63 Bible Verses about Judges

And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, who delivered them out of the hand of those that plundered them. And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so. And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for the LORD had compassion because of their groanings because of them that oppressed them and vexed them.read more.
And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.

And when the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. And the spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushanrishathaim. And the land had rest forty years. And Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh in Naphtali, and said unto him, Has not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun?read more.
And I will draw unto you by the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into your hand. And Barak said unto her, If you will go with me, then I will go: but if you will not go with me, then I will not go. And she said, I will surely go with you: nevertheless the journey that you take shall not be for your honor; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.

Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.

Surely there was not held such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah;

If there is a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked. And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.

And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not act so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do you to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.read more.
And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with you, than with them. And they pressed hard upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

And it came to pass on the next day, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. And when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that you do to the people? why sit you yourself alone, and all the people stand by you from morning unto evening? And Moses said unto his father-in-law, Because the people come unto me to inquire of God:read more.
When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws. And Moses' father-in-law said unto him, The thing that you do is not good. You will surely wear away, both you, and this people that is with you: for this thing is too heavy for you; you are not able to perform it yourself alone. Hearken now unto my voice, I will give you counsel, and God shall be with you: Represent the people before God, that you may bring the causes unto God: And you shall teach them ordinances and laws, and shall show them the way in which they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover you shall provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: And let them judge the people at all times: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto you, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for yourself, and they shall bear the burden with you. If you shall do this thing, and God command you so, then you shall be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And they judged the people at all times: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.

If a man shall deliver unto his neighbor money or goods to keep, and it be stolen out of the man's house; if the thief be found, let him pay double. If the thief be not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, to see whether he has put his hand unto his neighbor's goods. For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing, or for any manner of lost thing, which another challenges to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbor.

And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay you every one his men that were joined unto Baal of Peor.

And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.

If a false witness rises up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong; Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, who shall be in those days; And the judges shall make diligent inquiry: and, behold, if the witness is a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother;read more.
Then shall you do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shall you put the evil away from among you. And those who remain shall hear, and fear, and shall hereafter commit no more any such evil among you. And your eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

If one be found slain in the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess, lying in the field, and it is not known who has slain him: Then your elders and your judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:

And he set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, And said to the judges, Take heed what you do: for you judge not for man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment. Therefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes.

And in controversy they shall stand as judges; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?

Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know you not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? If then you have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.read more.
I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

If you buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he was married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master has given him a wife, and she has borne him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.read more.
And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.

Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them who have taken foreign wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and the judges thereof, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter is turned from us.

Then Paul, after the governor had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, Since I know that you have been for many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself:

And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side of the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them in front of mount Gerizim, and half of them in front of mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel.

And it came to pass a long time after the LORD had given rest unto Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua grew old and stricken in age. And Joshua called for all Israel, and for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said unto them, I am old and stricken in age: And you have seen all that the LORD your God has done unto all these nations because of you; for the LORD your God is he that has fought for you.read more.
Behold, I have divided unto you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even unto the Great Sea westward. And the LORD your God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them from out of your sight; and you shall possess their land, as the LORD your God has promised unto you. Be you therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that you turn not aside from it to the right hand or to the left; That you mix not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves unto them: But cleave unto the LORD your God, as you have done unto this day. For the LORD has driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man has been able to stand before you unto this day. One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fights for you, as he has promised you. Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that you love the LORD your God. Else if you do in any way go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you: Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you. And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing has failed thereof. Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you. When you have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land which he has given unto you. And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the River in former times, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the river, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants, and gave him Isaac. And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out. And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and you came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea. And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and you dwelt in the wilderness a long time. And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side of Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that you might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.

Then Solomon spoke unto all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every governor in all Israel, the heads of the fathers' houses. So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle of meeting of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.

Judges and officers shall you make in all your gates, which the LORD your God gives you, throughout your tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

And he set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city,

And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpah, and judged Israel in all those places. And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar unto the LORD.

If there arise a matter too hard for you in judgment, between bloodsheds, between legal rights, and between assaults, being matters of controversy within your gates: then shall you arise, and get you up into the place which the LORD your God shall choose; And you shall come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall show you the sentence of judgment:

Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man who has any suit or cause might come unto me, and I would do him justice!

And the man that will act presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and you shall put away the evil from Israel.

And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number. Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him more than these with many stripes, then your brother should seem degraded unto you.

That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asks, and the judge asks for a bribe; and the great man, he utters his evil desire: so they weave it together.

Saying, There was in a city a judge, who feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of my adversary. And he would not for awhile: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;read more.
Yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she wearies me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall not God avenge his own elect, who cry day and night unto him, though he bears long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth?

Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand. Of which, twenty and four thousand were to look after the work of the house of the LORD; and six thousand were officers and judges:

Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons performed the outside duties over Israel, as officers and judges.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the satraps, the administrators, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Then the satraps, the administrators, and governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

And you, Ezra, after the wisdom of your God, that is in your hand, set magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of your God; and teach them that know them not.

Then wrote Rehum the commander, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions; the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, and the Elamites,

When he was sat down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.

Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be cast into prison.

When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, as you are in the way, give diligence that you may settle with him; lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer cast you into prison.

When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.

For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.

Therefore I have not sinned against you, but you do me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.

The LORD judge between me and you, and the LORD avenge me of you: but my hand shall not be upon you.

If any man trespasses against his neighbor, and an oath is required of him to cause him to swear, and the oath comes before your altar in this house: Then hear you in heaven, and act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the LORD, because he comes to judge the earth.

For, though I were righteous, yet could I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.

So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God who judges in the earth.

Lift up yourself, you judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.

And I seek not my own glory: there is one that seeks and judges.

He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, who are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

That be far from you to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from you: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

God judges the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.

And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he who was ordained of God to be the Judge of the living and dead.

For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment unto the Son:

Because he has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained; and of this he has given assurance unto all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may be recompensed for the things done in his body, according to what he has done, whether it be good or bad.

I charge you therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;