20 Bible Verses about Fathers, Examples Of

For I have chosen him, that he will command his children and his household after him that they will keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice, so that Yahweh may bring upon Abraham that which he said to him."

When Abram [was] ninety-nine years old Yahweh appeared to Abram. And he said to him, "I [am] El-Shaddai; walk before me and be blameless so that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you {exceedingly}." Then Abram fell upon his face and God spoke with him, saying,read more.
"[As for] me, behold, my covenant [shall be] with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. Your name shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. And I will make you {exceedingly} fruitful. I will make you a nation, and kings shall go out from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you, and between your offspring after you, throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant to be as God for you and to your offspring after you.

And Yahweh visited Sarah as he had said. And Yahweh did to Sarah as he had promised. And she conceived, and Sarah bore to Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.read more.
And Abraham circumcised Isaac his son [when he was] eight days old, as God had commanded him. And Abraham [was] one hundred years old when Isaac his son was born to him.

And it happened [that] after these things, God tested Abraham. And he said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I [am]." And he said, "Take your son, your only child, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains where I will tell you." And Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his donkey. And he took two of his servants with him, and Isaac his son. And he chopped wood for a burnt offering. And he got up and went to the place which God had told him.read more.
On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and he saw the place at a distance. And Abraham said to his servants, "You stay here with the donkey, and I and the boy will go up there. We will worship, then we will return to you." And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and placed [it] on Isaac his son. And he took the fire in his hand and the knife, and the two of them went together. And Isaac said to Abraham his father, "My father!" And he said, "Here I [am], my son." And he said, "Here is the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" And Abraham said, "{God will provide} the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went together. And they came to the place that God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood. Then he bound Isaac his son and placed him on the altar atop the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. And the angel of Yahweh called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham! Abraham!" And he said, "Here I [am]." And he said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the boy; do not do anything to him. For now I know that you are {one who fears} God, since you have not withheld your son, your only child, from me." And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, a ram was caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place "Yahweh {will provide}," {for which reason} it is said today, "on the mountain of Yahweh {it shall be provided}." And the angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time from heaven. And he said, "I swear by myself, declares Yahweh, that because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only child, that I will certainly bless you and greatly multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the shore of the sea. And your offspring will take possession of the gate of his enemies. All the nations of the earth will be blessed through your offspring, because you have listened to my voice."

It happened that in the days of Herod, king of Judea, [there was] a certain priest, Zechariah by name, of the division of Abijah. And {he had a wife} from the daughters of Aaron, and her name [was] Elizabeth. And they were both righteous in the sight of God, living blamelessly in all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. And {they did not have} a child, because Elizabeth was barren. And they were both advanced {in years}.read more.
And it happened that [while] he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priesthood he was chosen by lot to enter into the temple of the Lord to burn incense. And the whole crowd of the people were praying outside at the hour of the incense offering. And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was terrified [when he] saw [the angel], and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will call his name John. And {you will experience joy and exultation}, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he must never drink wine or beer, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit [while he is] still in his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to prepare for the Lord a people made ready." And Zechariah said to the angel, "By what will I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced {in years}!" And the angel answered [and] said to him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and not able to speak until the day these [things] take place, {because} you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time."

So they made signs to his father [asking] what he wanted him to be named, and he asked for a writing tablet [and] wrote, saying, "John is his name." And they were all astonished. And his mouth and his tongue were opened immediately, and he began to speak, praising God.read more.
And fear came on all those who lived near them, and in all the hill country of Judea all these events were discussed. And all those who heard kept [these things] in their hearts, saying, "What then will this child be? For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him!" And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, "Blessed [be] the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited to help and {has redeemed} his people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, just as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from earliest times-- salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all those who hate us, to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to Abraham our father, to grant us [that] we, being rescued from the hand of [our] enemies, could serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And so you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go on before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins, because of the merciful compassion of our God by which the dawn will visit to help us from on high, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to direct our feet into the way of peace." And the child kept growing and becoming strong in spirit, and was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

And he said, "A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to [his] father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that is coming to [me].' So he divided [his] assets between them. And after not many days, the younger son gathered everything [and] went on a journey to a distant country, and there he squandered his wealth [by] living wastefully.read more.
And [after] he had spent everything, there was a severe famine throughout that country, and he began to be in need. And he went [and] hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to tend pigs. And he was longing to fill his stomach with the carob pods that the pigs were eating, and no one was giving [anything] to him. "But [when he] came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired workers have an abundance {of food}, and I am dying here from hunger! I will set out [and] go to my father and will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and {in your sight}! I am no longer worthy to be called your son! Make me like one of your hired workers.' And he set out [and] came to his own father. But [while] he was still a long way away, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran {and embraced him} and kissed him. And [his] son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and {in your sight}! I am no longer worthy to be called your son!' But [his] father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put [it] on him, and put a ring on his finger and sandals on [his] feet! And bring the fattened calf--kill [it] and let us eat [and] celebrate, because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again! He was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate. "Now his older son was in the field, and when he came [and] approached the house, he heard music and dancing. And he summoned one of the slaves [and] asked what these [things] meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has gotten him back healthy.' But he became angry and did not want to go in. So his father came out [and] began to implore him. But he answered [and] said to his father, 'Behold, so many years I have served you, and have never disobeyed your command! And you never gave me a young goat so that I could celebrate with my friends! But when this son of yours returned--who has consumed your assets with prostitutes--you killed the fattened calf for him!' But he said to him, 'Child, you are always with me, and {everything I have belongs to you}.

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons, for he [was] a son of his old age. And he made a robe with long sleeves for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and were not able to speak peaceably to him.

And Isaac loved Esau because {he could eat of his game}, but Rebekah loved Jacob.

Now Eli was very old, and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel and that they [were] having sexual relations with the women who [were] serving [at] the entrance of [the] tent of assembly. And he asked them, "Why are you doing all these things that I am hearing, [namely], your evil dealings with all these people? No, my sons, the report [is] not good that I am hearing the people of Yahweh spreading.read more.
If a man sins against a man, then God can intercede for him. But if a man sins against Yahweh, who can intercede for him?" But they did not {obey} their father, because Yahweh wanted to kill them.

Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him: "Thus says Yahweh: 'Did I not clearly reveal myself to the house of your ancestor when they were in Egypt under the house of Pharaoh? And I chose him from all the tribes of Israel to be a priest to me, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to bear an ephod before me. I gave to the house of your ancestor all the offerings made by fire by the {Israelites}. Why do you despise my sacrifice and my offering which I commanded [for my] dwelling place, while you honored your sons more than me by making yourselves fat from the best of all the offerings of my people Israel?read more.
Therefore,' {declares} Yahweh the God of Israel, 'though I solemnly said that your house and the house of your ancestor would walk before me forever, but now,' {declares} Yahweh, 'far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me, I will treat with contempt! Look, days [are] coming when I will cut off your {strength} and the {strength} of the house of your ancestor {so that no one in your house will live to old age}. You will look at the distress of my dwelling place, [despite] all the good caused for Israel, but there will never be an old [man] in your household {forever}! The only one I will not cut off from my altar [is you]. [Rather], to cause your eyes to fail and to cause your soul to grieve, {all the members of your household} will die [as] men. This [is] the sign for you that will come regarding your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: they will both die on the same day! But I will raise up for myself a reliable priest; he will do just according to what [is] in my heart and in my soul. I will build for him a lasting house and he will walk continually before my anointed one {forever}. All the remainder of your household will come to bow down {before} him for a bit of silver or a loaf of bread and will say, "Please assign me to one of the {priestly offices} so that I can eat a morsel of bread." '"

So Yahweh said to Samuel, "Look, I am doing something in Israel {which will cause} the two ears of everyone who hears it to tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken against his household, {from beginning to end}. I will make him know that I am about to judge his household forever because of the iniquity that he knew, for his sons [were] bringing curses on themselves, but he did not rebuke them.read more.
Therefore I swore to the house of Eli [that] the iniquity of the house of Eli would not be atoned for by sacrifice or by offering forever." So Samuel lay down until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of Yahweh, but Samuel was afraid of telling the vision to Eli. Then Eli called Samuel and said, "Samuel, my son!" And he said, "Here I am." And he said, "What [is] the message that he spoke to you? Please do not conceal [it] from me. May God {punish you severely} if you conceal anything from me of all the words that he told you." So Samuel told him all the words and did not conceal [anything] from him. And he said, "He [is] Yahweh, he will do {what is} good in his {sight}."

