56 Bible Verses about Rights

"You are not to mistreat any widow or orphan.

"If you loan money to my people, to the poor among you, don't be like a creditor to them and don't impose interest on them. If you take your neighbor's coat as collateral, you are to return it to him by sunset, for it's his only covering; it's his outer garment, for what else can he sleep in? And when he cries out to me, I'll hear him, for I am gracious.

"When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to completely finish harvesting the corners of the field that is, you are not to pick what remains after you have reaped your harvest. You are not to gather your vineyard or pick up the fallen grapes of your vineyard. Leave something for the poor and the resident alien who lives among you. I am the LORD your God."

He doesn't let the wicked live; he grants justice to the afflicted.

If a priest acquires a slave as property with his own money, he may eat with him. Those who were born in his house may eat his food.

"When you acquire a Hebrew servant, he is to serve for six years, and in the seventh he is to go out a free man without paying anything. If he came in by himself, he is to go out by himself. If he was married, his wife is to go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and children belong to her master, and he is to go out by himself. read more.
But if the servant, in fact, says, "I love my master, my wife, and my children, and I won't go out a free man,' then his master is to bring him before the judges and he is to bring him to the door or to the doorpost. His master is to pierce his ear with an awl, and he is to serve him permanently.

"When a fellow Hebrew male or female slave is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you are to set them free. But when you set them free, don't send them away empty-handed. Provide for them liberally from your flock, threshing floor, and wine vat. As the LORD your God has blessed you, so give to them. read more.
Don't ever forget that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, yet the LORD your God redeemed you. Therefore, I'm giving you these commands today. "Should that slave say to you, "I won't leave you,' because he loves you and your household, and it was good for him to be with you, then take an awl and pierce through his earlobe into the door. Then he will be your slave forever. You are to do the same for your female slaves. Don't view this as a hardship for yourself when you set him free, for he will have served you for six years twice the time of a paid worker. Then the LORD will bless you in all that you do."

"When a man sells his daughter as a servant, she won't go out as the male servants do. If she's displeasing to her master who selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He does not have the right to sell her to foreign people, because he has dealt unfairly with her. If he has selected her for his son, he is to treat her according to the ordinance for daughters. read more.
If he takes another woman for himself, he may not withhold from the first her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. If he does not do these three things for her, she may go out without paying anything at all."

"If a resident alien lives with you in your land, you are not to mistreat him. You are to treat the resident alien the same way you treat the native born among you love him like yourself, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

"You are not to wrong or oppress an alien, because you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

You are not to gather your vineyard or pick up the fallen grapes of your vineyard. Leave something for the poor and the resident alien who lives among you. I am the LORD your God."

Then the LORD told Moses, "Tell the Israelis that when they have crossed the Jordan River into the land of Canaan, they are to designate some towns of refuge so that anyone who kills someone inadvertently may flee there. read more.
They are to serve as cities of refuge from a blood avenger in order to keep the inadvertent killer from dying until he has stood trial in the presence of the community.

Then Moses designated three cities on the east side of the Jordan, where a person who accidentally killed someone could flee, if he killed his neighbor without having enmity toward him in the past. He may flee to one of these cities and live:

Then the LORD told Joshua, "Tell the people of Israel to set apart cities of refuge about which I spoke to you through Moses, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally and without premeditation may run there and be protected from closely related avengers. read more.
He may run to one of those cities, stand at the entrance to the city gate, and tell his side of the story to the elders of the city. They are to bring him inside the city with them and provide him a place to live among them. Now if the closely related avenger pursues him, then they are not to hand the killer over to him, because he killed his neighbor without premeditation and without hating him beforehand. He is to live in that city until he stands trial before the community, until the death of the one who is high priest at that time. Then the killer may return to his own city and to his own home, that is, to the city from which he fled."

