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My German is on the basic level. When I try to look it up in google translate, it suggests the following:

  • freundlich (which is actually friendly, not kind)
  • nett (which is closer to nice I would say)
  • gut (which is closer to good I would say)
  • gütig (I hear this one for the first time)

Update. Adding sample sentences:

  • He is the kindest person I've ever met.
  • It's very kind of you.
  • Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud (Korinthians 13:4)

I'm surprised I can't find the German word for that, as to me "kind" is the very basic word. Not having the word "kind" in the language is like not having the words "white" and "black" in the language.

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As Takkat said, it greatly depends on the context. Generally, you can translate it with "freundlich" which can also have a very kind-like character, "lieb" or "nett".

"Gütig" defininetly has more to it than just kindness. It goes a little bit more into the direction of "gracious" and is a little bit less colloquial. It can, depending on the context, also make perfect sense.

I am glad to update my answer as you provide more information in your question about which context to use.

Update

In respect of your edit, here are some thoughts/ possible translations:

  • He is the kindest person I've ever met.

Er ist die freundlichste/netteste/liebste Person, die ich jemals traf.

  • The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works (Psalm 145:17). I've looked up the translation and the possible options are "heilig" or "gnädig". I don't know about "gnädig", but "heilig" sounds like a totally different work to me, meaning "saint".

Where is the word "kind" in that psalm? "Heilig" indeed means "saint".

  • It's very kind of you.

Das ist sehr freundlich/nett/lieb von dir.

You see, the word "lieb" is also a possible translation for "kind".

I'm surprised I can't find the German word for that, as to me "kind" is the very basic word. Not having the word "kind" in the language is like not having the words "white" and "black" in the language.

I really dont understand your point - in German there just is no 1:1 translation for that word, as several comments and answers depict...

Update #2

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud (Korinthians 13:4)

I would translate it like "Liebe ist geduldig, Liebe ist gütig." intuitively, but I guess there is an official translation for that.

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    As for the bible quote there is an official translation of course: "Die Liebe ist langmütig, die Liebe ist gütig. Sie ereifert sich nicht, sie prahlt nicht, sie bläht sich nicht auf." Note that this written in an old way so nowadays you would express it differently.
    – rugk
    Commented Feb 3, 2016 at 20:43
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As for the meaning of the adjective kind: the translations you listed are perfectly valid. I'd add höflich to the list.

It is normal in most languages that the same word can translate to more than one word in another language, depending on the context.

So while freundlich can translate to friendly, it can also translate to kind and vice versa. For example

That's very kind
Das ist sehr freundlich

For the sake of completeness it should be added that kind can also be a noun. It would translate to "Art", "Art und Weise", "Typ", "Sorte" etc.

it's a kind of fruit
es ist eine Obstsorte

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    Very unlikely that the noun was meant, as the OP is comparing the options to friendly, nice and good. They would have expressed confusion if they had been looking for the noun.
    – chirlu
    Commented Jul 28, 2015 at 12:07
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    So? He's asking for the translation of *kind *. Fact is, it can be noun or adjective. So my answer is correct and I don't see why it would have to be downvote.
    – Thorsten Dittmar
    Commented Jul 28, 2015 at 12:56
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    “Thema verfehlt”. The question not only consists of the title.
    – chirlu
    Commented Jul 28, 2015 at 13:04
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    @chirlu nein. Die ursprüngliche Frage beinhaltete auch keine Beispiele.
    – Thorsten Dittmar
    Commented Jul 28, 2015 at 13:06
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    The OP was comparing the options to friendly, nice and good (already in the first version of the question). They would have expressed confusion if they had been looking for the noun. But I’m repeating myself …
    – chirlu
    Commented Jul 28, 2015 at 13:08
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With respect to your examples

He is the kindest person I've ever met.

personally: Er ist die netteste Person, die ich je kennen gelernt habe.

The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works (Psalm 145:17).

There is no kind in here? If you want a biblic example take Corintians 13:4

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud

which in modern translations is in german something like (from "Gute Nachricht" version)

Die Liebe ist geduldig und gütig. Die Liebe eifert nicht für den eigenen Standpunkt, sie prahlt nicht und spielt sich nicht auf.

(i.e. kind as gütig). There is also the use of "freundlich" when talking about god. I don't have a good reference, but there is for example the (probably protestant) church song Danket, danket dem HERRN, denn er ist sehr freundlich

It's very kind of you.

personally: Das ist sehr nett von dir.

edit: parts of my answer have been rendered mute due to the constant changes in the OP's post

Also there seems to be a fundamental problem, you think "kind" is a unified sound concept (with all its meanings) because you literally think in terms of "kind" (assuming english is your primary language). The influence the language has on your thoughts is definitely interesting but out of the scop of german.SE

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I am a native German speaker, married to an Englishman, with 3 bilingual children. I agree that there is no direct translation of the word "kind" which I find sad (for want of a better word). Same for "kindness" - there is graciousness, niceness, friendliness, but no word that conveys the very essence of kindness. - although there are kind Germans around ;)

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    Sure there are translations. Maybe they don't fit a 100% according to your view / feel of the languages, but that's frequently the case, and it does not mean there is no translation at all.
    – Robert
    Commented Aug 29, 2017 at 13:04
  • As an English native speaker, I would agree that there is no translation at all. If I were to use "kind", I would have chosen it very deliberately and it would certainly not mean freundlich or nett or höflich. The context can sometimes allow these words, but I would think more often than not, the essence of what "kind" conveys is lost in translation. The suggested "benevolent" approach by rackandboneman is probably the best we can do.
    – Will Hardy
    Commented Dec 14, 2021 at 20:32
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Gutmütig.

Closest translation is "benevolent", which is usually the meaning you want to convey with "kind".

"gütig", "nett" have a lot of subtle sarcasm potential, "gut" is a moral judgement, "freundlich" is more about the manner than the consequence of a behaviour.

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  • This is the only answer that recognises the fundamental difference between "kind" and "nice/polite/friendly". For me, the difference is similar to the way "Das ist lieb von dir" differs from "Das ist nett von dir".
    – Will Hardy
    Commented Dec 14, 2021 at 20:40

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