Bible verses about "cowardice" | ISV

⁵ The men of Ai killed about 36 of them, pursuing them outside the city gates as far as Shebarim, killing them as they descended. As a result, the army became terrified and lost their confidence.

⁵⁴ Peter Denies Jesus
Then they arrested him, led him away, and brought him to the high priest’s house. But Peter was following at a distance. ⁵⁵ When they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had taken their seats, Peter, too, sat down among them. ⁵⁶ A servant girl saw him sitting by the fire, stared at him, and said, “This man was with him, too.”
⁵⁷ But he denied it, “I don’t know him, woman!” he responded.
⁵⁸ A little later, a man looked at him and said, “You are one of them, too.”
But Peter said, “Mister, I am not!”
⁵⁹ About an hour later, another man emphatically asserted, “This man was certainly with him, because he is a Galilean!”
⁶⁰ But Peter said, “Mister, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just then, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed.

¹¹ “How blessed are you whenever people insult you, persecute you, and say all sorts of evil things against you falsely because of me! ¹² Rejoice and be extremely glad, because your reward in heaven is great! That’s how they persecuted the prophets who came before you.”

⁶⁶ Peter Denies Jesus
While Peter was down in the courtyard, one of the high priest’s servant girls came by. ⁶⁷ When she saw Peter warming himself, she glared at him and said, “You, too, were with Jesus from Nazareth.”
⁶⁸ But he denied it, saying, “I don’t know—or even understand—what you’re talking about!” Then he went out into the entryway. Just then a rooster crowed.
⁶⁹ The servant girl saw him and again told those who were standing around, “This man is one of them!” ⁷⁰ Again he denied it.
After a little while, the people who were standing there began to say to Peter again, “Obviously you’re one of them, because you are a Galilean!”
⁷¹ Then he began to invoke a divine curse and to swear with an oath, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about!” ⁷² Just then a rooster crowed a second time.
Peter remembered that Jesus told him, “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” Then he broke down and cried.

¹¹ Paul Confronts Cephas in AntiochBut when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly wrong. ¹² Until some men arrived from James, he was in the habit of eating with the gentiles, but after those men came, he withdrew from the gentiles and would not associate with them any longer, because he was afraid of the circumcision party. ¹³ The other Jews also joined him in this hypocritical behavior, to the extent that even Barnabas was caught up in their hypocrisy. ¹⁴ But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, “Though you are a Jew, you have been living like a gentile and not like a Jew. So how can you insist that the gentiles must live like Jews?”

²⁵ Fearing any human being is a trap, but confiding in the LORD keeps anyone safe.

¹ Contrasting Good and Evil The wicked flee, though no one pursues, but the righteous are bold like a lion.

⁷ For God did not give us a spirit of timidity but one of power, love, and self-discipline.

⁸ But people who are cowardly, unfaithful, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will find themselves in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”