29 Bible Verses about Citizenship

And the king of Egypt speaketh to the midwives, the Hebrewesses, (of whom the name of the one is Shiphrah, and the name of the second Puah), and saith, 'When ye cause the Hebrew women to bear, and have looked on the children; if it is a son -- then ye have put him to death; and if it is a daughter -- then she hath lived.' And the midwives fear God, and have not done as the king of Egypt hath spoken unto them, and keep the lads alive;read more.
and the king of Egypt calleth for the midwives, and saith to them, 'Wherefore have ye done this thing, and keep the lads alive?' And the midwives say unto Pharaoh, 'Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women, for they are lively; before the midwife cometh in unto them -- they have borne!' And God doth good to the midwives, and the people multiply, and are very mighty; and it cometh to pass, because the midwives have feared God, that He maketh for them households;

And they answer Joshua, saying, 'All that thou hast commanded us we do; and unto every place whither thou dost send us, we go; according to all that we hearkened unto Moses in, so we hearken unto thee; surely Jehovah thy God is with thee as He hath been with Moses.

And, now, lo, the king whom ye have chosen -- whom ye have asked! and lo, Jehovah hath placed over you a king. If ye fear Jehovah, and have served Him, and hearkened to His voice, then ye do not provoke the mouth of Jehovah, and ye have been -- both ye and the king who hath reigned over you -- after Jehovah your God. And if ye do not hearken to the voice of Jehovah -- then ye have provoked the mouth of Jehovah, and the hand of Jehovah hath been against you, and against your fathers.

and any who doth not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, speedily is judgment done upon him, whether to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of riches, and to bonds.'

I pray thee, the commandment of a king keep, even for the sake of the oath of God.

And there are who are saying, 'We have borrowed money for the tribute of the king, on our fields, and our vineyards; and now, as the flesh of our brethren is our flesh, as their sons are our sons, and lo, we are subduing our sons and our daughters for servants, and there are of our daughters subdued, and our hand hath no might, and our fields and our vineyards are to others.' And it is very displeasing to me when I have heard their cry and these words,read more.
and my heart reigneth over me, and I strive with the freemen, and with the prefects, and say to them, 'Usury one upon another ye are exacting;' and I set against them a great assembly, and say to them, 'We have acquired our brethren the Jews, those sold to the nations, according to the ability that is in us, and ye also sell your brethren, and they have been sold to us!' and they are silent, and have not found a word. And I say, 'Not good is the thing that ye are doing; in the fear of our God do ye not walk, because of the reproach of the nations our enemies? And also, I, my brethren, and my servants, are exacting of them silver and corn; let us leave off, I pray you, this usury. Give back, I pray you, to them, as to-day, their fields, their vineyards, their olive-yards, and their houses, and the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, of the new wine, and of the oil, that ye are exacting of them.' And they say, 'We give back, and of them we seek nothing; so we do as thou art saying.' And I call the priests, and cause them to swear to do according to this thing; also, my lap I have shaken, and I say, 'Thus doth God shake out every man, who doth not perform this thing, from his house, and from his labour; yea, thus is he shaken out and empty;' and all the assembly say, 'Amen,' and praise Jehovah; and the people do according to this thing.

Our oxen are carrying, there is no breach, And there is no outgoing, And there is no crying in our broad places.

By the blessing of the upright is a city exalted, And by the mouth of the wicked thrown down.

Whoso is keeping the law is an intelligent son, And a friend of gluttons, Doth cause his father to blush.

Go to and fro in streets of Jerusalem, And see, I pray you, and know, And seek in her broad places, if ye find a man, If there be one doing judgment, seeking stedfastness -- Then am I propitious to her.

O Hope of Israel -- its saviour in time of trouble, Why art Thou as a sojourner in the land? And as a traveller turned aside to lodge?

'Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, to all the removal that I removed from Jerusalem to Babylon, Build ye houses, and abide; and plant ye gardens, and eat their fruit; Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take for your sons wives, and your daughters give to husbands, and they bear sons and daughters; and multiply there, and ye are not few;read more.
And seek the peace of the city whither I have removed you, and pray for it unto Jehovah, for in its peace ye have peace.

Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of your multiplying above the nations that are around you, In My statutes ye have not walked, And My judgments ye have not done, According to the judgments of the nations That are round about you ye have not done.

Nebuchadnezzar the king hath made an image of gold, its height sixty cubits, its breadth six cubits; he hath raised it up in the valley of Dura, in the province of Babylon; and Nebuchadnezzar the king hath sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the honourable judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the province, to come to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath raised up. Then are gathered the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the honourable judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the province, to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath raised up: and they are standing before the image that Nebuchadnezzar hath raised up.read more.
And a crier is calling mightily: 'To you they are saying: O peoples, nations, and languages! at the time that ye hear the voice of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbut, the psaltery, the symphony, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and do obeisance to the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath raised up: and whoso doth not fall down and do obeisance, in that hour he is cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.' Therefore at that time, when all the peoples are hearing the voice of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbut, the psaltery, and all kinds of music, falling down are all the peoples, nations and languages, doing obeisance to the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath raised up. Therefore at that time drawn near have certain Chaldeans, and accused the Jews; they have answered, yea, they are saying to Nebuchadnezzar the king, 'O king, to the ages live! Thou, O king, hast made a decree that every man who doth hear the voice of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbut, the psaltery, and the symphony, and all kinds of music, doth fall down and do obeisance to the golden image; and whoso doth not fall down and do obeisance, is cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom thou hast appointed over the work of the province of Babylon -- Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, these men have not made of thee, O king, any regard; thy gods they are not serving, and to the golden image thou hast raised up -- are not making obeisance.' Then Nebuchadnezzar, in anger and fury, hath said to bring in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. Then these men have been brought in before the king. Nebuchadnezzar hath answered and said to them, 'Is it a laid plan, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego -- my gods ye are not serving, and to the golden image that I have raised up ye are not doing obeisance? Now, lo, ye are ready, so that at the time that ye hear the voice of the cornet, the flute, the harp, the sackbut, the psaltery, and the symphony, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and do obeisance to the image that I have made! -- and lo, ye do no obeisance -- in that hour ye are cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; who is that God who doth deliver you out of my hands?' Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego have answered, yea, they are saying to the king Nebuchadnezzar, 'We have no need concerning this matter to answer thee. Lo, it is; our God whom we are serving, is able to deliver us from a burning fiery furnace; and from thy hand, O king, He doth deliver. And lo -- not! be it known to thee, O king, that thy gods we are not serving, and to the golden image thou hast raised up we do no obeisance.' Then Nebuchadnezzar hath been full of fury, and the expression of his face hath been changed concerning Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; he answered and said to heat the furnace seven times above that which it is seen to be heated; and to certain mighty men who are in his force he hath said to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, to cast into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men have been bound in their coats, their tunics, and their turbans, and their clothing, and have been cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because that the word of the king is urgent, and the furnace heated exceedingly, those men who have taken up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego -- killed them hath the spark of the fire. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, have fallen down in the midst of the burning fiery furnace -- bound. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king hath been astonished, and hath risen in haste; he hath answered and said to his counsellors, 'Have we not cast three men into the midst of the fire -- bound?' They have answered and are saying to the king, 'Certainly, O king.' He answered and hath said, 'Lo, I am seeing four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like to a son of the gods.' Then Nebuchadnezzar hath drawn near to the gate of the burning fiery furnace; he hath answered and said, 'Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, servants of God Most High come forth, yea, come;' then come forth do Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, from the midst of the fire; and gathered together, the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, and the counsellors of the king, are seeing these men, that the fire hath no power over their bodies, and the hair of their head hath not been singed, and their coats have not changed, and the smell of fire hath not passed on them. Nebuchadnezzar hath answered and hath said, 'Blessed is the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who hath sent His messenger, and hath delivered His servants who trusted on Him, and the word of the king changed, and gave up their bodies that they might not serve nor do obeisance to any god except to their own God. And by me a decree is made, that any people, nation, and language, that doth speak erroneously concerning the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, pieces he is made, and its house is made a dunghill, because that there is no other god who is able thus to deliver.' Then the king hath caused Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, to prosper in the province of Babylon.

In the first year of Darius, son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who hath been made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, have understood by books the number of the years, (in that a word of Jehovah hath been unto Jeremiah the prophet,) concerning the fulfilling of the wastes of Jerusalem -- seventy years; and I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.read more.
And I pray to Jehovah my God, and confess, and say: 'I beseech Thee, O Lord God, the great and the fearful, keeping the covenant and the kindness to those loving Him, and to those keeping His commands; we have sinned, and done perversely, and done wickedly, and rebelled, to turn aside from Thy commands, and from Thy judgments: and we have not hearkened unto Thy servants, the prophets, who have spoken in Thy name unto our kings, our heads, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To Thee, O Lord, is the righteousness, and to us the shame of face, as at this day, to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off, in all the lands whither Thou hast driven them, in their trespass that they have trespassed against Thee. O Lord, to us is the shame of face, to our kings, to our heads, and to our fathers, in that we have sinned against Thee. To the Lord our God are the mercies and the forgivenesses, for we have rebelled against Him, and have not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah our God, to walk in His laws, that He hath set before us by the hand of His servants the prophets; and all Israel have transgressed Thy law, to turn aside so as not to hearken to Thy voice; and poured on us is the execration, and the oath, that is written in the law of Moses, servant of God, because we have sinned against Him. 'And He confirmeth His words that He hath spoken against us, and against our judges who have judged us, to bring in upon us great evil, in that it hath not been done under the whole heavens as it hath been done in Jerusalem, as it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil hath come upon us, and we have not appeased the face of Jehovah our God to turn back from our iniquities, and to act wisely in Thy truth. And Jehovah doth watch for the evil, and bringeth it upon us, for righteous is Jehovah our God concerning all His works that He hath done, and we have not hearkened to His voice. And now, O Lord our God, who hast brought forth Thy people from the land of Egypt by a strong hand, and dost make for Thee a name as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly. O Lord, according to all Thy righteous acts, let turn back, I pray Thee, Thine anger and Thy fury from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy mount, for by our sins, and by the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people are for a reproach to all our neighbours; and now, hearken, O our God, unto the prayer of Thy servant, and unto his supplication, and cause Thy face to shine on Thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. Incline, O my God, Thine ear, and hear, open Thine eyes and see our desolations, and the city on which Thy name is called; for not for our righteous acts are we causing our supplications to fall before Thee, but for Thy mercies that are many. O lord, hear, O Lord, forgive; O Lord, attend and do; do not delay, for Thine own sake, O my God, for Thy name is called on Thy city, and on Thy people.'

but, that we may not cause them to stumble, having gone to the sea, cast a hook, and the fish that hath come up first take thou up, and having opened its mouth, thou shalt find a stater, that having taken, give to them for me and thee.'

they say to him, 'Caesar's;' then saith he to them, 'Render therefore the things of Caesar to Caesar, and the things of God to God;'

and they questioned him, saying, 'Teacher, we have known that thou dost say and teach rightly, and dost not accept a person, but in truth the way of God dost teach; Is it lawful to us to give tribute to Caesar or not?' And he, having perceived their craftiness, said unto them, 'Why me do ye tempt?read more.
shew me a denary; of whom hath it an image and superscription?' and they answering said, 'Of Caesar:' and he said to them, 'Give back, therefore, the things of Caesar to Caesar, and the things of God to God;'

And they, having come near unto Jesus, were calling upon him earnestly, saying -- 'He is worthy to whom thou shalt do this, for he doth love our nation, and the synagogue he did build to us.'

And day having come, the magistrates sent the rod-bearers, saying, 'Let those men go;' and the jailor told these words unto Paul -- 'The magistrates have sent, that ye may be let go; now, therefore, having gone forth go on in peace;' and Paul said to them, 'Having beaten us publicly uncondemned -- men, Romans being -- they did cast us to prison, and now privately do they cast us forth! why no! but having come themselves, let them bring us forth.'read more.
And the rod-bearers told to the magistrates these sayings, and they were afraid, having heard that they are Romans, and having come, they besought them, and having brought them forth, they were asking them to go forth from the city;

the chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, saying, 'By scourges let him be examined;' that he might know for what cause they were crying so against him. And as he was stretching him with the thongs, Paul said unto the centurion who was standing by, 'A man, a Roman, uncondemned -- is it lawful to you to scourge;' and the centurion having heard, having gone near to the chief captain, told, saying, 'Take heed what thou art about to do, for this man is a Roman;'read more.
and the chief captain having come near, said to him, 'Tell me, art thou a Roman?' and he said, 'Yes;' and the chief captain answered, 'I, with a great sum, did obtain this citizenship;' but Paul said, 'But I have been even born so.' Immediately, therefore, they departed from him who are about to examine him, and the chief captain also was afraid, having learned that he is a Roman, and because he had bound him,

Let every soul to the higher authorities be subject, for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities existing are appointed by God,

Remind them to be subject to principalities and authorities, to obey rule, unto every good work to be ready,

Be subject, then, to every human creation, because of the Lord, whether to a king, as the highest, whether to governors, as to those sent through him, for punishment, indeed, of evil-doers, and a praise of those doing good;

Beloved, I call upon you, as strangers and sojourners, to keep from the fleshly desires, that war against the soul,

render, therefore, to all their dues; to whom tribute, the tribute; to whom custom, the custom; to whom fear, the fear; to whom honour, the honour.

I exhort, then, first of all, there be made supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, for all men: for kings, and all who are in authority, that a quiet and peaceable life we may lead in all piety and gravity, for this is right and acceptable before God our Saviour,read more.
who doth will all men to be saved, and to come to the full knowledge of the truth;

Be subject, then, to every human creation, because of the Lord, whether to a king, as the highest, whether to governors, as to those sent through him, for punishment, indeed, of evil-doers, and a praise of those doing good; because, so is the will of God, doing good, to put to silence the ignorance of the foolish men;read more.
as free, and not having the freedom as the cloak of the evil, but as servants of God; to all give ye honour; the brotherhood love ye; God fear ye; the king honour ye.

and there may not at all enter into it any thing defiling and doing abomination, and a lie, but -- those written in the scroll of the life of the Lamb.