67 Bible Verses about ethics, incentives towards

For rulers are not a [cause of] terror for a good deed, but for bad [conduct]. So do you want not to be afraid of authority? Do what [is] good, and you will have praise from it, for it is God's servant to you for what [is] good. But if you do what [is] bad, be afraid, because it does not bear the sword to no purpose. For it is God's servant, the one who avenges for punishment on the one who does [what is] bad.

"You shall appoint judges and officials for you in all your {towns} that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you throughout your tribes, and you shall render [for] the people {righteous judgments}.

[And so] according to {the instruction of the law} that they teach you and according to the decisions that they say to you, you shall do; you shall not turn from the word that they tell you to the right or [to the] left. And the man who treats with contempt [so as] not to listen to the priest [who] [is] standing to minister on behalf of Yahweh your God or to the judge, that man shall die; so you shall purge the evil from Israel.

"When a legal dispute {takes place} between men and they come near to the court, and [the judges] judge [with respect to] them, then they shall declare the righteous [to be] in the right and they shall condemn the wicked,

Judge [on behalf of the] helpless and [the] orphan; provide justice [to the] afflicted and [the] poor. Rescue [the] helpless and [the] needy; deliver [them] from the hand of [the] wicked."

Therefore, I urge first of all [that] petitions, prayers, requests, [and] thanksgiving be made on behalf of all people, on behalf of kings and all those who are in authority, in order that we may live a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This [is] good and acceptable before God our Savior,read more.
who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Subject yourselves to every human authority for the sake of the Lord, whether to a king as having supreme authority, or to governors as those sent out by him for the punishment of those who do evil and the praise of those who do good.

For if you forgive people their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive people, neither will your Father forgive your sins.

Why have you despised the word of Yahweh by doing evil in his eyes? Uriah the Hittite you have struck down with the sword, and his wife you have taken to yourself as wife! You have killed him with the sword of the {Ammonites}! So then, a sword will not turn away from your house forever, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife!'

Blessed [are] the merciful, because they will be shown mercy.

For by what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and by what measure you measure out, it will be measured out to you.

So also my heavenly Father will do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from your hearts!"

For judgment [is] merciless to the one who has not practiced mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Look! You fast to quarrel and strife, and to strike with a {wicked fist}. You shall not fast as [you do] {today}, to {make your voice heard} on the height.

You must not {continue} to bring offerings of futility, incense--it [is] an abomination to me; new moon and Sabbath, [the] calling of a convocation-- I cannot endure iniquity with [solemn] assembly. Your new moons and your appointed festivals my soul hates; they have become to me like burden, I am not able to bear [them]. And when you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I [will] not be listening. Your hands are full of blood.

And they come to you {as people do}, and they sit {before you}, and my people hear your words, and they do not do them, for they [are] showing passion in their mouth, but their heart [is] going after ill-gotten gain.

"Say to all the people of the land and to the priests: 'When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh months for these seventy years, did you really fast for me?

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees--hypocrites!--because you pay a tenth of mint and dill and cumin, and neglect the more important [matters] of the law--justice and mercy and faithfulness! It was necessary to do these [things] {while not neglecting those}.

"But woe to you, Pharisees, because you pay a tenth of mint and rue and every garden herb, and neglect justice and love for God! But it was necessary to do these [things] without neglecting those things also.

They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny [him], [because they] are detestable and disobedient, and unfit for every good deed.

Rather, your iniquities have been {barriers} between you and your God, and your sins have hidden [his] face from you, from hearing.

Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.

If I had considered evil in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

With their flocks and herds they will go to seek Yahweh, but they will not find him; he has withdrawn from them.

Then they will cry to Yahweh, but he will not answer them. He will hide his face from them at that time, when they have made their deeds evil.

and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

because the one who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.

"{And then} if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God {by diligently observing} all of his commandments and his statutes that I [am] commanding you {today}, then all of these curses shall come upon you, and they shall overtake you:

Your princes [are] rebels and companions of thieves. Every one loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not defend [the] orphan and [the] legal dispute of [the] widow does not come before them. Therefore, the declaration of the Lord Yahweh of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: "Ah, I will be relieved of my enemies, and I will avenge myself on my foes.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Neither sexually immoral people, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor passive homosexual partners, nor dominant homosexual partners,

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, in order that each one may receive back the [things] through the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Therefore put to death {what is earthly in you}: sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustful passion, evil desire, and greediness, which is idolatry, because of which the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,

Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.

for you were formerly darkness, but now [you are] light in the Lord. Live like children of light

May it never be! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

And he died for all, in order that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.

