Mark tells it the same way (Mark 1:5). Before Jesus began preaching, people were already naming their sins aloud as a sign of turning back to God.

The paralyzed man (Matthew 9:2–8). Jesus tells him his sins are forgiven, then heals him to show that "the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins." The crowd glorified God, "who had given such authority to men."

The keys (Matthew 16:19 and 18:18). Jesus gives Peter the keys of the kingdom and tells him that whatever he binds on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever he looses will be loosed. Later he says the same to the disciples. The Church reads binding and loosing as including the power to reconcile sinners: whoever the Church welcomes back, God welcomes back (CCC 1445).

Easter evening (John 20:21–23). This is the central text. The risen Jesus says to the apostles, "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." He breathes on them: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." He hands on his own power to forgive. And since they can't forgive or retain what they haven't heard, sins have to be told. That's the root of the sacrament of Confession.

The prodigal son (Luke 15:21). The father runs to his son before he can say anything. But the son still says it: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you." The words don't earn the welcome. They let him receive it.

Confession in Acts and the letters

• Acts 19:18. In Ephesus, many who had become believers came "confessing and divulging their practices." They named what they had done, openly, after they were already Christians.
• 2 Corinthians 5:18–20. God "gave us the ministry of reconciliation." Paul calls the apostles "ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us": be reconciled to God.
• James 5:16. "Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed." It comes right after the instruction to call the elders (presbyters) of the Church to pray over the sick (James 5:14–15).
• 1 John 1:9. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Outside the Bible, one of the earliest Christian writings, the Didache, tells believers to confess their sins in church before they pray (Didache 4:14). Confessing sins was part of Christian life from the earliest days.

Doesn't "confess to one another" mean any Christian?

Telling a trusted friend about a sin can be a real help, and nothing in the Church discourages it. But James 5:16 isn't the whole picture. In John 20, Jesus gave the power to forgive and retain sins to the apostles, not to every believer, and the Church has always understood that ministry as passed on to bishops and priests (CCC 1461). James's own setting points the same way: he has just told the sick to call the elders of the Church.

So Catholics read these verses together. Confess to one another, yes. And for the forgiveness Christ entrusted to his apostles, go to the ones he sent. We explain the reasons more fully in why confess to a priest.

Doesn't 1 John 1:9 say to confess straight to God?

It says God forgives when we confess. It doesn't say how, or to whom. Catholics take it at its word. You should tell God you're sorry every day, and everyday sins are forgiven in many ways. For serious sins, Jesus gave a particular way: the apostles he sent in John 20. In Confession you're still confessing to God. The priest is the one Christ sends to say the words of forgiveness out loud. If you're unsure which sins need the sacrament, see mortal vs venial sin.

Using these verses before your own Confession

1. Pray Psalm 51 in the pew. Slowly, a line at a time. It fits this moment exactly.
2. Read Luke 15 if you've been away a long time. Notice who runs first. Then read going back to Confession after years.
3. Examine your conscience. Psalm 32 is honest about hiding. A quiet examination of conscience is the opposite of hiding.
4. Hold on to 1 John 1:9 afterward. He is faithful. When the priest says the words of absolution, believe them.

You don't need to know all these verses to make a good Confession. You only need to come, say what you've done, and let God do what he has promised.