56 Bible Verses about Rights

Do no wrong to a widow, or to a child whose father is dead.

If you let any of the poor among my people have the use of your money, do not be a hard creditor to him, and do not take interest. If ever you take your neighbour's clothing in exchange for the use of your money, let him have it back before the sun goes down: For it is the only thing he has for covering his skin; what is he to go to sleep in? and when his cry comes up to me, I will give ear, for my mercy is great.

And when you get in the grain from your land, do not let all the grain be cut from the edges of the field, or take up what has been dropped on the earth after the getting in of the grain. And do not take all the grapes from your vine-garden, or the fruit dropped on the earth; let the poor man, and the man from another country, have these: I am the Lord your God.

His eyes are ever on the upright, and he gives to the crushed their right;

But any person for whom the priest has given money, to make him his, may take of it with him; and those who come to birth in his house may take of his bread.

If you get a Hebrew servant for money, he is to be your servant for six years, and in the seventh year you are to let him go free without payment. If he comes to you by himself, let him go away by himself: if he is married, let his wife go away with him. If his master gives him a wife, and he gets sons or daughters by her, the wife and her children will be the property of the master, and the servant is to go away by himself.read more.
But if the servant says clearly, My master and my wife and children are dear to me; I have no desire to be free: Then his master is to take him to the gods of the house, and at the door, or at its framework, he is to make a hole in his ear with a sharp-pointed instrument; and he will be his servant for ever.

If one of your countrymen, a Hebrew man or woman, becomes your servant for a price and does work for you six years, in the seventh year let him go free. And when you make him free, do not let him go away with nothing in his hands: But give him freely from your flock and from your grain and your wine: in the measure of the wealth which the Lord your God has given you, you are to give to him.read more.
And keep in mind that you yourself were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God made you free: so I give you this order today. But if he says to you, I have no desire to go away from you; because you and your family are dear to him and he is happy with you; Then take a sharp-pointed instrument, driving it through his ear into the door, and he will be your servant for ever. And you may do the same for your servant-girl. Let it not seem hard to you that you have to send him away free; for he has been working for you for six years, which is twice the regular time for a servant: and the blessing of the Lord your God will be on you in everything you do.

And if a man gives his daughter for a price to be a servant, she is not to go away free as the men-servants do. If she is not pleasing to her master who has taken her for himself, let a payment be made for her so that she may go free; her master has no power to get a price for her and send her to a strange land, because he has been false to her. And if he gives her to his son, he is to do everything for her as if she was his daughter.read more.
And if he takes another woman, her food and clothing and her married rights are not to be less. And if he does not do these three things for her, she has the right to go free without payment.

And if a man from another country is living in your land with you, do not make life hard for him; Let him be to you as one of your countrymen and have love for him as for yourself; for you were living in a strange land, in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Do no wrong to a man from a strange country, and do not be hard on him; for you yourselves were living in a strange country, in the land of Egypt.

And do not take all the grapes from your vine-garden, or the fruit dropped on the earth; let the poor man, and the man from another country, have these: I am the Lord your God.

And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, when you have gone over Jordan into the land of Canaan; Then let certain towns be marked out as safe places to which anyone who takes the life of another in error may go in flight.read more.
In these towns you may be safe from him who has the right of punishment; so that death may not overtake the taker of life till he has been judged by the meeting of the people.

Then Moses had three towns marked out on the far side of Jordan looking to the east; To which anyone causing the death of his neighbour in error and not through hate, might go in flight; so that in one of these towns he might be kept from death:

And the Lord said to Joshua, Say to the children of Israel, Let certain towns be marked out as safe places, as I said to you by the mouth of Moses, So that any man who in error and without design has taken the life of another, may go in flight to them: and they will be safe places for you from him who has the right of punishment for blood.read more.
And if anyone goes in flight to one of those towns, and comes into the public place of the town, and puts his cause before the responsible men of the town, they will take him into the town and give him a place among them where he may be safe. And if the one who has the right of punishment comes after him, they are not to give the taker of life up to him; because he was the cause of his neighbour's death without designing it and not in hate. And he is to go on living in that town till he has to come before the meeting of the people to be judged; (till the death of him who is high priest at that time:) then the taker of life may come back to his town and to his house, to the town from which he had gone in flight.

