67 Bible Verses about ethics, incentives towards

For rulers are not a terror to a good work, but to an evil one. Dost thou desire then not to be afraid of the authority? practise what is good, and thou shalt have praise from it; for it is God's minister to thee for good. But if thou practisest evil, fear; for it bears not the sword in vain; for it is God's minister, an avenger for wrath to him that does evil.

Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes, that they may judge the people with just judgment.

according to the sentence of the law which they shall declare unto thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the word which they shall declare unto thee, to the right hand, or the left. And the man that shall act presumptuously, and not hearken unto the priest that standeth to serve there before Jehovah thy God, or unto the judge, that man shall die; and thou shalt put away evil from Israel.

If there be a controversy between men, and they resort to judgment, and they judge their case; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked.

Judge the poor and the fatherless, do justice to the afflicted and the destitute; Rescue the poor and needy, deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.

I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings be made for all men; for kings and all that are in dignity, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all piety and gravity; for this is good and acceptable before our Saviour God,read more.
who desires that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

Be in subjection therefore to every human institution for the Lord's sake; whether to the king as supreme, or to rulers as sent by him, for vengeance on evildoers, and praise to them that do well.

For if ye forgive men their offences, your heavenly Father also will forgive you yours, but if ye do not forgive men their offences, neither will your Father forgive your offences.

Wherefore hast thou despised the word of Jehovah to do evil in his sight? thou hast smitten Urijah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Urijah the Hittite to be thy wife.

Blessed the merciful, for they shall find mercy.

for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you.

Thus also my heavenly Father shall do to you if ye forgive not from your hearts every one his brother.

for judgment will be without mercy to him that has shewn no mercy. Mercy glories over judgment.

Behold, ye have fasted for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness; ye do not at present fast, to cause your voice to be heard on high.

Bring no more vain oblations! Incense is an abomination unto me, new moon and sabbath, the calling of convocations wickedness and the solemn meeting I cannot bear. Your new moons and your set feasts my soul hateth: they are a burden to me; I am wearied of bearing them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

And they come unto thee as a people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they do them not; for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their dishonest gain.

Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye really fast unto me, even unto me?

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye pay tithes of mint and anise and cummin, and ye have left aside the weightier matters of the law, judgment and mercy and faith: these ye ought to have done and not have left those aside.

But woe unto you, Pharisees, for ye pay tithes of mint and rue and every herb, and pass by the judgment and the love of God: these ye ought to have done, and not have left those aside.

They profess to know God, but in works deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and found worthless as to every good work.

but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he doth not hear.

Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not the spirit of thy holiness from me.

Had I regarded iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not hear.

They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek Jehovah; but they shall not find him: he hath withdrawn himself from them.

Then shall they cry unto Jehovah, but he will not answer them; and he will hide his face from them at that time, according as they have wrought evil in their doings.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which ye have been sealed for the day of redemption.

For he that sows to his own flesh, shall reap corruption from the flesh; but he that sows to the Spirit, from the Spirit shall reap eternal life:

But it shall come to pass if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God, to take heed to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee.

thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth presents, and hunteth after rewards; they judge not the fatherless, and the cause of the widow cometh not unto them. Therefore saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ah! I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies.

Do ye not know that unrighteous persons shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not err: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who make women of themselves, nor who abuse themselves with men,

For we must all be manifested before the judgment-seat of the Christ, that each may receive the things done in the body, according to those he has done, whether it be good or evil.

Put to death therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, vile passions, evil lust, and unbridled desire, which is idolatry. On account of which things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Pursue peace with all, and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord:

for ye were once darkness, but now light in the Lord; walk as children of light,

Far be the thought. We who have died to sin, how shall we still live in it?

and he died for all, that they who live should no longer live to themselves, but to him who died for them and has been raised.

Do not lie to one another, having put off the old man with his deeds, and having put on the new, renewed into full knowledge according to the image of him that has created him;

Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, even as the Christ loved us, and delivered himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.

I am Jehovah thy God, who have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the compassions of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your intelligent service.

I do not speak as commanding it, but through the zeal of others, and proving the genuineness of your love. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sakes he, being rich, became poor, in order that ye by his poverty might be enriched.

who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all lawlessness, and purify to himself a peculiar people, zealous for good works.

Hereby we have known love, because he has laid down his life for us; and we ought for the brethren to lay down our lives.

But of doing good and communicating of your substance be not forgetful, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Wherefore also we are zealous, whether present or absent, to be agreeable to him.

Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing in the Lord.

For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile; but even as we have been approved of God to have the glad tidings entrusted to us, so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, who proves our hearts.

For the rest, then, brethren, we beg you and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, even as ye have received from us how ye ought to walk and please God, even as ye also do walk, that ye would abound still more.

and whatsoever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments, and practise the things which are pleasing in his sight.

Who shall ascend into the mount of Jehovah? and who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath blameless hands and a pure heart; who lifteth not up his soul unto vanity, nor sweareth deceitfully:

To exercise justice and judgment is more acceptable to Jehovah than sacrifice.

For I delight in loving-kindness, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings.

Is not this the fast which I have chosen: to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, and to send forth free the crushed, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring to thy house the needy wanderers; when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

and to love him with all the heart, and with all the intelligence, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbour as one's self, is more than all the burnt-offerings and sacrifices.

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Jesus answered and said to him, If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him.

And now, Israel, what doth Jehovah thy God require of thee, but to fear Jehovah thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of Jehovah, and his statutes, which I command thee this day, for thy good?

{A Psalm of David.} Jehovah, who shall sojourn in thy tent? who shall dwell in the hill of thy holiness? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth from his heart. He that slandereth not with his tongue, doeth not evil to his companion, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour;read more.
In whose eyes the depraved person is contemned, and who honoureth them that fear Jehovah; who, if he have sworn to his own hurt, changeth it not; He that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

He that overcomes shall inherit these things, and I will be to him God, and he shall be to me son.

Perfect justice shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and possess the land that Jehovah thy God giveth thee.

and all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of Jehovah thy God.

And he is as a tree planted by brooks of water, which giveth its fruit in its season, and whose leaf fadeth not; and all that he doeth prospereth.

For Jehovah Elohim is a sun and shield: Jehovah will give grace and glory; no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Thus saith Jehovah: Keep ye judgment and do righteousness; for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that holdeth fast to it; that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.

Then shalt thou call, and Jehovah will answer; thou shalt cry, and he will say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger and the unjust speech, and thou proffer thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then shall thy light rise in the darkness, and thine obscurity be as midday; and Jehovah will guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and strengthen thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a water-spring, whose waters deceive not.read more.
And they that come of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations that have remained from generation to generation; and thou shalt be called, Repairer of the breaches, restorer of frequented paths. If thou turn back thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of Jehovah, honourable; and thou honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking idle words; then shalt thou delight thyself in Jehovah, and I will cause thee to ride on the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken.

so that thou mayest not appear fasting unto men, but to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father who sees in secret shall render it to thee.

But when thou makest a feast, call poor, crippled, lame, blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they have not the means to recompense thee; for it shall be recompensed thee in the resurrection of the just.