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100 Bible Verses about Bad Children

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 ESV / 231 helpful votes

“If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

Proverbs 29:15 ESV / 220 helpful votes

The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.

Proverbs 22:15 ESV / 209 helpful votes

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.

Colossians 3:20 ESV / 181 helpful votes

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

Proverbs 13:24 ESV / 164 helpful votes

Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.

Proverbs 22:6 ESV / 162 helpful votes

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 19:18 ESV / 155 helpful votes

Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.

Proverbs 17:25 ESV / 153 helpful votes

A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.

Exodus 20:12 ESV / 148 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.

Exodus 21:15 ESV / 143 helpful votes

“Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.

Ephesians 6:1-3 ESV / 140 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.”

Proverbs 30:17 ESV / 137 helpful votes

The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures.

Proverbs 20:11 ESV / 129 helpful votes

Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright.

2 Timothy 3:2 ESV / 121 helpful votes

For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

Ephesians 6:4 ESV / 104 helpful votes

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Hebrews 12:11 ESV / 102 helpful votes

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Proverbs 10:1 ESV / 101 helpful votes

The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother.

Ephesians 6:1-4 ESV / 96 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.

Matthew 15:4 ESV / 93 helpful votes

For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’

Proverbs 23:13-14 ESV / 85 helpful votes

Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.

Exodus 21:17 ESV / 84 helpful votes

“Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death.

Proverbs 29:17 ESV / 71 helpful votes

Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.

Proverbs 20:20 ESV / 66 helpful votes

If one curses his father or his mother, his lamp will be put out in utter darkness.

Proverbs 15:5 ESV / 66 helpful votes

A fool despises his father's instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent.

1 Corinthians 15:33 ESV / 65 helpful votes

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

2 Timothy 3:1-5 ESV / 61 helpful votes

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

Proverbs 15:20 ESV / 46 helpful votes

A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother.

Romans 1:30 ESV / 42 helpful votes

Slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

1 Samuel 2:22-25 ESV / 42 helpful votes

Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. And he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. No, my sons; it is no good report that I hear the people of the Lord spreading abroad. If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death.

Proverbs 19:26 ESV / 41 helpful votes

He who does violence to his father and chases away his mother is a son who brings shame and reproach.

Proverbs 23:22 ESV / 36 helpful votes

Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

1 John 5:19 ESV / 31 helpful votes

We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

Proverbs 13:20 ESV / 28 helpful votes

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Proverbs 30:11 ESV / 27 helpful votes

There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.

Matthew 19:29 ESV / 25 helpful votes

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.

Hebrews 12:7-8 ESV / 24 helpful votes

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

Ephesians 6:1 ESV / 24 helpful votes

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Colossians 3:21 ESV / 23 helpful votes

Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

Mark 10:14 ESV / 23 helpful votes

But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.

Colossians 3:8 ESV / 21 helpful votes

But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Proverbs 1:8-9 ESV / 20 helpful votes

Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.

Galatians 6:7 ESV / 19 helpful votes

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

Ecclesiastes 12:1 ESV / 19 helpful votes

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;

Proverbs 27:11 ESV / 19 helpful votes

Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him who reproaches me.

Psalm 23:1-6 ESV / 18 helpful votes

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ...

Deuteronomy 5:16 ESV / 18 helpful votes

“‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

2 Timothy 1:5 ESV / 17 helpful votes

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.

Proverbs 17:6 ESV / 17 helpful votes

Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.

Romans 8:14 ESV / 16 helpful votes

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Ezekiel 18:20 ESV / 16 helpful votes

The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

Psalm 127:3-5 ESV / 16 helpful votes

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

2 Corinthians 6:14 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

Proverbs 30:11-17 ESV / 15 helpful votes

There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers. There are those who are clean in their own eyes but are not washed of their filth. There are those—how lofty are their eyes, how high their eyelids lift! There are those whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, the needy from among mankind. The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, “Enough”: ...

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 ESV / 14 helpful votes

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

1 Peter 5:5 ESV / 13 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.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV / 13 helpful votes

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Acts 2:1-47 ESV / 13 helpful votes

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. ...

