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100 Bible Verses about Authority

Romans 13:1 ESV / 354 helpful votes

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

Matthew 28:18 ESV / 306 helpful votes

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Luke 10:19 ESV / 258 helpful votes

Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.

Acts 5:29 ESV / 226 helpful votes

But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

Hebrews 13:17 ESV / 224 helpful votes

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

1 Peter 2:18-20 ESV / 106 helpful votes

Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

1 Timothy 5:17 ESV / 106 helpful votes

Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.

2 John 1:9 ESV / 104 helpful votes

Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

Romans 13:1-7 ESV / 93 helpful votes

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. ...

1 Peter 2:13 ESV / 86 helpful votes

Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,

Philippians 2:10-11 ESV / 72 helpful votes

So that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Titus 3:1 ESV / 65 helpful votes

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,

Luke 9:1 ESV / 61 helpful votes

And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases,

James 4:7 ESV / 58 helpful votes

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

1 Peter 2:13-17 ESV / 55 helpful votes

Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

2 Thessalonians 3:14 ESV / 53 helpful votes

If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed.

2 Corinthians 2:9 ESV / 51 helpful votes

For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything.

1 Thessalonians 4:8 ESV / 48 helpful votes

Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

Mark 1:27 ESV / 48 helpful votes

And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

1 Samuel 15:22 ESV / 46 helpful votes

And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.

1 Peter 5:5 ESV / 44 helpful votes

Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

John 19:11 ESV / 43 helpful votes

Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

John 16:13 ESV / 42 helpful votes

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

Mark 16:17-18 ESV / 41 helpful votes

And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

1 John 4:4 ESV / 39 helpful votes

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Romans 13:1-2 ESV / 39 helpful votes

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

Matthew 10:1 ESV / 39 helpful votes

And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.

John 14:6 ESV / 38 helpful votes

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Matthew 16:15-19 ESV / 37 helpful votes

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV / 36 helpful votes

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

1 Corinthians 11:3 ESV / 36 helpful votes

But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.

John 14:26 ESV / 36 helpful votes

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Proverbs 11:14 ESV / 36 helpful votes

Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.

Luke 20:25 ESV / 34 helpful votes

He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”

Matthew 24:35 ESV / 34 helpful votes

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

2 Timothy 2:2 ESV / 32 helpful votes

And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.

Romans 13:2 ESV / 32 helpful votes

Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

Matthew 9:6-8 ESV / 32 helpful votes

But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Genesis 1:26 ESV / 32 helpful votes

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Ephesians 5:23 ESV / 31 helpful votes

For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.

1 Peter 2:13-14 ESV / 30 helpful votes

Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.

John 10:35 ESV / 30 helpful votes

If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—

John 10:27 ESV / 30 helpful votes

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

Exodus 20:12 ESV / 30 helpful votes

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Psalm 46:10 ESV / 29 helpful votes

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

1 John 3:8 ESV / 27 helpful votes

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

2 Peter 1:20-21 ESV / 27 helpful votes

Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

John 20:19-23 ESV / 27 helpful votes

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”

Matthew 4:7 ESV / 27 helpful votes

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Ephesians 6:1-4 ESV / 26 helpful votes

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Romans 13:1-14 ESV / 26 helpful votes

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. ...

2 Peter 3:15-16 ESV / 24 helpful votes

And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

Titus 3:1-2 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

Ephesians 5:21 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

John 3:16 ESV / 23 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Matthew 20:25-28 ESV / 23 helpful votes

But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

1 John 4:1 ESV / 22 helpful votes

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

1 Peter 2:15 ESV / 22 helpful votes

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

Romans 13:4 ESV / 22 helpful votes

For he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.

2 Peter 1:21 ESV / 21 helpful votes

For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV / 21 helpful votes

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

1 Peter 3:1 ESV / 20 helpful votes

Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives,

John 3:16-17 ESV / 20 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

1 Timothy 3:15 ESV / 18 helpful votes

If I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.

1 Timothy 2:1-2 ESV / 18 helpful votes

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

Proverbs 18:21 ESV / 18 helpful votes

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

2 Peter 3:15 ESV / 17 helpful votes

And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him,

1 Timothy 2:2 ESV / 17 helpful votes

For kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

1 Corinthians 2:13 ESV / 17 helpful votes

And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

James 5:14-15 ESV / 16 helpful votes

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

Hebrews 5:8-9 ESV / 16 helpful votes

Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,

2 Thessalonians 2:14-15 ESV / 16 helpful votes

To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.

Colossians 3:18 ESV / 16 helpful votes

Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

Ephesians 6:5-8 ESV / 16 helpful votes

Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free.

Romans 12:1-21 ESV / 16 helpful votes

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. ...

Genesis 1:28 ESV / 16 helpful votes

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Hebrews 1:3 ESV / 15 helpful votes

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Hebrews 1:2 ESV / 15 helpful votes

But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

1 Timothy 2:12 ESV / 15 helpful votes

I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.

Ephesians 1:21 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 ESV / 15 helpful votes

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

Romans 13:6 ESV / 15 helpful votes

For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.

Romans 8:7 ESV / 15 helpful votes

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.

John 20:19-24 ESV / 15 helpful votes

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” ...

John 10:10 ESV / 15 helpful votes

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

2 Peter 1:3 ESV / 14 helpful votes

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

1 Timothy 2:11-15 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

1 Timothy 2:7 ESV / 14 helpful votes

For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

Ephesians 5:20-6:4 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. ...

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 13 helpful votes

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

1 John 5:4-5 ESV / 13 helpful votes

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

1 John 2:27 ESV / 13 helpful votes

But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

Hebrews 4:12 ESV / 13 helpful votes

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

John 6:67-71 ESV / 13 helpful votes

So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.

Genesis 2:24 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

James 2:20-24 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Hebrews 1:1 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,

1 Timothy 5:1-2 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.

Revelation 1:1-20 ESV / 11 helpful votes

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ...

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