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100 Bible Verses about Obeying Authority

Romans 13:1 ESV / 5,255 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.

Hebrews 13:17 ESV / 5,034 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.

Titus 3:1 ESV / 3,857 helpful votes

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

Romans 13:1-14 ESV / 3,807 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. ...

Acts 5:29 ESV / 3,768 helpful votes

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

Romans 13:2 ESV / 3,512 helpful votes

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

1 Peter 2:13-17 ESV / 2,764 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.

Romans 13:1-5 ESV / 2,542 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.

Ephesians 6:1-4 ESV / 2,457 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.

1 Peter 2:13-15 ESV / 2,369 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.

Romans 13:1-2 ESV / 2,179 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.

John 19:11 ESV / 2,025 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.”

Romans 13:6 ESV / 2,018 helpful votes

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

Matthew 22:21 ESV / 2,018 helpful votes

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

Romans 13:4 ESV / 2,017 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.

Romans 5:19 ESV / 2,013 helpful votes

For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

Romans 13:5 ESV / 1,930 helpful votes

Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.

Romans 13:1-7 ESV / 1,899 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. ...

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 1,847 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,

John 14:23 ESV / 1,824 helpful votes

Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

James 4:7 ESV / 1,779 helpful votes

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

Romans 12:1-21 ESV / 1,756 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. ...

Romans 13:3 ESV / 1,755 helpful votes

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,

Exodus 19:5 ESV / 1,741 helpful votes

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;

Ephesians 5:21 ESV / 1,733 helpful votes

Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

James 1:25 ESV / 1,728 helpful votes

But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

1 Peter 2:13-14 ESV / 1,719 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 3:2 ESV / 1,672 helpful votes

This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

Romans 14:1-23 ESV / 1,620 helpful votes

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ...

James 1:22 ESV / 1,611 helpful votes

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

Acts 4:19 ESV / 1,569 helpful votes

But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge,

1 Samuel 15:22 ESV / 1,552 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.

Titus 3:1-2 ESV / 1,550 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.

1 Timothy 6:1-21 ESV / 1,538 helpful votes

Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved. Teach and urge these things. If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. ...

1 Peter 2:13 ESV / 1,537 helpful votes

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

Matthew 28:18 ESV / 1,507 helpful votes

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

Daniel 2:21 ESV / 1,507 helpful votes

He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding;

Ephesians 6:1 ESV / 1,505 helpful votes

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

John 14:15 ESV / 1,504 helpful votes

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Acts 5:32 ESV / 1,501 helpful votes

And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

John 3:3 ESV / 1,470 helpful votes

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Exodus 20:12 ESV / 1,460 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.

Mark 16:15 ESV / 1,390 helpful votes

And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

1 Corinthians 15:2 ESV / 1,377 helpful votes

And by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

Romans 13:7 ESV / 1,350 helpful votes

Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

1 Corinthians 11:3 ESV / 1,346 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.

Romans 12:2 ESV / 1,337 helpful votes

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.

John 3:16-17 ESV / 1,324 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.

Joshua 1:8 ESV / 1,316 helpful votes

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

1 Peter 2:18 ESV / 1,309 helpful votes

Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.

Romans 8:14 ESV / 1,305 helpful votes

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

1 Corinthians 15:58 ESV / 1,300 helpful votes

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

John 18:36 ESV / 1,291 helpful votes

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”

1 John 3:21-22 ESV / 1,275 helpful votes

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

Deuteronomy 28:1 ESV / 1,266 helpful votes

“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

Ephesians 6:1-3 ESV / 1,262 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.”

1 Timothy 2:2 ESV / 1,260 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.

Romans 12:1 ESV / 1,259 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.

Romans 15:32 ESV / 1,256 helpful votes

So that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company.

John 14:2 ESV / 1,256 helpful votes

In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?

Romans 12:11 ESV / 1,255 helpful votes

Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

1 Timothy 4:12 ESV / 1,254 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.

Luke 6:27-28 ESV / 1,246 helpful votes

“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

Proverbs 6:20 ESV / 1,245 helpful votes

My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching.

Luke 10:27 ESV / 1,240 helpful votes

And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Deuteronomy 5:33 ESV / 1,240 helpful votes

You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.

1 Kings 2:3 ESV / 1,236 helpful votes

And keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn,

Proverbs 10:17 ESV / 1,235 helpful votes

Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.

John 15:16 ESV / 1,234 helpful votes

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

Malachi 2:2 ESV / 1,233 helpful votes

If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.

Mark 16:2 ESV / 1,226 helpful votes

And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.

Colossians 3:22 ESV / 1,216 helpful votes

Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.

Proverbs 10:2 ESV / 1,216 helpful votes

Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit, but righteousness delivers from death.

Deuteronomy 5:2 ESV / 1,215 helpful votes

The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

1 Peter 1:14 ESV / 1,190 helpful votes

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,

2 John 1:6 ESV / 1,158 helpful votes

And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.

Hebrews 13:7 ESV / 1,153 helpful votes

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV / 1,152 helpful votes

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

Luke 11:28 ESV / 1,142 helpful votes

But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Romans 1:5 ESV / 1,138 helpful votes

Through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations,

1 Peter 2:14 ESV / 1,136 helpful votes

Or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.

John 15:14 ESV / 1,121 helpful votes

You are my friends if you do what I command you.

Joshua 5:6 ESV / 1,121 helpful votes

For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord; the Lord swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV / 1,099 helpful votes

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

Romans 2:6-8 ESV / 1,090 helpful votes

He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

Philippians 2:11 ESV / 1,028 helpful votes

And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Deuteronomy 5:17 ESV / 1,028 helpful votes

“‘You shall not murder.

Romans 14:2 ESV / 1,024 helpful votes

One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.

Deuteronomy 17:12 ESV / 964 helpful votes

The man who acts presumptuously by not obeying the priest who stands to minister there before the Lord your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Israel.

1 Peter 5:5 ESV / 962 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 Timothy 5:17 ESV / 954 helpful votes

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

Ephesians 5:23 ESV / 934 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 John 4:1 ESV / 870 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 2:1 ESV / 843 helpful votes

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

John 3:36 ESV / 837 helpful votes

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Galatians 5:17 ESV / 810 helpful votes

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

1 Peter 2:15 ESV / 804 helpful votes

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

John 3:16 ESV / 775 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.

Genesis 1:26 ESV / 759 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.”

1 Timothy 2:1 ESV / 742 helpful votes

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,

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