If you're reading this in the dark, keep it short. These are the verses people have read at night for a very long time. Most are one or two sentences. Several are about the exact thing you're doing: lying awake, thinking.
Ongoing insomnia is worth mentioning to a doctor. These verses are for the night in front of you, not a treatment plan.
For when you can't sleep
Psalm 4:8
In peace I will both lay myself down and sleep, for you, Yahweh alone, make me live in safety.
World English Bible (WEB)
A bedtime psalm. David says he'll both lie down and sleep, and the reason is that God alone makes him live in safety. Earlier in the psalm, people are lying about him and he's under pressure. He isn't sleeping because everything's resolved. He's sleeping because he's not the one on watch.
Psalm 4:8
In peace I will both lay myself down and sleep, for you, Yahweh alone, make me live in safety.
World English Bible (WEB) · Psalm (poetry)
A bedtime psalm. David says he'll both lie down and sleep, and the reason is that God alone makes him live in safety. Earlier in the psalm, people are lying about him and he's under pressure. He isn't sleeping because everything's resolved. He's sleeping because he's not the one on watch.
Psalm 127:2
It is vain for you to rise up early, to stay up late, eating the bread of toil, for he gives sleep to his loved ones.
World English Bible (WEB) · Psalm (poetry)
'It is vain to rise up early, to stay up late,' eating 'the bread of toil,' and then: he gives sleep to those he loves. It's one of the only verses where sleep itself is called a gift. If you're awake because you're trying to solve something, this verse says the solving isn't all on you.
Proverbs 3:23-24
Then you shall walk in your way securely. Your foot won’t stumble. When you lie down, you will not be afraid. Yes, you will lie down, and your sleep will be sweet.
World English Bible (WEB) · Wisdom literature
'When you lie down, you will not be afraid. Yes, you will lie down, and your sleep will be sweet.' In Proverbs this is the result of keeping wisdom close. Sweet sleep is treated as a normal consequence of a settled mind, which tells you where the writers thought insomnia comes from.
Psalm 63:6
when I remember you on my bed, and think about you in the night watches.
World English Bible (WEB) · Psalm (poetry)
'When I remember you on my bed, and think about you in the night watches.' David was awake at night too. The difference is what he did with the wakefulness: he used it to remember. If you can't sleep anyway, this verse suggests what to think about instead of the thing keeping you up.
Matthew 11:28-29
Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls.
World English Bible (WEB) · Gospel (Jesus’ words and life)
'I will give you rest' is a promise from Jesus to the heavily burdened. The rest he offers is 'for your souls,' which is often where sleeplessness starts. If you're tired in a way that sleep alone wouldn't fix, this is the passage.
Philippians 4:6-7
In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
World English Bible (WEB) · Letter (epistle)
Middle-of-the-night worry has a specific shape: a problem you can't act on for hours. Paul's instruction is to turn each worry into a request. 'Guard your hearts and your thoughts' is what a mind at 2 a.m. needs most. Paul adds 'with thanksgiving,' which is easy to skip past. Naming even one thing you're grateful for changes the shape of a 2 a.m. thought loop. Peace here is described as a guard, something posted at the door of your mind.
Psalm 121:1-2
I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from Yahweh, who made heaven and earth.
World English Bible (WEB) · Psalm (poetry)
The psalm that follows this (verses 3-4) says the one who keeps you 'will neither slumber nor sleep.' Someone is awake so you don't have to be. It's a pilgrim song for travelers sleeping in unfamiliar places, which is close to what an unfamiliar night feels like.
Don't scroll. Pick Psalm 4:8 or Psalm 127:2, read it two or three times slowly, and put the phone face down. If your mind keeps going, try Psalm 63:6 as an instruction: remember, instead of rehearse.
Psalm 4:8 is the classic: "In peace I will both lay myself down and sleep, for you, Yahweh alone, make me live in safety." Psalm 127:2 calls sleep a gift.
Psalm 63:6 describes remembering God "in the night watches." Psalm 77 opens with a sleepless night as well.