Let the husband give to the wife what is right; and let the wife do the same to the husband. The wife has not power over her body, but the husband; and in the same way the husband has not power over his body, but the wife. Do not keep back from one another what is right, but only for a short time, and by agreement, so that you may give yourselves to prayer, and come together again; so that Satan may not get the better of you through your loss of self-control.

If any man takes a wife, and having had connection with her, has no delight in her, And says evil things about her and gives her a bad name, saying, I took this woman, and when I had connection with her it was clear to me that she was not a virgin: Then let the girl's father and mother put before the responsible men of the town, in the public place, signs that the girl was a virgin:read more.
And let the girl's father say to the responsible men, I gave my daughter to this man for his wife, but he has no love for her; And now he has put shame on her, saying that she is not a virgin; but here is the sign that she is a virgin. Then they are to put her clothing before the responsible men of the town. Then the responsible men of the town are to give the man his punishment; They will take from him a hundred shekels of silver, which are to be given to the father of the girl, because he has given an evil name to a virgin of Israel: she will go on being his wife, he may never put her away all his life. But if what he has said is true, and she is seen to be not a virgin, Then they are to make the girl come to the door of her father's house and she will be stoned to death by the men of the town, because she has done evil and put shame on Israel, by acting as a loose woman in her father's house: so you are to put away evil from among you.

Wives, be under the authority of your husbands, as of the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, being himself the saviour of the body. And as the church is under Christ's authority, so let wives be under the rule of their husbands in all things.read more.
Husbands, have love for your wives, even as Christ had love for the church, and gave himself for it; So that he might make it holy, having made it clean with the washing of water by the word, And might take it for himself, a church full of glory, not having one mark or fold or any such thing; but that it might be holy and complete. Even so it is right for husbands to have love for their wives as for their bodies. He who has love for his wife has love for himself: For no man ever had hate for his flesh; but he gives it food and takes care of it, even as Christ does for the church; Because we are parts of his body. For this cause will a man go away from his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a great secret: but my words are about Christ and the church. But do you, everyone, have love for his wife, even as for himself; and let the wife see that she has respect for her husband.

Children, do the orders of your fathers and mothers in all things, for this is pleasing to the Lord.

Children, do what is ordered by your fathers and mothers in the Lord: for this is right.

Give honour to your father and to your mother, so that your life may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

Give honour to your father and your mother, as you have been ordered by the Lord your God; so that your life may be long and all may be well for you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

But if any widow has children or children's children, let these see that it is right to take care of their family and their fathers and mothers: for this is pleasing in the eyes of God.

And that there may not be any evil liver, or any man without respect for God, like Esau, who let his birthright go for a plate of food.

And one day Jacob was cooking some soup when Esau came in from the fields in great need of food; And Esau said to Jacob, Give me a full meal of that red soup, for I am overcome with need for food: for this reason he was named Edom. And Jacob said, First of all give me your birthright.read more.
And Esau said, Truly, I am at the point of death: what profit is the birthright to me? And Jacob said, First of all give me your oath; and he gave him his oath, handing over his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave him bread and soup; and he took food and drink and went away, caring little for his birthright.

If a man has two wives, one greatly loved and the other hated, and the two of them have had children by him; and if the first son is the child of the hated wife: Then when he gives his property to his sons for their heritage, he is not to put the son of his loved one in the place of the first son, the son of the hated wife: But he is to give his first son his birthright, and twice as great a part of his property: for he is the first-fruits of his strength and the right of the first son is his.

