1. Proverbs 29:2 – The Importance of Righteous Leadership
“When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.”
2. Isaiah 1:23 – Rebuke for Unjust Rulers
“Your rulers are rebels, partners with thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.”
3. Isaiah 10:1 – Condemnation of Those Who Enact Unjust Laws
“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees.”
4. Matthew 20:25 – Leadership Through Servanthood
“Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.'”
5. Mark 10:42-43 – The True Mark of Leadership
“Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.'”
6. Luke 11:39 – The Hypocrisy of Corrupt Leaders
“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.'”
7. Romans 13:3-4 – The Role of Government
“For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.”
Also Read: Bible Verses About Living In The Moment
8. 1 Samuel 8:10-18 – Warning Against Worldly Kings
“Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, ‘This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.'”
9. 2 Samuel 23:3 – The Just Ruler
“The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: ‘When one rules over people in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God'”
10. Psalm 2:10-12 – A Call for Leaders to Submit to God
“Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”
11. Psalm 12:8 – The Wicked in Authority
“The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.”
12. Psalm 82:2-4 – God’s Judgment on Unjust Leaders
“How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
13. Psalm 101:3-4 – Purposeful Leadership
“I will not look with approval on anything that is vile. I hate what faithless people do; I will have no part in it. The perverse of heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with what is evil.”
14. Proverbs 16:12 – Righteous Leadership
“Kings detest wrongdoing, for a throne is established through righteousness.”
15. Proverbs 20:28 – The Authority of a King
“Love and faithfulness keep a king safe; through love his throne is made secure.”
16. Proverbs 29:4 – The Character of a Leader
“By justice a king gives a country stability, but those who are greedy for bribes tear it down.”
17. Isaiah 3:12 – Judgment on Oppressive Leaders
“Youths oppress my people, women rule over them. My people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path.”
18. Isaiah 10:3 – Judgment on Leaders Who Oppress the Poor
“What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches?”
19. Jeremiah 22:3 – The Duty of a King
“This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.”
20. Micah 3:1-3 – God’s Judgment on Corrupt Rulers
“Then I said, ‘Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel. Should you not embrace justice, you who hate good and love evil; who tear the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones; who eat my people’s flesh, strip off their skin and break their bones in pieces; who chop them up like meat for the pan, like flesh for the pot?'”
21. Matthew 23:27 – The Hypocrisy of Religious Leaders
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.”
22. Luke 20:46-47 – Warning Against Hypocritical Leaders
“Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”
23. Romans 13:1 – Submission to Governing Authorities
“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”
24. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 – Praying for Leaders
“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”
25. James 3:1 – The Responsibility of Teaching
“Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”
26. Matthew 15:14 – Beware of Blind Leaders
“Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
27. Matthew 23:23 – Neglecting the Weightier Matters of the Law
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”
28. Matthew 23:33 – Serpents and Brood of Vipers
“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?”
29. Matthew 24:11 – False Prophets
“And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.”
30. Matthew 24:24 – False Christs and False Prophets
“For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”
31. Mark 7:6-7 – Teaching as Doctrine the Commandments of Men
“He replied, ‘Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.'”
32. Luke 11:52 – Withholding Knowledge
“Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”
33. 1 Timothy 6:20-21 – False Knowledge
“Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith. Grace be with you all.”
34. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 – The Desire for False Teaching
“For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
35. 2 Peter 2:1 – False Teachers Among You
“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.”
36. 2 Peter 2:10-12 – Condemned as Bold and Arrogant
“This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord.”
37. Jude 1:4 – Ungodly Leaders Pervert Grace
“For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.”
38. Jude 1:12-13 – Hidden Rocks in Your Love Feasts
“These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.”
39. Revelation 2:20 – False Prophetess Jezebel
“Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.”
40. Revelation 19:20 – False Prophet Thrown into the Lake of Fire
“But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed the signs on its behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.”