English 
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Japanese The Bible neither commands nor forbids birthday celebrations, but it has a great deal to say about the days of a life as God’s gift.
Two birthday feasts are named outright, Pharaoh’s (Genesis 40:20) and Herod’s (Mark 6:21), and a man dies at each; the NIV also reads Job 1:4 as feasts Job’s children held on their birthdays. None of these stories is a rule about the day. The eighteen verses below are sorted by who the card or blessing is for: the day itself, a child, a friend, someone having a hard year, someone starting again, and a long life.
For the day itself
Psalm 118:24
“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
Reflection: “The day” in the psalm is a particular one: the day the stone the builders rejected became the cornerstone (118:22-23). The rejoicing responds to a reversal God has brought about.
Numbers 6:24-26
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”
Reflection: This blessing is the oldest known copy of any biblical text. It was inscribed on two small silver scrolls, probably worn as amulets, found in a burial cave outside Jerusalem at Ketef Hinnom and dated to around 600 BC.
James 1:17
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
Reflection: “Father of lights” names God as the maker of the sun, moon and stars. Unlike them, James says, he does not shift or cast changing shadows.
For a child, or someone still deciding things
Psalm 139:13-14
“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Reflection: The Hebrew verb behind “knitted” means to weave together. Two verses later the psalm says this happened “in secret” (139:15), before anyone saw.
Ecclesiastes 11:5
“As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.”
Reflection: The Hebrew word ruach means both wind and spirit, which is why translations of this verse differ. Either way, the Preacher sets the forming of a child among the things no one fully understands.
Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Reflection: The Hebrew verb behind “lean” means to rest your weight on something. The verse belongs among the Bible’s teaching on trusting God.
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Reflection: The verse was written to exiles in Babylon who had just been told that the return would come after seventy years (29:10). The hope is real, and its timing is God’s.
For a friend
Proverbs 17:17
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”
Reflection: A friend’s love holds “at all times,” and a brother is “born for adversity.” The proverb describes friendship by what it does in hard times.
1 John 4:7
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”
Reflection: John connects love with birth: whoever loves “has been born of God.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful.”
Reflection: Each item on the list describes conduct: patience, kindness, not boasting, not insisting on one’s own way.
For someone having a hard year
Lamentations 3:22-23
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Reflection: These lines come from a poem written after the destruction of Jerusalem, and the chapter around them is full of grief. That setting is what makes them fit a hard year.
Isaiah 41:10
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Reflection: After the two commands, fear not and be not dismayed, every verb belongs to God: strengthen, help, uphold.
Philippians 4:6-7
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Reflection: Paul tells the reader where to take anxiety and what to bring with it: prayer, with thanksgiving. For more on gratitude, see Bible verses about thankfulness.
2 Timothy 1:7
“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”
Reflection: “Gave” is past tense: Paul reminds Timothy of something already given. The next verse tells him not to be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord (1:8).
For someone starting again
2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Reflection: Paul writes this in a letter that also lists his beatings, shipwrecks and sleepless nights (11:23-27). The new creation is stated as a fact, not a feeling.
Isaiah 40:31
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Reflection: The Hebrew verb for “renew” means to exchange: those who hope in the Lord exchange their strength for new strength. The promise was given to exiles who said their way was hidden from God (40:27).
For a long life, and what is actually promised
Proverbs 9:11
“For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.”
Reflection: Wisdom is the speaker here (9:1-6). The proverb observes that a wise life tends to be a longer one; it is not a guarantee.
Psalm 16:11
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
Reflection: The joy is found in God’s presence. Peter quotes this psalm at Pentecost as a prophecy of the resurrection (Acts 2:25-28).
Writing the card
One verse worth adding to a birthday card rarely appears in these lists: “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). The psalm is attributed to Moses, and it asks for each year to be counted and used well.
As for the two feasts named in Scripture, neither is a lesson about celebrating. In both a ruler holds a banquet and a man is put to death, the baker by Pharaoh and John the Baptist by Herod, after Herod made an oath in front of his guests.
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