33 Bible Verses about Human Authority, Nature Of

Let everyone put himself under the authority of the higher powers, because there is no power which is not of God, and all powers are ordered by God.

By him times and years are changed: by him kings are taken away and kings are lifted up: he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those whose minds are awake:

This order is fixed by the watchers, and the decision is by the word of the holy ones: so that the living may be certain that the Most High is ruler over the kingdom of men, and gives it to any man at his pleasure, lifting up over it the lowest of men.

As for you, O King, the Most High God gave to Nebuchadnezzar, your father, the kingdom and great power and glory and honour: And because of the great power he gave him, all peoples and nations and languages were shaking in fear before him: some he put to death and others he kept living, at his pleasure, lifting up some and putting others down as it pleased him. But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit became hard with pride, he was put down from his place as king, and they took his glory from him:read more.
And he was sent out from among the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts', and he was living with the asses of the fields; he had grass for his food like the oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he was certain that the Most High is ruler in the kingdom of men, and gives power over it to anyone at his pleasure.

Jesus gave this answer: You would have no power at all over me if it was not given to you by God; so that he who gave me up to you has the greater sin.

Because I myself am a man under authority, having under me fighting men; and I say to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it.

For I, myself, am a man under authority, having men under me; and I say to this one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it.

And let them get together all the food in those good years and make a store of grain under Pharaoh's control for the use of the towns, and let them keep it.

And put your honour on him, so that all the children of Israel may be under his authority.

So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men and respected, and made them rulers over you, captains of thousands and captains of hundreds and captains of fifties and captains of tens, and overseers of your tribes.

If only I had authority over this people! I would put Abimelech out of the way, and I would say to Abimelech, Make your army strong, and come out.

In addition, we make it clear to you, that it will be against the law to put any tax or payment in goods or forced payment on any of the priests or Levites, the music-makers, door-keepers, Nethinim, or any servants of this house of God.

By their side were working Melatiah the Gibeonite and Jadon the Meronothite, the men of Gibeon and of Mizpah from the seat of the ruler across the river.

And I will put your robe on him, and put your band about him, and I will give your authority into his hand: and he will be a father to the men of Jerusalem, and to the family of Judah.

Then the king gave orders to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take with you three men from here and get Jeremiah out of the water-hole before death overtakes him.

His lord said to him, Well done, good and true servant: you have been true in a small thing, I will give you control over great things: take your part in the joy of your lord.

And he said to him, You have done well, O good servant: because you have done well in a small thing you will have authority over ten towns.

It is as when a man who is in another country for a time, having gone away from his house, and given authority to his servants and to everyone his work, gives the porter an order to keep watch.

And they kept watch on him, and sent out secret representatives, who were acting the part of good men, in order that they might get something from his words, on account of which they might give him up to the government and into the power of the ruler.

And when he saw that he was under the authority of Herod, he sent him to Herod, who was in Jerusalem himself at that time.

Then Pilate said to him, You say nothing to me? is it not clear to you that I have power to let you go free and power to put you to death on the cross?

And here he has authority from the chief priests to make prisoners all who give worship to your name.

Keep all the laws of men because of the Lord; those of the king, who is over all,

Then Pilate said to him, You say nothing to me? is it not clear to you that I have power to let you go free and power to put you to death on the cross? Jesus gave this answer: You would have no power at all over me if it was not given to you by God; so that he who gave me up to you has the greater sin.

But Jesus said to them, You see that the rulers of the Gentiles are lords over them, and their great ones have authority over them. Let it not be so among you: but if anyone has a desire to become great among you, let him be your servant; And whoever has a desire to be first among you, let him take the lowest place:read more.
Even as the Son of man did not come to have servants, but to be a servant, and to give his life for the salvation of men.

And Jesus made them come to him, and said to them, You see that those who are made rulers over the Gentiles are lords over them, and their great ones have authority over them. But it is not so among you: but whoever has a desire to become great among you, let him be your servant: And whoever has a desire to be first among you, let him be servant of all.read more.
For truly the Son of man did not come to have servants, but to be a servant, and to give his life for the salvation of men.