Do not lie to one another, [because you] have taken off the old man together with his deeds, and have put on the new [man] that is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one who created him,

Therefore become imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, just as also Christ loved us, and gave himself for us an offering and sacrifice to God for a fragrant smell.

"I [am] Yahweh, your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slaves.

Therefore I exhort you, brothers, through the mercies of God, to present your bodies [as] a living sacrifice, holy [and] pleasing to God, [which is] your reasonable service.

I am not saying [this] as a command, but proving the genuineness of your love by means of the diligence of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that [although he] was rich, for your sake he became poor, in order that you, by his poverty, may become rich.

who gave himself for us, in order that he might redeem us from all lawlessness and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds.

We have come to know love by this: that {he} laid down his life on behalf of us, and we ought to lay down our lives on behalf of the brothers.

And do not neglect doing good and generosity, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.

Therefore indeed we have as our ambition, whether at home [in the body] or absent [from the body], to be acceptable to him.

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing in the Lord.

For our exhortation [is] not from error or from impurity or with deceit, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, thus we speak, not as pleasing people but God, who examines our hearts.

Finally therefore, brothers, we ask you and appeal to [you] in the Lord Jesus that, just as you have received from us how it is necessary for you to live and to please God, just as indeed you are living, that you progress even more.

and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do [what is] pleasing {in his sight}.

Who may ascend [the] mountain of Yahweh? And who may stand in his holy place? He who is innocent of hands and pure of heart, who does not lift up his soul to falseness, and does not swear deceitfully.

Doing righteousness and justice is [more] acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice.

Because I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

Is this not [the] fast I choose: to release [the] bonds of injustice, to untie [the] ropes of [the] yoke, and to let [the] oppressed go free, and {tear} every yoke to pieces? [Is it] not to break your bread for the hungry? You must bring {home} [the] poor, [the] homeless. When you see [the] naked, you must cover him, and you must not hide yourself from your {relatives}.

And to love him from your whole heart and from your whole understanding and from your whole strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."

Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and {will take up residence with him}.

And now, Israel, what [is] Yahweh your God asking from you, except to revere Yahweh your God, to go in all his ways and to love him and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, to keep the commandments of Yahweh and his statutes that I am commanding you today {for your own good}.

O Yahweh, who may reside in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy mountain? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right. He who speaks honestly in his heart. He does not slander with his tongue. He does not harm his friend, nor {bring up} a disgrace against his neighbor.read more.
In his eyes a rejected one [is] contemptible, but he honors those who respect Yahweh. He takes an oath to [his own] injury and does not retract it. He does not lend his money at interest, and does not take a bribe against [the] innocent. He who does these [things] will never be shaken.

The one who conquers will inherit these [things], and I will be {his God} and he will be {my son}.

{Justice, only justice} you shall pursue, so that you may live, and you shall take possession of the land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you.

And all of these blessings shall come upon you, and {they shall have an effect on you} if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God:

And so, he is like a tree planted by streams of water that gives its fruit in its season; its leaf also does not wither. Therefore all that he does prospers.

Because Yahweh God [is] a sun and a shield; Yahweh gives grace and honor. He does not withhold good from those who walk blamelessly.

Thus says Yahweh: "Observe justice and do righteousness, for my salvation [is] close to coming, and my justice to being revealed. Happy [is the] man [who] does this, and [the] son of humankind [who] keeps hold of it, who keeps [the] Sabbath {so as not to profane} it, and who keeps his hand from doing any evil."

Then you shall call, and Yahweh himself will answer. You shall cry for help, and he will say, 'Here I [am]!' If you remove from among you [the] yoke, the {finger-pointing} and {evil speech}, if you offer your soul to the hungry, and you satisfy [the] appetite of [the] afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your darkness [will be] like noon. And Yahweh will lead you continually, and satisfy your soul in a barren land, and he will strengthen your bones, and you shall be like a well-watered garden, and like a spring of water whose water does not fail.read more.
And they shall rebuild ancient ruins from you; you shall erect [the] foundations of {many generations,} and {you shall be called} [the] bricklayer [of] [the] breach, [the] restorer of paths to live [in]. If you hold your foot back from [the] Sabbath, [from] doing your affairs on {my holy day}, if you call the Sabbath a pleasure, the holy [day] of Yahweh honorable, if you honor him {more than} doing your ways, than finding your affairs and speaking a word, then you shall take your pleasure in Yahweh, and I will make you ride upon [the] heights of [the] earth, and I will feed you the heritage of Jacob your ancestor, for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken."

so that you will not be seen by people as fasting, but to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

But whenever you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they are not able to repay you. For it will be paid back to you at the resurrection of the righteous."