59 Bible Verses about Leaders, Political

Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them.

And a woman judged Israel at that time, Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth.

And it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abiah; they were judges in Beersheba. And his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after greed, receiving bribes and perverting that which is right.read more.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together and came to Samuel in Ramah and said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons do not walk in thy ways; therefore make us a king to judge us like all the Gentiles. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, with which they have forsaken me and served other gods, so they also do unto thee. Now, therefore, hearken unto their voice; however first protest solemnly against them by declaring unto them the rights of the king that shall reign over them. And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked him for a king. And he said, This will be the right of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen, and some shall run before his chariot. And he will appoint captains over thousands and captains over fifties and will set them to plough his ground and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and the munitions of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectioneries and to be cooks and to be bakers. And he will take your fields and your vineyards and your good oliveyards and give them to his slaves. And he will take the tenth of your seed and of your vineyards to give to his officers and to his slaves. And he will take your menslaves and your maidslaves and your good young men and your asses and do his work with them. He will also take the tenth of your sheep, and finally ye shall be his slaves. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you, and the LORD will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless, the people refused to hear the voice of Samuel, and they said, No, but we will have a king over us that we also may be like all the Gentiles and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD.

Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it upon his head and kissed him and said, Is it not because the LORD has anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?

And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill thy horn with oil and go; I will send thee to Jesse of Bethlehem for I have provided me a king among his sons. And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul understands it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take a heifer with thee and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD. And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show thee what thou shalt do, and thou shalt anoint unto me the one whom I name unto thee.read more.
And Samuel did as the LORD said and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming and said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably; I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and called them to the sacrifice. And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab and said, Peradventure is the LORD's anointed before him? And the LORD replied unto Samuel, Do not look on his countenance or on the height of his stature because I have refused him, for it is not as man sees, for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart. Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither has the LORD chosen this one. Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither has the LORD chosen this one. Again, Jesse made his seven sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD has not chosen these. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are all thy young men here? And he said, There remains yet the youngest, and, behold, he keeps the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send for him, for we will not sit down to the table until he comes here. And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and of a beautiful countenance and handsome. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him, for this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him from among his brethren; and the Spirit of the LORD prospered David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

And when thy days are fulfilled and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

Then King David answered and said, Call me Bathsheba. And she came into the king's presence and stood before the king. And the king swore and said, As the LORD lives, who has ransomed my soul out of all distress, even as I swore unto thee by the LORD God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon, thy son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day.read more.
Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth and did reverence to the king and said, Let my lord King David live for ever. And King David said, Call me Zadok, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada. And they entered into the presence of the king. And the king said unto them, Take with you the slaves of your lord and cause Solomon my son to ride upon my own mule and bring him down to Gihon. And let Zadok, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, anoint him there king over Israel; and ye shall blow the shofar and say, Long live king Solomon. Afterward ye shall come up after him that he may come and sit upon my throne, for he shall reign in my stead, for I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. Then Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, answered the king and said, Amen. Let the LORD God of my lord the king say so too. As the LORD has been with my lord the king, even so let him be with Solomon and let him make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David. So Zadok, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and caused Solomon to ride upon King David's mule and brought him to Gihon. And Zadok, the priest, took the horn of the oil of the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew the shofar, and all the people said, Long live king Solomon. Afterward all the people came up following him, and the people sang with flutes and rejoiced with great joy so that it seemed the earth rent with the sound of them.

Then Moses came and called for the elders of the people and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.

When one is found dead in the land which the LORD thy God gives thee to inherit, lying in the field, and it is not known who has slain him, then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is dead;

And Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, and, behold, the redeemer of whom Boaz spoke came by unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! Come here and sit down. And he came and sat down. Then he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, Sit down here. And they sat down.

When I went out to the gate to judgment, when I had my seat prepared in the plaza! The young men would see me and hide themselves, and the aged would arise and stand. The princes would refrain from talking and lay their hand on their mouth;read more.
the voice of the principals would not be noticed, and their tongue would cleave to the roof of their mouth. When the ears that heard me, called me blessed; and when the eyes that saw me, gave witness to me: because I delivered the poor that cried and the fatherless who had no one to help him.

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

And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew two tables of stone like unto the first; and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou didst break.

He removed the high places and broke the images and cut down the groves and broke in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days, the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan.

Now when all this was finished, all Israel went out, those that were present, to the cities of Judah and broke the images in pieces and cut down the groves and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the sons of Israel returned, each man to his possession, into their own cities.

And these are they whom David set over the service of song in the house of the LORD, after the ark had rest.

and he said to Jeroboam, Take ten pieces for thyself, for thus hath said the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to thee;

Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh that thou may bring forth my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.

And the LORD looked upon him and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Do I not send thee?

And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill thy horn with oil and go; I will send thee to Jesse of Bethlehem for I have provided me a king among his sons.

But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, with which they have forsaken me and served other gods, so they also do unto thee.

and said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons do not walk in thy ways; therefore make us a king to judge us like all the Gentiles.

For he shall deliver the destitute when he cries and the poor that has no helper. He shall have mercy on the poor and destitute and shall save the souls of the poor in spirit. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood be in his sight.

He shall judge thy people with righteousness and thy poor with judgment.

A king that sits in the throne of judgment scatters away all evil with his eyes.

The king by judgment establishes the land, but he that receives gifts shall overthrow it.