Got up from table, put off his robe and took a cloth and put it round him. Then he put water into a basin and was washing the feet of the disciples and drying them with the cloth which was round him. So he came to Simon Peter. Peter said, Lord, are my feet to be washed by you?read more.
And Jesus, answering, said to him, What I do is not clear to you now, but it will be clear to you in time to come. Peter said, I will never let my feet be washed by you, never. Jesus said in answer, If I do not make you clean you have no part with me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord, not my feet only, but my hands and my head. Jesus said to him, He who is bathed has need only to have his feet washed and then he is clean all over: and you, my disciples, are clean, but not all of you. (He had knowledge who was false to him; that is why he said, You are not all clean.) Then, after washing their feet and putting on his robe again, he took his seat and said to them, Do you see what I have done to you? You give me the name of Master and Lord: and you are right; that is what I am. If then I, the Lord and the Master, have made your feet clean, it is right for you to make one another's feet clean. I have given you an example, so that you may do what I have done to you.

For though I might take pride in our authority (which the Lord gave for building you up, and not for your destruction), it will not be a cause of shame to me:

For this cause I am writing these things while I am away, so that there may be need for me, when I am present, to make use of sharp measures, by the authority which the Lord has given me for building up and not for destruction.

Have we no right to take food and drink? Have we no right to take about with us a Christian wife, like the rest of the Apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? Or I only and Barnabas, have we no right to take a rest from work?read more.
Who ever goes to war without looking to someone to be responsible for his payment? who puts in vines and does not take the fruit of them? or who takes care of sheep without drinking of their milk? Am I talking as a man? does not the law say the same? For it says in the law of Moses, It is not right to keep the ox from taking the grain when he is crushing it. Is it for the oxen that God is giving orders? Or has he us in mind? Yes, it was said for us; because it is right for the ploughman to do his ploughing in hope, and for him who is crushing the grain to do his work hoping for a part in the fruits of it. If we have been planting the things of the Spirit for you, does it seem a great thing for you to give us a part in your things of this world? If others have a part in this right over you, have we not even more? But we did not make use of our right, so that we might put nothing in the way of the good news of Christ. Do you not see that the servants of the holy things get their living from the Temple, and the servants of the altar have their part in the food which is offered on the altar? Even so did the Lord give orders that the preachers of the good news might get their living from the good news. But I have not made use of any of these things: and I am not writing this in the hope that it may be so for me: for it would be better for me to undergo death, than for any man to make this pride of mine of no effect. For if I am a preacher of the good news, I have no cause for pride in this; because I am forced to do so, for a curse is on me if I do not. But if I do it gladly, I have a reward; and if not, I am under orders to do it. What then is my reward? This, that when I am giving the good news, I may give it without payment, not making use of my rights as a preacher of the good news.

How is it, that if any one of you has a cause at law against another, he takes it before a Gentile judge and not before the saints? Is it not certain that the saints will be the judges of the world? if then the world will be judged by you, are you unable to give a decision about the smallest things? Is it not certain that we are to be the judges of angels? how much more then of the things of this life?read more.
If then there are questions to be judged in connection with the things of this life, why do you put them in the hands of those who have no position in the church? I say this to put you to shame. Is there not among you one wise man who may be able to give a decision between his brothers? But a brother who has a cause at law against another takes it before Gentile judges. More than this, it is not to your credit to have causes at law with one another at all. Why not put up with wrong? why not undergo loss?

But God's approval of us is not based on the food we take: if we do not take it we are no worse for it; and if we take it we are no better. But take care that this power of yours does not give cause for trouble to the feeble. For if a man sees you, who have knowledge, taking food as a guest in the house of an image, will it not give him, if he is feeble, the idea that he may take food offered to images?read more.
And so, through your knowledge, you are the cause of destruction to your brother, for whom Christ underwent death. And in this way, doing evil to the brothers, and causing trouble to those whose faith is feeble, you are sinning against Christ. For this reason, if food is a cause of trouble to my brother, I will give up taking meat for ever, so that I may not be a cause of trouble to my brother.

We are free to do all things, but there are things which it is not wise to do. We are free to do all things, but not all things are for the common good. Let a man give attention not only to what is good for himself, but equally to his neighbour's good.