67 Bible Verses about ethics, incentives towards

For the magistrates are not a terror unto those who do good, but to the doer of evil. Is thy desire therefore to not fear the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same; for he is a minister of God for thy good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is a minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that does evil.

Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all the gates of thy cities, which the LORD thy God shall give thee throughout thy tribes, and they shall judge the people with just (and righteous) judgment.

According to the word of the law which they shall show thee and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do; thou shalt not decline from the word which they shall show thee, to the right hand nor to the left. And the man that will act presumptuously and will not hearken unto the priest that stands to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die; and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.

If there is a controversy between persons and they come unto judgment and they are judged, then they shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked.

Do right concerning the poor and fatherless; do justice to the poor and destitute. Deliver the poor and destitute; deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men, for kings, and for all that are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and integrity. For this is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour,read more.
who desires that all men be saved and come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Therefore, be subject to every human ordinance that is of the Lord, whether it be to a king or to a superior, and unto governors as unto those that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those that do well.

For if ye set men free from their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also set you free; but if ye do not set men free from their trespasses, neither will your Father set you free from your trespasses.

Why, therefore, hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in his sight? Thou hast killed Uriah, the Hittite, with the sword and hast taken his wife to be thy wife and hast slain him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from thy house because thou hast despised me and hast taken the wife of Uriah, the Hittite, to be thy wife.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

For with the judgment with which ye judge, ye shall be judged, and with the measure with which ye measure, ye shall be measured again.

So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you unless from your hearts ye forgive every one his brother their trespasses.

For judgment without mercy shall be done unto the one that has shown no mercy; and mercy boasts against judgment.

Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day to make your voice to be heard on high.

Bring no more vain oblations; the incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot stand them; iniquity and the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; likewise, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood.

And they shall come unto thee as the people come, and they shall be before thee, my people, and they shall hear thy words, but they shall not do them; for with their mouth they flatter, but their heart goes after their covetousness.

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

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin and have omitted that which is more important of the law: judgment, mercy, and faith; these were expedient for ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs and pass over the judgment and the charity of God; these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him, being abominable and rebellious and reprobate unto every good work.

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

Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.

If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:

They shall go with their flocks and with their herds seeking the LORD; but they shall not find him; he has withdrawn himself from them.

Then they shall cry unto the LORD, but he will not respond to them: he will even hide his face from them at that time because of their evil doings.

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

For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that sows in the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life.

And it shall come to pass if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep, to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee today, that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee.

Thy princes are rebellious and companions of thieves; every one loves bribes and follows after rewards; they do not hear the fatherless in judgment, neither does the cause of the widow come unto them. Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of the hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease myself of my adversaries and avenge myself of my enemies;

Know ye not that the unjust shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not err: neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor homosexuals

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive according to that which they have done in the body, good or evil.

Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil lust, and covetousness, which is idolatry; for which things' sake the wrath of God comes on the sons of disobedience,

Follow peace with everyone and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord:

For in another time ye were darkness, but now ye are light in the Lord: walk as children of light;

No, in no wise. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?

And that he died for all that those who live should not live from now on unto themselves, but unto him who died and rose again for them.

Lie not one to another, putting off the old man with his deeds and being clothed with the new man, who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one that created him,

Be ye therefore imitators of God, as dear children and walk in charity even as the Christ also has loved us and has given himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.

I am the LORD thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt out of the house of slavery.

Therefore, I beseech you brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies in living sacrifice, holy, well pleasing unto God, which is your rational worship.

I speak not as commanding, but by occasion of the diligence of others and to prove the sincerity of your charity. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be enriched.

who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a people of his own, zealous of good works.

In this we have known the charity of God because he laid down his life for us; we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Do not forget to do good and to fellowship; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Therefore we also procure, whether present or absent, that we may please him.

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

For our exhortation was not of error nor of uncleanness nor in guile, but because we have been approved of God that he might entrust us with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, who tries our hearts.

It is in order then, brethren, that we beseech and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that in the manner ye were taught of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would continue to grow.

and whatsoever we ask, we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in the place of his holiness? He that has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not taken my name in vain, nor sworn deceitfully.

To do righteousness and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Is not rather the fast that I have chosen, to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the ties of oppression, to release into freedom those who are broken, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to share thy bread with the hungry and that thou bring the poor that are cast out into thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou not hide thyself from thy brother?

and to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the soul and with all the strength and to love his neighbour as himself is more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.

The pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation and to keep thyself unspotted from this world.

Jesus answered and said unto him, He who loves me will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and dwell with him.

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

LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in the mountain of thy holiness? He that walks in integrity and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart. He that does not backbite with his tongue nor do evil to his neighbour nor take up a reproach against his neighbour.read more.
In whose eyes the vile person is not esteemed; but he honours those that fear the LORD. He that swears to his own hurt and does not change. He that does not put out his money to usury nor take a bribe against the innocent. He that does these things shall never be moved.

He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Thou shalt follow justice and righteousness, that thou may live and inherit the land which the LORD thy God gives thee.

and all these blessings shall come upon thee and overtake thee when thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.

For the LORD God is a sun and shield unto us; the LORD will give grace and glory; he will not withhold good from those that walk uprightly.

Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do righteousness: for my saving health is near to come, and my righteousness to be manifested. Blessed is the man that does this, and the son of man that lays hold on it; that keeps from polluting the sabbath, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.

Then shalt thou call, and thou shalt hear the LORD; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if thou pour out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.read more.
And they shall build up out of thee the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the fallen foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy will on my holy day; and call the sabbath the delightful, holy, glorious day of the LORD; and shalt honour him by not doing thine own ways, nor seeking thine own will, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth and cause thee to eat of the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.

that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who sees in secret, shall reward thee openly.

But when thou makest a banquet, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and thou shalt be blessed, for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.