And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!" And God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear a son for you, and you shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant to his offspring after him. And [as for] Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I will bless him and I will make him fruitful, and I will multiply him {exceedingly}. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.read more.
But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this appointed time next year." When he finished speaking with him, God went up from Abraham.

Then David blessed Yahweh in the sight of all the assembly, and David said, "Blessed [are] you, O Yahweh, God of Israel, our father forever and ever! To you, O Yahweh, [is] the greatness and the power and the splendor and the glory and the strength, for everything in the heavens and in the earth. Yours, O Yahweh, [is] the kingdom and exaltation over all as head! And wealth and glory [are] from you, and you rule over all. And in your hand [is] power and might. And in your hand [is power] to make great and to give strength to all.read more.
And now, our God, we give thanks to you and offer praise to the name of your splendor. And indeed, who [am] I, and who [are] my people that we retain power to offer according to these [offerings] willingly? For everything [is] from you, and from your hand we have given to you. For we [are] strangers before you and sojourners like all our ancestors. Our days [are] like the shadow upon earth, and there is no hope [of abiding]. O Yahweh our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build for you a house for your holy name is from your hand, and all [of it] is yours. And I know, my God, that you yourself test the heart and are pleased with uprightness. I, in the uprightness of my heart, have willingly offered all these [things], and now I have seen your people who are found here willingly offer to you. O Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our ancestors, keep this forever as a plan [and] thoughts of the heart of your people, and establish their heart toward you. Grant to Solomon my son a heart of peace to keep your commands, your statutes, and your regulations to do everything, and to build the citadel for which I have provided."

Then Nathan went to his house, and Yahweh struck the child that the wife of Uriah bore for David, and he became ill. David pleaded [with] God on behalf of the boy and David fasted. He went to spend the night and lay upon the ground. The elders of his household stood over him to lift him up from the ground, but he [was] not willing, and he did not eat [any] food with them.read more.
It happened on the seventh day that the child died, and the servants of David [were] afraid to tell him that the child [was] dead, for they said, "Look, when the child [was] alive, we spoke to him, but he would not listen to our voice. How can we tell him, 'The child [is] dead'? He may do [something] evil." When David saw that his servants [were] whispering together, he realized that the child [was] dead. Then David said to his servants, "[Is] the child dead?" And they said, "He [is] dead." David stood up from the ground and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothing. Then he went [to] the house of Yahweh and worshiped, and he went to his [own] house. He asked, so they served him food, and he ate. Then his servants said to him, "What [is] this thing that you have done? While the child [was] alive, you fasted and wept; [now] that the child has died, you get up and eat food!" He said, "When the child [was] still alive, I fasted and I wept because I thought, 'Who knows? Yahweh may have mercy on me that the child will live.' But now he [is] dead. Why [should I be] fasting? [Am] I able to return him again? I [am] going to him, but he cannot return to me."

And his sons used to go and hold a feast {at each other's house} on his day, and they would send, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and to drink with them. {Then when} the days of the feast had run their course, {Job would send}, and he would sanctify them. Thus he would arise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings [according to] the number of all of them, because Job thought, "Perhaps my children have sinned and {cursed} God in their heart." This is what Job used to do {all the time}.

And [when they] came to the crowd, a man approached him, kneeling down before him and saying, "Lord, have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers severely, for often he falls into the fire and often into the water.

And one [individual] from the crowd answered him, "Teacher, I brought to you my son who has {a spirit that makes him mute}. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down and he foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth and becomes paralyzed. And I told your disciples that they should expel it, and they were not able [to do so].

And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, saying, "Teacher, I beg you to look with concern on my son, because he is my only [son]! And behold, a spirit seizes him and suddenly he screams, and it convulses him with foam and rarely withdraws from him, battering him severely.

Now he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And [there] was at Capernaum a certain royal official whose son was sick. This man, [when he] heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, went to him and asked that he come down and heal his son, for he was about to die. So Jesus said to him, "Unless you [people] see signs and wonders, you will never believe!"read more.
The royal official said to him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"