And the sons of Reuben, the oldest son of Israel, (for he was the oldest son, but, because he made his father's bride-bed unclean, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel; but he is not to be given the place of the oldest. Though Judah became stronger than his brothers, and from him came the ruler, the birthright was Joseph's:)

And, you fathers, do not make your children angry: but give them training in the teaching and fear of the Lord.

To all those who did so take him, however, he gave the right of becoming children of God--that is, to those who had faith in his name:

He who has ears, let him give ear to what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give of the fruit of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.

To him who overcomes I will give a place with me on my high seat, even as I overcame, and am seated with my Father on his high seat.

A blessing on those whose robes are washed, so that they may have a right to the tree of life, and may go in by the doors into the town.

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.

Am I not free? am I not an Apostle? have I not seen Jesus our Lord? are you not my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an Apostle, at least I am one to you: for the fact that you are Christians is the sign that I am an Apostle. My answer to those who are judging me is this.read more.
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? 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.

Let rulers whose rule is good be honoured twice over, specially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For the Writings say, It is not right to keep the ox from taking the grain when he is crushing it. And, The worker has a right to his reward.

Do not make your daughter common by letting her become a loose woman, for fear that the land may become full of shame.

At the end of every seven years there is to be a general forgiveness of debt. This is how it is to be done: every creditor is to give up his right to whatever he has let his neighbour have; he is not to make his neighbour, his countryman, give it back; because a general forgiveness has been ordered by the Lord. A man of another nation may be forced to make payment of his debt, but if your brother has anything of yours, let it go;read more.
But there will be no poor among you; for the Lord will certainly give you his blessing in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage; If only you give ear to the voice of the Lord your God, and take care to keep all these orders which I give you today. For the Lord your God will give you his blessing as he has said: you will let other nations have the use of your money, but you will not make use of theirs; you will be rulers over a number of nations, but they will not be your rulers.

One witness may not make a statement against a man in relation to any sin or wrongdoing which he has done: on the word of two or three witnesses a question is to be judged.

No exchange of land may be for ever, for the land is mine, and you are as my guests, living with me for a time. Wherever there is property in land, the owner is to have the right of getting it back. If your brother becomes poor, and has to give up some of his land for money, his nearest relation may come and get back that which his brother has given up.read more.
And if he has no one to get it back for him, and later he himself gets wealth and has enough money to get it back; Then let him take into account the years from the time when he gave it up, and make up the loss for the rest of the years to him who took it, and so get back his property. But if he is not able to get it back for himself, then it will be kept by him who gave a price for it, till the year of Jubilee; and in that year it will go back to its first owner and he will have his property again. And if a man gives his house in a walled town for money, he has the right to get it back for the space of a full year after he has given it up. And if he does not get it back by the end of the year, then the house in the town will become the property of him who gave the money for it, and of his children for ever; it will not go from him in the year of Jubilee. But houses in small unwalled towns will be the same as property in the country; they may be got back, and they will go back to their owners in the year of Jubilee. But the houses in the towns of the Levites may be got back by the Levites at any time. And if a Levite does not give money to get back his property, his house in the town which was exchanged for money will come back to him in the year of Jubilee. For the houses of the towns of the Levites are their property among the children of Israel. But the land on the outskirts of their towns may not be exchanged for money, for it is their property for ever. And if your brother becomes poor and is not able to make a living, then you are to keep him with you, helping him as you would a man from another country who is living among you. Take no interest from him, in money or in goods, but have the fear of your God before you, and let your brother make a living among you. Do not take interest on the money which you let him have or on the food which you give him. I am the Lord your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, that I might be your God. And if your brother becomes poor and gives himself to you for money, do not make use of him like a servant who is your property; But let him be with you as a servant working for payment, till the year of Jubilee; Then he will go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his family and to the property of his fathers. For they are my servants whom I took out from the land of Egypt; they may not become the property of another. Do not be a hard master to him, but have the fear of God before you.

