18 Bible Verses about Government

And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God: I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am about to vomit thee out of my mouth. read more.
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten wealth, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art the wretched and the pitiable one, and poor, and blind, and naked, I advise thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayst be rich; and white garments, that thou mayst be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness may not be made manifest; and eyesalve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayst see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any one hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit with me on my throne, even as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father on his throne.

For this cause I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with everlasting glory. True is the saying: for if we died with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;

For the Son of man indeed goeth away, as it hath been determined; but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed. And they began to inquire among themselves, which of them it was that was about to do this. And there arose also a contention among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. read more.
And he said to them, The kings of the nations rule as lords over them, and they who exercise authority over them are called benefactors. But it is not to be so with you; but let the greatest among you be as the youngest; and he that is chief, as he that serveth. For which is greater? he who reclineth at the table, or he who serveth? Is not he that reclineth at the table? But I am in the midst of you as he who serveth. Ye however are they who have continued steadfastly with me in my trials. And I appoint to you a kingdom, as my Father appointed to me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom; and ye shall sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass: I know thy works, and love, and faith, and service, and thy endurance, and that thy last works are more than the first. But I have this against thee, that thou sufferest thy wife Jezebel, who calleth herself a prophetess, and she teacheth and seduceth my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. read more.
And I gave her time to repent, and she will not repent of her fornication. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and those who together with her commit adultery into great distress, unless they repent of her deeds. And her children I will slay with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he who searcheth the reins and hearts; and I will give to every one of you according to your works. But to you I say, the rest who are in Thyatira, as many as have not this teaching, such as have not known "the depths" of Satan, as they speak; I put upon you no other burden; but that which ye have, hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works to the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter are broken to shivers,as I also have received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star.

They answered and said to him, Thou wast wholly born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.

And he began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be put to death, and after three days rise again;

And when it was morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people consulted together against Jesus, to put him to death. And having bound him, they led him away, and delivered him up to Pilate the governor.

And when he had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority?

And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests, having held a consultation with the elders and the scribes, and the whole council, bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him up to Pilate.

Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the court of the palace of the highpriest, named Caiaphas; and took counsel together that they might seize Jesus by craft, and put him to death. But they said, Not at the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.

If any one hunger, let him eat at home; that ye may not come together to condemnation. And the rest I will set in order when I come.

And the apostles and the elders came together to consider this matter.

For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us, to lay upon you no further burden except these necessary things:

for if a man knoweth not how to preside over his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God

Do not sharply rebuke an aged man, but exhort him as a father; the younger men, as brethren;

Jesus answered and said to him, If any one loveth me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not, keepeth not my words; and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Fathers who sent me. These things have I spoken to you, while abiding with you; read more.
but the Comforter, the Holy Spirit which the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things which I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world giveth, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. Ye heard me say to you, I am going away, and am coming again to you. If ye loved me, ye would have rejoiced that I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it hath come to pass, that when it hath come to pass ye may believe. I shall not talk much more with you. For the prince of the world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to them that perish, in whom the God of this world blinded the understandings of the unbelieving, so that they cannot behold the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

But I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I depart. For if I do not depart, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he is come, he will bring conviction to the world, of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin, because they believe not in me; read more.
of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world hath been judged.

But we do speak wisdom among the perfect; not, however, the wisdom of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nought; but we speak Gods wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God determined on before the world was, for our glory; which none of the rulers of this world comprehended; for had they comprehended it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,

And after five days Ananias, the highpriest, came down with the elders and a certain orator named Tertullus; and they brought a complaint before the governor against Paul.

And having bound him, they led him away, and delivered him up to Pilate the governor.

A man that stirs up divisions, after a first and second admonition, avoid;

of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan, that they might be taught not to blaspheme.

Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I, who present indeed am lowly among you, but am bold toward you when absent;

to deliver such a man over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

I said before, and now say beforehand, as when present the second time, so also absent now, to those who have sinned before, and to all the others, that if I come again, I will not spare;

And I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.

But I say to you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God;

And the seventh angel sounded, and there followed loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever. And the twentyfour elders, who sat before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We give thanks to thee, O Lord God Almighty, who art and who wast, because thou hast taken thy great power, and hast reigned.

Whosever sins ye remit, they are remitted to them; whosever ye retain, they are retained.

