57 Bible Verses about Bad Parents

Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

The one who will not use the rod hates his son,
but the one who loves him disciplines him diligently.

Teach a youth about the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to turn

a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and a man’s enemies will be
the members of his household. read more.
The person who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; the person who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Anyone finding his life will lose it, and anyone losing his life because of Me will find it.

Children, obey your parents as you would the Lord, because this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land.

Be on your guard. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.

This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh.

These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. read more.
Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so they won’t become discouraged.

For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Whenever a round of banqueting was over, Job would send for his children and purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought: Perhaps my children have sinned, having cursed God in their hearts. This was Job’s regular practice.

Discipline your son while there is hope;
don’t be intent on killing him.

For I have chosen him so that he will command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. This is how the Lord will fulfill to Abraham what He promised him.”

Discipline your son, and it will bring you peace of mind
and give you delight.

“Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. read more.
The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

For I came to turn

a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

Tell your children about it,
and let your children tell their children,
and their children the next generation.

As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.

“Then I said to their children in the wilderness: Don’t follow the statutes of your fathers, defile yourselves with their idols, or keep their ordinances.

Don’t withhold discipline from a youth;
if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction,
and don’t reject your mother’s teaching,

Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and so that you may prosper in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Children, obey your parents as you would the Lord, because this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land. read more.
Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

For this reason a man will leave
his father and mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two will become one flesh.

Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise,

“But whoever causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me—it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea!

When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, “Who are these with you?”

He answered, “The children God has graciously given your servant.”

Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord,
children, a reward.

so they may encourage the young women to love their husbands and to love their children,

The living, only the living can thank You,
as I do today;
a father will make Your faithfulness known to children.

and so that you may tell your son and grandson how severely I dealt with the Egyptians and performed miraculous signs among them, and you will know that I am Yahweh.”

We must not hide them from their children,
but must tell a future generation
the praises of the Lord,
His might, and the wonderful works
He has performed.

Then he blessed Joseph and said:

The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

No women as beautiful as Job’s daughters could be found in all the land, and their father granted them an inheritance with their brothers.

Solomon’s proverbs:

A wise son brings joy to his father,
but a foolish son, heartache to his mother.

So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were acceptable to You!”

and kept begging Him, “My little daughter is at death’s door. Come and lay Your hands on her so she can get well and live.”

Her sons rise up and call her blessed.
Her husband also praises her:

His descendants will be powerful in the land;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.

Be assured that the wicked
will not go unpunished,
but the offspring of the righteous will escape.

They will not labor without success
or bear children destined for disaster,
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord
along with their descendants.

You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers’ sin, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

You will not join them in burial,
because you destroyed your land
and slaughtered your own people.
The offspring of evildoers
will never be remembered.

Our fathers sinned; they no longer exist,
but we bear their punishment.

Instead, they followed the stubbornness of their hearts and followed after the Baals as their fathers taught them.”

The Lord says:

I will not relent from punishing Judah
for three crimes, even four,
because they have rejected the instruction of the Lord
and have not kept His statutes.
The lies that their ancestors followed
have led them astray.

Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son,
and do not loathe His discipline;
for the Lord disciplines the one He loves,
just as a father, the son he delights in.

Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things.

“If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father or mother and doesn’t listen to them even after they discipline him, his father and mother must take hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown. They will say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he doesn’t obey us. He’s a glutton and a drunkard.’ read more.
Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. You must purge the evil from you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.

Happy is he who takes your little ones
and dashes them against the rocks.

Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord,

No foul language is to come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up someone in need, so that it gives grace to those who hear.

and He also said:

“For this reason a man will leave
his father and mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two will become one flesh?

Children, obey your parents as you would the Lord, because this is right.

All bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ.