8 Bible Verses about Courts

This is the third time I am coming to you: By the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.

Whoever killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.

At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.

One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth; at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.

But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

But I say to you, That whoever is angry with his brother without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment: and whoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell-fire.

And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,

Then the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and said, What do we? for this man performeth many miracles.

And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

And when he had assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where Christ should be born.

And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.

Or hath found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein:

And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with its timber and its stones.

For lewd persons, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine,

And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.

Agree with thy adversary quickly, while thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbor hath put thee to shame.

Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints?

Moreover, thou shalt provide out of all the people, able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring to thee, but every small matter they shall judge: So shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.

So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.

And thou shalt come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment:

And she dwelt under the palm-tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Beth-el in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment.

Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out to the elders of his city, and to the gate of his place;

And if the man shall not like to take his brother's wife, then let his brother's wife go up to the gate to the elders, and say, My husband's brother refuseth to raise up to his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband's brother.

That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.

Woe to them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!

Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow.

Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor.

Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment. Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift; for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.

Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to die; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears. Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes, and to all the people, saying, The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that ye have heard. Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent of the evil that he hath pronounced against you. read more.
As for me, behold, I am in your hand: do with me as it seemeth good and meet to you. But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye will surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, upon this city, and upon its inhabitants: for of a truth the LORD hath sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.

Then Pilate entered into the judgment-hall again, and called Jesus, and said to him, Art thou the King of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing from thyself, or did others tell it thee concerning me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thy own nation, and the chief priests, have delivered thee to me: What hast thou done? read more.
Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said to him, Art thou a King then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a King. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should testify to the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said to him, Thou sayest.

And when he had tarried among them more than ten days, he went down to Cesarea; and the next day sitting on the judgment-seat, commanded Paul to be brought.

And caught a young man of the men of Succoth, and inquired of him: and he described to him the princes of Succoth, and its elders, even seventy seven men.

Then Pilate entered into the judgment-hall again, and called Jesus, and said to him, Art thou the King of the Jews?

And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers who stood by, struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so?

The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know for what cause they cried so against him.

If there shall arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and go up to the place which the LORD thy God shall choose; And thou shalt come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment: And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the LORD shall choose shall show thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee: read more.
According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall show thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.

And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken to the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or to the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt remove the evil from Israel.

And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went from year to year in circuit to Beth-el, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places.

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning to the evening. And when Moses's father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? Why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning to evening? And Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to inquire of God: read more.
When they have a matter, they come to me, and I judge between one and another, and I make them know the statutes of God, and his laws. And Moses's father-in-law said to him, The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. Hearken now to my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people toward God, that thou mayest bring the causes to God: And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt show them the way in which they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover, thou shalt provide out of all the people, able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring to thee, but every small matter they shall judge: So shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought to Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.

For if I am an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there is none of these things of which these accuse me, no man may deliver me to them. I appeal to Cesar.

And after five days, Ananias the high priest descended with the elders, and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul.