English 
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Japanese In the Bible, mercy is God’s compassion toward people who have no claim on it, and he asks his people to show the same compassion to others.
Jesus twice quoted Hosea 6:6, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” to Pharisees who objected to his eating with tax collectors and to his disciples picking grain on the Sabbath (Matthew 9:13; 12:7). The first time he told them to “go and learn what this means.” The twenty-one verses below cover what mercy is, where it comes from, what God wants instead of sacrifice, mercy asked for, mercy required, and the people it reaches.
What mercy is said to be
Ephesians 2:4-5
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”
Reflection: Paul describes people who were “dead in transgressions” and says God made them alive with Christ. The reason he gives is God’s love and mercy, not any change in them first.
Titus 3:5
“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”
Reflection: Paul rules out righteous deeds as the reason for salvation before giving the real one: God’s mercy.
1 Peter 1:3
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
Reflection: New birth is something no one arranges for themselves. Peter attributes it to God’s great mercy and ties it to the resurrection of Jesus.
Where the supply comes from
Lamentations 3:22-23
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Reflection: Lamentations mourns the destruction of Jerusalem. The writer does not deny the disaster; he says God’s compassion kept the people from being wiped out, and that it is renewed every morning.
Psalm 103:17
“But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children.”
Reflection: Two verses earlier the psalm compares human life to grass that the wind blows away (103:15-16). God’s love lasts “from everlasting to everlasting.”
Psalm 145:9
“The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.”
Reflection: The psalm says God’s compassion extends to “all he has made,” not only to his people.
Psalm 136:1
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.”
Reflection: The refrain “His love endures forever” ends every one of the psalm’s twenty-six verses. The Hebrew word is chesed, which the King James Version translates “mercy.”
What God says he wants instead of religion
Hosea 6:6
“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.”
Reflection: Hosea spoke to Israel and Judah, whose love for God was “like the morning mist” (6:4). Jesus quoted this verse twice (Matthew 9:13; 12:7). For prayers of confession, there are prayers for repentance.
Micah 6:8
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Reflection: Micah has just asked whether God wants burnt offerings, thousands of rams or even a firstborn child (6:6-7). The answer is justice, a love of mercy, and a humble walk with God.
Zechariah 7:9
“This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.’”
Reflection: The instruction answers a question about fasting (7:3). Justice and mercy are asked of the same people in the same breath.
Mercy asked for
Psalm 51:1
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.”
Reflection: The psalm’s heading places it after the prophet Nathan confronted David over his adultery with Bathsheba. David appeals to God’s unfailing love and compassion, not to his own record.
Luke 18:13-14
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God.”
Reflection: Tax collectors worked for the Roman authorities and were widely despised. Jesus says this man, and not the Pharisee who listed his fasting and tithing (18:11-12), went home justified.
Hebrews 4:16
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Reflection: The previous verse describes a high priest who “has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin” (4:15). That is the ground for approaching God with confidence.
Mercy required
Matthew 5:7
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
Reflection: The promise uses the same word as the quality: the merciful will be shown mercy.
Luke 6:36
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Reflection: In Matthew’s version of the sermon the parallel line is “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Luke’s wording puts mercy in that place.
James 2:13
“Because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
Reflection: James has been writing about favoritism toward a rich visitor at a church meeting (2:1-4). Judgment without mercy is the warning, and “mercy triumphs over judgment” is the hope.
Colossians 3:12
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
Reflection: “Clothe yourselves” describes a deliberate act, and compassion heads the list of qualities believers are to put on.
Ephesians 4:32
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Reflection: The measure of forgiveness is the forgiveness believers have already received in Christ.
The cases it is said to reach
1 Timothy 1:13-16
“Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly.”
Reflection: Paul lists what he had been: a blasphemer, a persecutor and a violent man. He says he was shown mercy so that Christ could display his patience in him “as an example for those who would believe in him” (1:16).
Romans 11:30-32
“Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy.”
Reflection: Paul ends his long argument about Israel and the Gentiles with this: “God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all” (11:32).
Jude 1:21-23
“Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire.”
Reflection: Jude’s short letter warns against false teachers, and in the middle of it he asks for mercy toward those who doubt.
What to do with this
If you are looking for mercy, the tax collector’s prayer is short: “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Jesus said the man who prayed it went home justified.
If you are looking for verses about showing mercy, Hosea 6:6 is the one Jesus sent his critics to learn. Micah asks not only for acts of mercy but for a love of it.
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