Do not be glad because of my sorrow, O my hater: after my fall I will be lifted up; when I am seated in the dark, the Lord will be a light to me. I will undergo the wrath of the Lord, because of my sin against him; till he takes up my cause and does what is right for me: when he makes me come out into the light, I will see his righteousness; And my hater will see it and be covered with shame; she who said to me, Where is the Lord your God? my eyes will see their desire effected on her, now she will be crushed under foot like the dust of the streets.

Judging uprightly in the cause of the widow and of the child who has no father, and giving food and clothing in his mercy to the man from a strange country.

A father to those who have no father, a judge of the widows, is God in his holy place.

Do not let the landmark of the widow be moved, and do not go into the fields of those who have no father; For their saviour is strong, and he will take up their cause against you.

Cursed are those who make evil decisions, and the writers who make the records of their cruel acts: Who do wrong to the poor in their cause, and take away the right of the crushed among my people, so that they may have the property of widows, and get under their power those who have no father. And what will you do in the day of punishment, and in the destruction which is coming from far? to whom will you go for help, and what will become of your glory?read more.
... For all this his wrath is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.

For there are sinners among my people: they keep watch, like men watching for birds; they put a net and take men in it. As the fowl-house is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: for this reason they have become great and have got wealth. They have become fat and strong: they have gone far in works of evil: they give no support to the cause of the child without a father, so that they may do well; they do not see that the poor man gets his rights.read more.
Am I not to give punishment for these things? says the Lord: will not my soul take payment from such a nation as this?

These are the words of the Lord: For three crimes of Israel, and for four, I will not let its fate be changed; because they have given the upright man for silver, and the poor for the price of two shoes; Crushing the head of the poor, and turning the steps of the gentle out of the way: and a man and his father go in to the same young woman, putting shame on my holy name: By every altar they are stretched on clothing taken from those who are in their debt, drinking in the house of their god the wine of those who have made payment for wrongdoing.

Give the king your authority, O God, and your righteousness to the king's son. May he be a judge of your people in righteousness, and make true decisions for the poor. May the mountains give peace to the people, and the hills righteousness.read more.
May he be a judge of the poor among the people, may he give salvation to the children of those who are in need; by him let the violent be crushed.

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to take wine, or for rulers to say, Where is strong drink? For fear that through drinking they may come to have no respect for the law, wrongly judging the cause of those who are in trouble. Give strong drink to him who is near to destruction, and wine to him whose soul is bitter:read more.
Let him have drink, and his need will go from his mind, and the memory of his trouble will be gone. Let your mouth be open for those who have no voice, in the cause of those who are ready for death. Let your mouth be open, judging rightly, and give right decisions in the cause of the poor and those in need.

But the Lord, who took you out of the land of Egypt with his great power and his outstretched arm, he is your God, to whom you are to give worship and make offerings:

Then said Jesus to him, Away, Satan: for it is in the Writings, Give worship to the Lord your God and be his servant only.

And Jesus in answer said to him, It has been said in the Writings, Give worship to the Lord your God, and be his servant only.

Let the fear of the Lord your God be in your hearts, and be his servants, taking your oaths by his name.

God is Spirit: then let his worshippers give him worship in the true way of the spirit.

And now, Israel, what would the Lord your God have you do, but to go in the fear of the Lord your God, walking in all his ways and loving him and doing his pleasure with all your heart and all your soul, Doing the orders of the Lord and keeping his laws which I give you this day for your good?

Today the Lord your God gives you orders to keep all these laws and decisions: so then keep and do them with all your heart and all your soul. Today you have given witness that the Lord is your God, and that you will go in his ways and keep his laws and his orders and his decisions and give ear to his voice: And the Lord has made it clear this day that you are a special people to him, as he gave you his word; and that you are to keep all his orders;

In giving you orders today to have love for the Lord your God, to go in his ways and keep his laws and his orders and his decisions, so that you may have life and be increased, and that the blessing of the Lord your God may be with you in the land where you are going, the land of your heritage.