29 Bible Verses about Citizenship

The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives. Shiphrah and Puah were among them. He said: When you help the Hebrew women give birth on the birth stool, if it is a son you shall put him to death. If it is a daughter, then she shall live. The midwives respected God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them. They let the boys live.read more.
So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said: Why have you let the boys live? The midwives replied to Pharaoh: Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women. They are vigorous and give birth before the midwife can get to them. God was good to the midwives, and the people multiplied, and became very mighty. Because the midwives respected God, He established households for them.

They answered Joshua: All that you command us we will do. Wherever you send us we will go. Just as we listened to Moses in all things, we will listen to you in all things. May Jehovah your God be with you, as he was with Moses.

Now here is the king you have chosen. You asked for him. Now Jehovah gives him to you. All will go well with you if you honor Jehovah your God, serve him, listen to him, and obey his commands. If you and your king follow Jehovah all will be well. But if you do not listen to Jehovah but disobey his commands, he will be against you and your king. He was against your fathers because they disobeyed.

If anyone does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, take care that punishment is given to him. This is by death or by driving him from his country or by taking away his goods or by putting him in prison.

I counsel you: Keep the king's command because of the oath before God.

Yet others said: We have given up our fields and our vine-gardens to get money for the king's taxes. But our flesh is the same as the flesh of our countrymen, and our children as their children. Now we give our sons and daughters into the hands of others, to be their servants. Some of our daughters are servants even now. We have no power to stop this. For other men have our fields and our vine-gardens. On hearing their outcry and what they said I was very angry.read more.
After giving it much thought, I made a protest to the chiefs and the rulers, and said to them: Everyone of you is collecting interest from his brothers. I organized a big meeting of protest. I said to them: We have given whatever we were able to give, to make our brothers the Jews free. They were servants and prisoners of the nations. Would you now give up your brothers for a price? Are they to become our property? They said nothing. They answered not a word! I said: What you are doing is not good. Is it not necessary for you to walk out of respect for our God, because of the shame the nations put on us? Even I and my servants have been collecting interest (Usury) for the money and the grain we have let them have. So now, let us give this up. Give back to them this very day their fields, their vine-gardens, their olive-gardens, and their houses, as well as a hundredth part of the money and the grain and the wine and the oil that you have taken from them. They said: We will give them back, and take nothing for them. We will do as you say. Then I sent for the priests and made them take an oath that they would keep this agreement. Shaking out the folds of my robe, I said: So, may God send out from his house and his work every man who does not keep this agreement. Even so let him be sent out and made as nothing. All the people said: Amen! They praised Jehovah. The people did as they said.

Let our cattle bear without mishap and without loss. Let there be no outcry in our streets!

The city is exalted by the blessing of the upright. The mouth of the wicked ruins the city.

He who obeys the law is a wise son. But he who is a companion of worthless men shames his father.

People of Jerusalem, run through your streets! Look around and see for yourselves! Search the marketplaces! Can you find one person who does what is right and tries to be faithful to God? If you can, Jehovah will forgive Jerusalem.

You are Israel's hope, its savior in times of trouble. Why are you like a stranger in the land, like a traveler who stays only one night?

This is what Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, says to all those who were taken captive from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat what they produce. Get married and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons and let your daughters get married so they can have sons and daughters. Grow in number there and do not decrease.read more.
Work for the good of the city where I have taken you as captives. Pray to Jehovah for that city. When it prospers, you will also prosper.

Therefore, Jehovah says: 'You have more turmoil than the nations that surround you. You have not walked in my statutes, nor observed my ordinances, nor observed the ordinances of the nations that surround you.'

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold. He set it up in the plain of Dura, the province of Babylon. It was ninety feet tall and nine feet wide. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king gathered the satraps, deputies, governors, judges, treasurers, counselors, sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces. They came to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king set up. The satraps, deputies, governors, judges, treasurers, counselors, sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces were gathered together at the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king set up. They stood before the image.read more.
Then the herald proclaimed: You are commanded to do this, O peoples, nations, and men of every language. When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, zither, pipes (bagpipe), and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into the midst of a blazing furnace. When all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, zither, pipes, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king set up. Some Chaldean Astrologers brought accusation against the Jews. They said to Nebuchadnezzar the king, O king, may you live for a very long time. You, O king, made a decree, that every man that hears the sound of the horn, flute, harp, zither, pipes, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image. Whoever does not fall down and worship, will be thrown into the midst of a blazing furnace. The Jews whom you appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego have not listened to you. They do not serve your gods. They do not worship the golden image that you set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. They brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar said to them: Is it true Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that you do not serve my god, nor worship the golden image that I set up? Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, zither, pipes, and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, good! But if you do not worship it you will be thrown into the midst of a blazing furnace that same hour. What god will be able to rescue you from my hand? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king: O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If it is so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the blazing furnace. He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. If not you should know O king that we will not serve your gods. We will not worship the golden image that you set up! Nebuchadnezzar was furious. The expression on his face changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than its required heat. He commanded the mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to throw them into the blazing furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, caps and their other garments. They were thrown into the midst of the blazing furnace. Because of the urgency of the king's commandment and the exceeding hot furnace, the flame of the fire killed the men who delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the blazing furnace. Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished. He hurried to speak to his counselors: / Did we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered: True O king. He said: Look, I see four men walking in the midst of the fire. They are not hurt! The appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods! Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning blazing furnace. He called out: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God come here! Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire. The satraps, deputies, governors, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men. They saw that the fire had no power upon their bodies. Not a single hair on their head was singed. Neither were their clothes changed and they did not smell like fire. Nebuchadnezzar said: Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel and delivered his servants who trusted in him. They violated the king's command and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut into pieces. Their houses shall be made a dunghill. There is no other god that is able to deliver like this. The king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus (Xerxes), of the lineage of the Medes. He was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans. It was the first year of his reign. I, Daniel, understood from The Books (Holy Scriptures) the number of the years in the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah the prophet. It was seventy years since the destruction of Jerusalem. I looked to Jehovah God to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.read more.
And I prayed to Jehovah my God, and made confession, and said, Oh, Jehovah, the great and fear-inspiring (awesome) God, who keeps his covenant and loving kindness for those who love him and keep his commandments. We have sinned. We have dealt perversely. We have acted wickedly and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your ordinances. We have not listened to your servants the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. O Jehovah, righteousness belongs to you! Shame belongs to us this day! To the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you. O Jehovah, to us belongs shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To Jehovah our God belong mercies and forgiveness. We have rebelled against him. We have not obeyed the voice of Jehovah our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel have transgressed your law and turned aside, that they should not obey your voice. Therefore the curse has been poured out upon us. It is the oath that is written in the Law of Moses the servant of God. We have sinned against you. He confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges who ruled us. He brought a great evil on us. Nothing under heaven has been done like what was done to Jerusalem. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this evil has come upon us. Yet we have not earnestly requested the favor of Jehovah our God. We should turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in your truth. Therefore Jehovah watched over the evil and brought it upon us. Jehovah our God is righteous in all his works. We have not obeyed his voice. And now, O Jehovah our God, you brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made a name for yourself that day. We have sinned! We have done wickedly. O Jehovah, according to all your righteousness, let your anger, I pray you, be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. Because of our sins, and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to all those who are round about us. Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant, and to his supplications, and cause your face to shine upon your sanctuary that is desolate, for Jehovah's sake. O my God, incline your ear, and hear! Open your eyes, and behold our desolations and the city that is called by your name. We do not present our supplications before you because of our righteous merits, but according to your many mercies. O Jehovah, hear; O Jehovah, forgive; O Jehovah, pay attention and act! Do not delay for your own sake, O my God! Because your city and your people are called by your name.

We will not cause them trouble. Go to the sea, and let down a hook, and take the first fish you catch. You will see money (a stater coin) in its mouth. Give it to them for me and for you.

Caesar's, they said. Then he said: Pay Caesar the things that are Caesar's. Pay God the things that are God's.

Teacher, they said, we know that you are right in what you say and teach. You are not partial and do not play favorites. Rather you teach the way of God truthfully. Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not? He perceived their craftiness, and replied:read more.
Show me a denarius. Whose image and superscription does it have? They said, Caesar's. He said to them: Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.

They came to Jesus and earnestly pleaded with him saying: He is worthy and you should do this for him. He loves our nation and he also built our synagogue for us.

The next day the magistrates sent the officers saying: Let those men go. The jailor reported the words to Paul, saying: The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore go in peace. Paul said to them: They have beaten us publicly uncondemned, men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison. Do they now throw us out privately? No I say, but let them come in person to bring us out.read more.
The officers reported these words to the magistrates. They feared when they heard that they were Romans. They personally came to them and brought them out. They asked them to go away from the city.

The Roman commander ordered his men to take Paul into the barracks. He told them to whip him in order to find out why the Jews were screaming like this against him. When they tied him up to be whipped Paul said to the officer standing there, Is it lawful for you to whip a Roman citizen who has not been tried for a crime? When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and asked him: What are you doing? That man is a Roman citizen!read more.
The commander went to Paul and asked him: Tell me, are you a Roman citizen? Yes, answered Paul. The commander said: I became one by paying a large amount of money. I am one by birth, Paul answered. At once the men who were going to question Paul drew back from him. The commander was frightened when he found out that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had put him in chains.

Let every person be subject to superior authorities. For there is no authority except by God. God allows the authorities to serve in their positions.

Remind them to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, and to be ready to do every good work,

Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it is to the king, or to governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evildoers and for praise to those who do good.

Beloved, I request that you as aliens and strangers abstain from fleshly lust (desires), which causes conflict in you.

Render therefore to all their due. Provide tribute to whom tribute is due. Give custom to whom custom is owed. Render fear to whom fear is owed and offer honor to whom honor is deserved.

I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, They should be made for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.read more.
It is God's desire that all men have salvation and come to the full (precise) (accurate) (correct) knowledge (Greek: epignosis: recognition, discernment) of the truth.

Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it is to the king, or to governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evildoers and for praise to those who do good. It is God's will that you do the right things and that this will silence the ignorance of foolish men.read more.
Be free, and yet do not use your freedom for a covering for evil, but as servants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Reverence and respect God. Honor the king.

Nothing impure will ever enter it. The shameful and deceitful will not enter. Only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life will enter.