The multitude of his dominion and the peace shall have no end upon the throne of David and upon his Kingdom, ordering it and confirming it in judgment and in righteousness from now on even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of the hosts will perform this.

and shall make him of quick olfaction in the fear of the LORD; and he shall not judge according to the sight of his eyes, neither reprove according to the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the spirit of his lips he shall slay the wicked.

He chose David also his slave and took him from the sheepfolds, from following the ewes great with young, he brought him to feed Jacob his people and Israel his inheritance. So he fed them out of the integrity of his heart and guided them by the intelligence of his hands.

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say unto the pastors, Thus hath the Lord GOD said; Woe unto the shepherds of Israel that feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the milk, and ye clothe yourselves with the wool, ye kill those that are fat; but ye do not feed the flock. Ye have not strengthened the weak, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty ye have ruled them;read more.
and they are dispersed because there is no shepherd; and they became food to all the beasts of the field, and they were scattered. My sheep were lost and wandered through all the mountains and upon every high hill; my flock was dispersed upon all the face of the earth, and there was no one to search for them or to require anything of them.

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD,

And it shall be when he sits upon the throne of his kingdom that he shall cause a copy of this second law to be written in a book in the presence of the priests the Levites; and it shall be near unto him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them, that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand or to the left, to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his sons, in the midst of Israel.

and shall make him of quick olfaction in the fear of the LORD; and he shall not judge according to the sight of his eyes, neither reprove according to the hearing of his ears:

And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faith the girdle of his kidneys.

By me the kings reign, and the princes decree justice. By me the princes rule, and all of the governors judge the earth.

But Jesus called them unto him and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and those that are great wield power over them.

Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses; for the LORD has said unto you, Ye shall not procure to return any more to that way. Neither shall he multiply wives unto himself, that his heart turn not away; neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver or gold.

And he said, This will be the right of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen, and some shall run before his chariot. And he will appoint captains over thousands and captains over fifties and will set them to plough his ground and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and the munitions of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectioneries and to be cooks and to be bakers.read more.
And he will take your fields and your vineyards and your good oliveyards and give them to his slaves. And he will take the tenth of your seed and of your vineyards to give to his officers and to his slaves. And he will take your menslaves and your maidslaves and your good young men and your asses and do his work with them. He will also take the tenth of your sheep, and finally ye shall be his slaves.

Thy father made our yoke grievous; now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee.

Woe unto him that builds his house and not in righteousness and his chambers and not in judgment, using his neighbour's service without wages and not giving him the wages of his work!

And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were deserting from him. Then Saul said, Bring me a burnt offering and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. And it came to pass that as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him that he might bless him.read more.
Then Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were leaving me and that thou didst not come within the days appointed and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash, therefore, I said, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD. I forced myself, therefore, and offered a burnt offering. Then Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly; thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee, for now the LORD would have established thy kingdom over Israel for ever.

But when he was strengthened, his heart lifted itself up unto corruption, for he rebelled against the LORD his God, entering into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense. And Azariah, the priest, went in after him, and with him eighty priests of the LORD, that were valiant men. And they withstood Uzziah, the king, and said unto him, It does not pertain unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests, the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense; go out of the sanctuary, for thou hast rebelled; neither shall it be for thy glory before the LORD God.

Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the mount that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the sons of Ammon. And he did likewise for all his strange wives, who burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign and reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzibah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the Gentiles, whom the LORD cast out before the sons of Israel. For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah, his father, had destroyed, and he raised up altars for Baal and made a grove, as Ahab, king of Israel, had done; and he worshipped all the host of heaven and served those things.read more.
Likewise, he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, In Jerusalem I will put my name. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. And he made his son pass through the fire and observed times and used enchantments and dealt with spiritists and diviners and multiplied much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

Woe to those that go down to Egypt for help; and trust in horses and place their hope in chariots because they are many and in horsemen, because they are valiant, but they did not look unto the Holy One of Israel, neither did they seek the LORD!

At that time Berodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and presents unto Hezekiah, for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.

Woe to the sons that leave, saith the LORD, to make counsel, but not of me; to cover themselves with a covering, and not by my spirit, adding sin unto sin! They leave to descend into Egypt and have not asked for a word from my mouth, to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh and to place their hope in the shadow of Egypt.

Ephraim also was like a deceived dove, without understanding; they shall call to Egypt, they shall go to Assyria.

And he said unto them, Go ye and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out demons, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream and penned the sum of the matters. Daniel spoke and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven fought the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, different one from another.read more.
The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings; I beheld until the its wings were plucked off, and it was removed from the earth, and it stood up on its feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. And behold the second beast, like unto a bear, which went off to one side, and it had three ribs between its teeth; and thus was said unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and behold another, like a tiger, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; this beast also had four heads; and power was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold the fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and exceedingly strong; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and trod down that which was left with its feet; and it was very different from all the beasts that had been before her; and it had ten horns.

And I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon its horns ten crowns, and upon its heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and its feet were as the feet of a bear, and its mouth as the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority. And I saw one of its heads as it were wounded to death; and its deadly wound was healed; and all the earth marveled, and followed the beast.

Let every soul submit itself to the higher powers. For there is no power but of God, and the powers that be are ordained of God.

Therefore it is necessary that ye be subject, not only for punishment, but also for conscience sake.

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 this is the will of God, that in well doing ye may silence the ignorance of vain men,read more.
as being free, yet not using your liberty to cover maliciousness, but as slaves of God. Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We must persuade God rather than men.

But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not worship thy god, nor honour the statue which thou hast raised up.

Then they answered and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the sons of the captivity of the Jews, has not regarded thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast confirmed, but makes his petition three times a day.

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.