36 Bible Verses about Prejudice

Nathaniel replied to him, "Can anything worthwhile come from Nazareth?" [Note: Nazareth had a bad reputation and Jewish writings made no prediction of a prophet coming from that area. See John 7:52]. Philip answered him, "Come and see."

Others said, "He is the Christ." But [still] others said, "What [do you mean]? The Christ will not come from Galilee, [will he]?

But this crowd, which does not know the law of Moses, [and especially its oral traditions], is cursed [by God]."

The Pharisee stood up [conspicuously] and prayed about himself this way [i.e., bragging to God about how good he was], 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, sexually unfaithful to their mates, or even like that tax collector [over there].

But [even] though Jesus had performed so many [miraculous] signs in front of the people, still they did not believe in Him.

But the Pharisees said, "He is driving out evil spirits by [the power of] the chief of evil spirits."

And when the Sabbath day came, He began teaching in the synagogue and many who heard Him were amazed, and asked [such questions as], "Where did this man get these things [i.e., knowledge, miracles, etc.]?" and "What kind of wisdom has been given to him?" and "What do these supernatural powers he performs mean? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters living here among us?" And they were led to doubt His true identity.

We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this man, we do not [even] know where he came from."

Many of them said, "This man is dominated by an evil spirit; he is crazy, why listen to him?"

For if you love [only] those who love you, what reward will you get for that? Do not even the publicans [Note: These were people with a bad reputation for their dishonest tax collecting activities] do that much? And if you greet [cordially] your brothers only, what are you doing more than other people? Do not even the [unconverted] Gentiles do that much?

And if you love [only] those who love you, what thanks do you deserve for doing that? For even worldly people love those who love them. And if you do good things [only] to those who do good things to you, what thanks do you deserve for doing that? For even worldly people do that much. And if you lend something [only] to those people from whom you expect to have it returned, what thanks do you deserve for doing that? Even worldly people lend to worldly people expecting to get the same things back.

And when all the people, together with the tax collectors, heard this they praised God for being so just, and were immersed with the immersion [preached] by John.

And he fell on his face at Jesus' feet and thanked Him. And he was a Samaritan. [Note: Samaritans were despised by the Jews and regarded as a 'half-breeds'].

And the believers of Jewish descent, who had come with Peter, were amazed [when they saw] that the gift of the Holy Spirit had [now] been poured out on the Gentiles also.

And if Satan also is divided against himself, how [then] can his kingdom stand? I tell you this because you are saying that I drove out evil spirits by [the power of] Beelzebub.

Now if you people show special attention to the one wearing the fine clothing and say [to him], "You can sit here in this good seat," and to the poor person, "You stand over there," or "Sit on the floor by my feet," are you not making class distinctions among yourselves and judging [people] from evil motives?

You pass judgment according to human standards; I do not judge anyone [i.e., the way you do it].

But you should welcome [into your fellowship] the person whose faith is weak, and not argue [with him] over questionable matters.

So, do not judge anything until the appointed time, when the Lord returns [i.e., to do the judging]. He will both shed light on the hidden things done in the dark and make known the motives of people's hearts. Then each person [i.e., who deserves it] will receive praise from God.

These apostles, who were highly regarded (although it really does not matter to me what they are, for God does not show partiality to any particular person); these men, I say, provided me with nothing [concerning the Gospel message].

But if you show favoritism toward [certain] persons, you are committing a sin and are convicted by the law [of God] as lawbreakers.

Then Peter began to speak. He said, "I perceive that God truly does not show favoritism toward anyone,

for there is no favoritism with God.

And you masters should treat your slaves the same way; do not threaten them, knowing that God, who is both their Master and yours, is in heaven and He does not respect any particular person [over another].

And the person who does what is wrong will be repaid for his wrongdoing, for there is no favoritism [with God].

And Abraham replied, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded [even] if someone rises from the dead [i.e., to come back and warn them].'"

[He said] "It will be too bad for you, Chorazin! It will be too bad for you, Bethsaida! For if the powerful miracles had been performed in [the cities of] Tyre and Sidon which were performed in your presence, they would have repented long ago, [demonstrating it] by wearing sackcloth [i.e., a coarse cloth made of goat hair] and throwing ashes [into the air]. But I tell you, Tyre and Sidon will be shown more leniency on the judgment day than you people will. And Capernaum, do you think you will be lifted up toward heaven [as a proud city]? [No indeed], you will [surely] go down to the place of the unseen [i.e., become obscure or obliterated as a city]. For if the powerful miracles had been performed in Sodom which were performed in your presence, it would have remained [even] until today.

For John came to show you the way to be right with God, but you would not believe his message. Yet the tax collectors and prostitutes believed it, and when you saw this, even then you did not change your minds so as to believe his message.

Which one of the prophets did your forefathers not persecute? They [even] killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One [i.e., Jesus], whom you people betrayed and murdered.

[Hab. 1:5 says], "Look, you people who despise [God], and be amazed [at what He can do] and be destroyed [for rejecting Him]; for I [i.e., God] will accomplish such a work during your days that you will not believe [it could happen, even] if someone told you about it."

Some Sadducees [Note: These were the Jewish party that denied there was a resurrection] came to Jesus that day and asked Him,

or, to the people (See Luke 20:9)] by using parables. He said, "A man planted a vineyard and built a fence around it. He dug a place for constructing a grape squeezing device, built a [lookout] tower [near it], then leased it out to tenant farmers and went to another country.

[Then] certain Sadducees came to Jesus (they are the ones who say there is no resurrection [of the dead]).

As they were speaking to the [crowd of] people, the [Jewish] priests, the captain of the Temple [guard] and the Sadducees [i.e., a sect of the Jewish religion] approached them and were greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that Jesus had been raised from the dead. So, these [Jewish] leaders arrested Peter and John and put them in jail until the next day because it was [already] evening.

For the Sadducees believe there is no resurrection, angels or spirits, but the Pharisees accept all of them [to be true].