A husband should fulfill his obligation to his wife, and a wife should do the same for her husband. A wife does not have authority over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband doesn't have authority over his own body, but his wife does. Do not withhold yourselves from each other unless you agree to do so just for a set time, in order to devote yourselves to prayer. Then you should come together again so that Satan does not tempt you through your lack of self-control.

"Suppose a man marries a wife, but after having sexual relations with her, he despises her, invents charges against her, and defames her by saying, "I have married this woman, but when I had sexual relations with her I found that she wasn't a virgin.' Then the father of the young lady, along with her mother, is to bring evidence of the young lady's virginity to the elders at the gate. read more.
The father of the young lady is to then say to the elders: "I have given my daughter to this man as a wife, but he despises her. Now look, he has invented charges against her by saying, "I haven't found your daughter to be a virgin." But here is the proof of my daughter's virginity.' Then they are to spread the cloth before the elders of the city. The elders of that city will then take the man, punish him, fine him 100 shekels of silver, and then give them to the young lady's father, because he defamed a virgin of Israel. She is to remain his wife and he can't divorce her as long as he lives. But if this charge is true, and the evidence of the young lady's virginity wasn't found, they are to bring her to the door of her father's house. Then the men of the city are to stone her with boulders until she dies for doing a detestable thing in Israel acting like a prostitute while in her father's house. By doing this, you will remove this evil from among you.

Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of his wife as the Messiah is the head of the church. It is he who is the Savior of the body. Indeed, just as the church is submissive to the Messiah, so wives must be submissive to their husbands in everything.read more.
Husbands, love your wives as the Messiah loved the church and gave himself for it, so that he might make it holy by cleansing it, washing it with water and the word, and might present the church to himself in all its glory, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind, but holy and without fault. In the same way, husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself. For no one has ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, as the Messiah does the church. For we are parts of his body of his flesh and of his bones. "That is why a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a great secret, but I am talking about the Messiah and the church. But each individual man among you must love his wife as he loves himself; and may the wife fear her husband.

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is the right thing to do.

"Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

""Honor your father and your mother, just as the LORD your God commanded you, so that you will live long and things will go well for you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they must first learn to respect their own family by repaying their parents, for this is pleasing in God's sight.

No one should be immoral or godless like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal.

One day, while Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau happened to come in from being outdoors, and he was feeling famished. Esau told Jacob, "Let me gobble down some of this red stuff, since I'm starving." (That's how Esau got his nickname "Edom".) But Jacob responded, "Sell me your birthright. Do it now."read more.
"Look! I'm about to die," Esau replied. "What good is this birthright to me?" But Jacob insisted, "Swear it by an oath right now." So he swore an oath to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some of his food, along with some boiled stew. So Esau ate, drank, got up, and left, after having belittled his own birthright.

"If a man has two wives where one is loved but the other is unloved, and both of them bear him sons, but the firstborn is the son of the unloved wife, then when he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, he must not give preference to the firstborn of the beloved wife over the firstborn of the unloved wife. Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn of the unloved wife by giving him double of everything he owns, because he is really the first fruit of his father's strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him."

Here is a record of the descendants of Reuben, Israel's firstborn. (He was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father's marriage bed, his birthright was transferred to the descendants of Israel's son Joseph. As a result, Reuben is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright. Even though Judah became prominent among his relatives that is, the Commander-in-chief will be his descendant nevertheless the right of the firstborn went to Joseph.)

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up by training and instructing them about the Lord.

However, to all who received him, those believing in his name, he gave authority to become God's children,

"Let everyone listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To everyone who conquers I will give the privilege of eating from the tree of life that is in God's paradise.'"

To the one who conquers I will give a place to sit with me on my throne, just as I have conquered and have sat down with my Father on his throne.

"How blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city!

What, then, is my reward? It is to be able to preach the gospel free of charge, and so I never resort to demanding my rights when I'm preaching the gospel.