I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever thou shalt bind on earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever thou shalt loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Truly do I say to you, Whatever ye shall bind on earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever ye shall loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

And as they journeyed through the cities, they delivered to them for their observance the decrees which had been ordained by the apostles and elders that were at Jerusalem.

Obey your leaders, and submit yourselves to them; for they keep watch in behalf of your souls, as those who must give an account; that they may do this with joy, and not with grief; for this is not for your advantage.

Put them in mind to submit themselves to governments, to authorities, to obey magistrates, to be ready for every good work,

Let every one submit to the authorities that are over him; for there is no authority which is not from God: and the authorities which exist have been ordained by God. He therefore that setteth himself against the authority resisteth what God hath ordained; and they a who resist will bring upon themselves judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wouldst thou then not be afraid of the government? Do that which is good, and thou wilt have praise from it; read more.
for the ruler is Gods servant to thee for good. But if thou doest evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain; for he is Gods servant, an avenger to inflict wrath upon him that doeth evil. It is necessary therefore to submit, not only because of the wrath, but also for your conscience sake. For the same reason pay tribute also; for they are ministers of God, attending continually to this very business. Render to all what is due to them; tribute, to whom tribute is due; custom, to whom custom; fear, to whom fear; honor, to whom honor.

Tell us, therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? But Jesus, perceiving their wickedness, said, Why are ye trying me, hypocrites? Show me the tribute money. And they brought to him a denary. read more.
And Jesus saith to them, Whose is this image and inscription? They say, Caesars. Then saith he to them, Render then to Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are Gods.

And he said to them, Render then to Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are Gods.

Submit yourselves therefore to every human institution for the Lords sake; whether to the king, as supreme; or to governors, as being sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and the praise of those who do well. For so is the will of God, that with welldoing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men; read more.
as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as servants of God. Honor all men; love the brotherhood; fear God; honor the king.

Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests, and said, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him up to you? And they paid him thirty pieces of silver.

Then Judas, who betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented, and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, I sinned in betraying innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? See thou to it.

And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be registered.

Submit yourselves therefore to every human institution for the Lords sake; whether to the king, as supreme; or to governors, as being sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and the praise of those who do well.

Let every one submit to the authorities that are over him; for there is no authority which is not from God: and the authorities which exist have been ordained by God. He therefore that setteth himself against the authority resisteth what God hath ordained; and they a who resist will bring upon themselves judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wouldst thou then not be afraid of the government? Do that which is good, and thou wilt have praise from it; read more.
for the ruler is Gods servant to thee for good. But if thou doest evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain; for he is Gods servant, an avenger to inflict wrath upon him that doeth evil. It is necessary therefore to submit, not only because of the wrath, but also for your conscience sake. For the same reason pay tribute also; for they are ministers of God, attending continually to this very business. Render to all what is due to them; tribute, to whom tribute is due; custom, to whom custom; fear, to whom fear; honor, to whom honor.

And when Pilate saw that it availed nothing, but that rather a tumult was arising, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of this blood; see ye to it.

From this time Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out, saying, If thou release this man, thou art not a friend of Caesar. Every one that maketh himself a king, setteth himself against Caesar. When therefore Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down on the judgmentseat, in a place called the Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the preparation of the passover. It was about the sixth hour. And he saith to the Jews, Behold your king! read more.
Upon this they cried out, Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him! Pilate saith to them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. Then therefore he delivered him up to them to be crucified. They therefore took Jesus;

and having removed him, he raised up to them David to be their king, to whom he gave testimony, saying, "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who will do all my will."

Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

Hypocrites! well did Isaiah prophesy concerning you, saying, "This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."

And there come together to him the Pharisees, and some of the scribes, who came from Jerusalem; and seeing some of his disciples eating bread with defiled, that is, unwashed hands, (for the Pharisees, and all the Jews, unless they wash their hands often, do not eat, holding fast the tradition of the elders;

Honor all men; love the brotherhood; fear God; honor the king.

And the king immediately sent one of his guards, and ordered his head to be brought. And he went and beheaded him in the prison, and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the damsel; and the damsel gave it to her mother.

He hoped also that money would be given him by Paul; on which account he sent for him the oftener, and conversed with him.