Matthew 4:4 ESV / 13 helpful votes

But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Jeremiah 50:11-42 ESV / 13 helpful votes

“Though you rejoice, though you exult, O plunderers of my heritage, though you frolic like a heifer in the pasture, and neigh like stallions, your mother shall be utterly shamed, and she who bore you shall be disgraced. Behold, she shall be the last of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. Because of the wrath of the Lord she shall not be inhabited but shall be an utter desolation; everyone who passes by Babylon shall be appalled, and hiss because of all her wounds. Set yourselves in array against Babylon all around, all you who bend the bow; shoot at her, spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the Lord. Raise a shout against her all around; she has surrendered; her bulwarks have fallen; her walls are thrown down. For this is the vengeance of the Lord: take vengeance on her; do to her as she has done. ...

Proverbs 13:22 ESV / 13 helpful votes

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.

Psalm 113:9 ESV / 13 helpful votes

He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the Lord!

1 Kings 15:1-34 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father. Nevertheless, for David's sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem, because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. ...

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 ESV / 13 helpful votes

“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, ...

Exodus 13:8 ESV / 13 helpful votes

You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’

2 Timothy 3:1-2 ESV / 12 helpful votes

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

2 Timothy 3:1-4:22 ESV / 12 helpful votes

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. ...

Mark 3:33-35 ESV / 12 helpful votes

And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

Matthew 19:14 ESV / 12 helpful votes

But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Isaiah 54:13 ESV / 12 helpful votes

All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.

1 Samuel 3:13 ESV / 12 helpful votes

And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them.

Revelation 21:8 ESV / 11 helpful votes

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

1 Timothy 5:4 ESV / 11 helpful votes

But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.

Ephesians 4:23 ESV / 11 helpful votes

And to be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

1 Corinthians 5:1-8 ESV / 11 helpful votes

It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. ...

Luke 1:37 ESV / 11 helpful votes

For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Mark 7:10 ESV / 11 helpful votes

For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’

Matthew 18:10 ESV / 11 helpful votes

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

Micah 7:1-20 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Woe is me! For I have become as when the summer fruit has been gathered, as when the grapes have been gleaned: there is no cluster to eat, no first-ripe fig that my soul desires. The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind; they all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts the other with a net. Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together. The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come; now their confusion is at hand. Put no trust in a neighbor; have no confidence in a friend; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms; ...

Jeremiah 35:18 ESV / 11 helpful votes

But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you,

Jeremiah 32:18-19 ESV / 11 helpful votes

You show steadfast love to thousands, but you repay the guilt of fathers to their children after them, O great and mighty God, whose name is the Lord of hosts, great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.

Isaiah 27:1-13 ESV / 11 helpful votes

In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea. In that day, “A pleasant vineyard, sing of it! I, the Lord, am its keeper; every moment I water it. Lest anyone punish it, I keep it night and day; I have no wrath. Would that I had thorns and briers to battle! I would march against them, I would burn them up together. Or let them lay hold of my protection, let them make peace with me, let them make peace with me.” ...

Proverbs 19:15-20:16 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger. Whoever keeps the commandment keeps his life; he who despises his ways will die. Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed. Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death. A man of great wrath will pay the penalty, for if you deliver him, you will only have to do it again. ...

Psalm 58:1-11 ESV / 11 helpful votes

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam of David. Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge the children of man uprightly? No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth. The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies. They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear, so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter. ...

Psalm 8:2 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.

Job 6:24 ESV / 11 helpful votes

“Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have gone astray.

2 Kings 3:1-27 ESV / 11 helpful votes

In the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twelve years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made. Nevertheless, he clung to the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from it. Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he had to deliver to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. ...

1 Corinthians 13:11 ESV / 10 helpful votes

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

Mark 10:13-16 ESV / 10 helpful votes

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

Hebrews 13:4 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.

1 Timothy 4:12 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

Proverbs 18:15 ESV / 9 helpful votes

An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

Proverbs 3:1-4 ESV / 9 helpful votes

My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.

Deuteronomy 13:1-18 ESV / 9 helpful votes

“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. ...

Deuteronomy 11:16 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them;

Deuteronomy 11:2-19 ESV / 9 helpful votes

And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm, his signs and his deeds that he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land, and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and to their chariots, how he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day, and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place, and what he did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel. ...

Exodus 32:27 ESV / 9 helpful votes

And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’”

Exodus 32:19-32 ESV / 9 helpful votes

And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses' anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it. And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ ...

Genesis 33:5 ESV / 9 helpful votes

And when Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and children, he said, “Who are these with you?” Jacob said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”

1 Peter 4:11 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

James 1:17 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

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