I am free, am I not? I am an apostle, am I not? I have seen Jesus our Lord, haven't I? You are the result of my work in the Lord, aren't you? If I am not an apostle to other people, surely I am one to you, for you are the evidence of my apostolic authority from the Lord. This is my defense to those who would examine me: read more.
We have the right to earn our food, don't we? We have the right to take a believing wife with us like the other apostles, the Lord's brothers, and Cephas, don't we? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have to keep on working for a living? Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat any of its grapes? Or who takes care of a flock and does not drink any of its milk? I am not saying this on human authority, am I? The Law says the same thing, doesn't it? For in the Law of Moses it is written, "You must not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." God is not only concerned about oxen, is he? Isn't he really speaking for our benefit? Yes, this was written for our benefit, because the one who plows should plow in hope, and the one who threshes should thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you? If others enjoy this right over you, don't we have a stronger claim? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we tolerate everything in order not to put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of the Messiah. You know that those who work in the Temple get their food from the Temple and that those who serve at the altar get their share of its offerings, don't you? In the same way, the Lord has ordered that those who proclaim the gospel should make their living from the gospel. But I have not used any of these rights, and I'm not writing this so that they may be applied in my case. I would rather die than let anyone deprive me of my reason for boasting. For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for this obligation has been entrusted to me. How terrible it would be for me if I didn't preach the gospel! For if I preach voluntarily, I get a reward, but if I am unwilling to do it, I am still entrusted with that obligation.

Elders who handle their duties well should be considered worthy of double compensation, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, "You must not muzzle an ox while it is treading out grain," and, "A worker deserves his pay."

"You are not to defile your daughter by engaging her in prostitution so the land won't become filled with wickedness.

"You must cancel your debts at the end of every seventh year. This is the way to conduct remission: every creditor must cancel the loan that his friend borrowed, and he must not pressure his friend or brother to repay it, because remission to the LORD will be proclaimed. You may exact payment from a foreigner, but cancel whatever your brother owes you. read more.
Moreover, there will be no poor person among you, for the LORD will surely bless you in the land that he is about to give you to possess. Only be certain to obey the voice of the LORD your God. Carefully observe all of these commands that I'm commanding to you today. For the LORD your God will bless you just as he promised. You are to lend to many nations but not borrow. Also, you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you."

"The testimony of one person alone is not to suffice to convict anyone of any iniquity, sin, or guilt. But the matter will stand on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

"The land is not to be sold with any finality, because the land belongs to me. You're sojourners and travelers with me. So throughout all of your land inheritance, grant the right of redemption for the land. "If your brother becomes so poor that he has to a sell portion of his inheritance, then his nearest kinsman redeemer is to come and redeem what his brother has sold. read more.
If a person doesn't have a kinsman redeemer, but has become rich and found sufficient means for his redemption, then let him account for the years for which it was sold, return the excess to the person to whom it was sold, and then return to his property. If he's not able to redeem it back for himself, then what he sold is to remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee, it is to be returned so he may return to his property. "If a person sells a residential house in a walled city, he is to redeem it within the year in which it was sold. He may have right to its redemption for a full year. But if it's not redeemed by the end of a full year, then the house next to which is a wall is to belong in perpetuity to the one who bought it throughout his generations. It is not to be returned in the jubilee. However, the houses in the villages that don't have walls around them are to be categorized along with the fields of the land they may be redeemed and returned in the jubilee. Nevertheless, the cities that belong to the descendants of Levi that is, the houses in the cities that belong to them are to belong to the descendants of Levi perpetually as part of their right of redemption. If someone from the descendants of Levi redeems the houses in the cities that they own, they are to be returned in the jubilee, because the houses of the cities of the descendants of Levi are to remain their property among the Israelis. Also, the open land of their cities is not to be sold, because it is to remain their perpetual inheritance." "If your relative becomes so poor that he is indebted to you, then you are to support him. You are to let him live with you just like the resident alien and the traveler. You are not to take interest or profit from him. Instead, you are to fear your God and let your relative live with you. You are not to loan him money with interest or sell him your food at a profit. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God. "If your brother with you becomes so poor that he sells himself to you, you are not to make him serve like a bond slave. Instead, he is to serve with you like a hired servant or a traveler who lives with you, until the year of jubilee. Then he and his children with him may leave to return to his family and his ancestor's inheritance. Since they're my servants whom I've brought out of the land of Egypt, they are not to be sold as slaves. You are not to rule over them with harshness. You are to fear your God."

Don't be glad on my account, my enemy. When I fall, I'll get up. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD is a light for me. I will endure the LORD's anger since I have sinned against him until he takes over my defense, administers justice on my behalf, and brings me out to the light, where I will gaze on his righteousness. Then my enemy will observe it, and shame will engulf the ones who asked me, "Where is the LORD your God?' My own eyes will see them, they will be trampled on like mud in the streets.

He executes justice for the orphan and the widows, loves the foreigner, and gives them food and clothing."

A father to orphans and an advocate for widows is God in his holy dwelling place.

Don't move ancient boundaries or invade fields belonging to orphans; for strong is their Redeemer who will take up their case against you.

"How terrible it will be for the one who enacts unjust decrees, for those who write oppressive laws that they have prescribed to deprive the needy of justice and to rob the poor of my people of their rights, so that widows may become their spoil and so that they may plunder orphans! What will you do on the day of Judgment, in the calamity that will come from far away? To whom will you run for help, and where will you leave your wealth,read more.
so you won't have to crouch among those in chains or fall among the slain? "Yet for all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike."

"Evil men are found among my people. They lie in wait like someone who traps birds. They set a trap, but they do so to catch people. Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are filled with treachery. This is how they have become prominent and rich, and have grown fat and sleek. There is no limit to their evil deeds. They don't argue the case of the orphan to secure justice. They don't defend the rights of the poor.read more.
"Should I not punish them for this?' asks the LORD. "Should I not avenge myself on a nation like this?'

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Israel and now for a fourth I will not turn away; because they sold the righteous for money, and the poor for sandals, moving quickly to rub the face of the needy in the dirt. Corrupting the ways of the humble, a man and his father go to the same woman, deliberately defiling my holy name. They lay down beside every altar, on garments pledged as collateral, drinking wine paid for through fines imposed by the temple of their gods.

God, endow the king with ability to render your justice, and the king's son to render your right decisions. May he rule your people with right decisions and your oppressed ones with justice. May the mountains bring prosperity to the people and the hills bring righteousness.read more.
May he defend the afflicted of the people and deliver the children of the poor, but crush the oppressor.

It is not for kings, Lemuel Not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to desire liquor. Otherwise, they may drink and forget what has been ordained, perverting justice for all the oppressed. Give liquor to someone who is perishing, and wine to someone who is deeply depressed.read more.
Let him drink, forget his poverty, and remember his troubles no more. Speak for those who cannot speak; seek justice for all those on the verge of destruction. Speak up, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and oppressed.

"You are not to fear other gods, bow down to them, serve them, or sacrifice to them. Instead, it is to be the LORD, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, showing great power and public demonstrations of might, whom you are to fear, worship, and to whom you are to offer sacrifice.

Then Jesus told him, "Go away, Satan! Because it is written, "You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.'"

But Jesus answered him, "It is written, "You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.'"

Fear the LORD your God, serve him, and make your oaths in his name.

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

"Now Israel, what does the LORD your God desire from you? Only this: fear him, walk in all his ways, love him, serve him with all your heart and in all your life, and observe his commands and statutes that I'm commanding you today for your own good.

"The LORD your God is commanding you this very day to observe these statutes and judgments. Be careful to obey them with all your heart and soul. You have declared this very day that the LORD will be your God. You are to walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commands, and judgments, and obey his voice. The LORD affirmed this day that you are his prized possession. Therefore, observe his commands,

That's why I'm commanding you today to love the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by observing his commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live long, increase, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in the land that you are about to enter to possess.