What Does the Bible Say About Spanking?

Proverbs 23:13-14 ESV / 70 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.

Proverbs 13:24 ESV / 66 helpful votes

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

Ephesians 6:4 ESV / 61 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 29:15 ESV / 61 helpful votes

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

Colossians 3:21 ESV / 49 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 22:6 ESV / 49 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 22:15 ESV / 39 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 19:18 ESV / 36 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 29:17 ESV / 33 helpful votes

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

Proverbs 23:13 ESV / 33 helpful votes

Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.

Proverbs 20:30 ESV / 25 helpful votes

Blows that wound cleanse away evil; strokes make clean the innermost parts.

Proverbs 13:1 ESV / 25 helpful votes

A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

Ephesians 6:1-4 ESV / 23 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.

Ephesians 6:1 ESV / 21 helpful votes

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

Hebrews 12:3-11 ESV / 19 helpful votes

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” 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? ...

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 ESV / 14 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.

Galatians 6:1 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

Hebrews 12:9 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?

Hebrews 12:11 ESV / 10 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.

Colossians 3:20 ESV / 9 helpful votes

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

Hebrews 12:6-7 ESV / 8 helpful votes

For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” 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?

Matthew 18:6 ESV / 8 helpful votes

But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Ecclesiastes 8:11 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil.

Proverbs 17:25 ESV / 8 helpful votes

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

Hebrews 12:5-11 ESV / 7 helpful votes

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” 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. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? ...

1 Timothy 3:4 ESV / 7 helpful votes

He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive,

Proverbs 23:14 ESV / 7 helpful votes

If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 6 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,

Luke 12:47-48 ESV / 6 helpful votes

And that servant who knew his master's will but did not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Proverbs 19:26-27 ESV / 6 helpful votes

He who does violence to his father and chases away his mother is a son who brings shame and reproach. Cease to hear instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.

Leviticus 20:9 ESV / 6 helpful votes

For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother; his blood is upon him.

Revelation 3:19 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

Hebrews 12:7 ESV / 5 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?

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV / 5 helpful votes

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

Luke 1:37 ESV / 5 helpful votes

For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Proverbs 23:12 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge.

Proverbs 1:7 ESV / 5 helpful votes

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Psalm 103:13 ESV / 5 helpful votes

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

1 Kings 19:1-21 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” ...

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ESV / 5 helpful votes

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ...

John 3:16-17 ESV / 4 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.

Proverbs 13:10 ESV / 4 helpful votes

By insolence comes nothing but strife, but with those who take advice is wisdom.

2 Samuel 7:14-15 ESV / 4 helpful votes

I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you.

Hebrews 12:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

44 Bible Verses about Spanking

Proverbs 23:13-14 ESV / 70 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 13:24 ESV / 66 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ephesians 6:4 ESV / 61 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 29:15 ESV / 61 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Colossians 3:21 ESV / 49 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 22:6 ESV / 49 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 22:15 ESV / 39 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 19:18 ESV / 36 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 29:17 ESV / 33 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 23:13 ESV / 33 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 20:30 ESV / 25 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 13:1 ESV / 25 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ephesians 6:1-4 ESV / 23 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ephesians 6:1 ESV / 21 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Hebrews 12:3-11 ESV / 19 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 ESV / 14 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Galatians 6:1 ESV / 13 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Hebrews 12:9 ESV / 12 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Hebrews 12:11 ESV / 10 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Colossians 3:20 ESV / 9 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Hebrews 12:6-7 ESV / 8 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 18:6 ESV / 8 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ecclesiastes 8:11 ESV / 8 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 17:25 ESV / 8 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Hebrews 12:5-11 ESV / 7 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Timothy 3:4 ESV / 7 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 23:14 ESV / 7 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 6 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Luke 12:47-48 ESV / 6 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 19:26-27 ESV / 6 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Leviticus 20:9 ESV / 6 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Revelation 3:19 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Hebrews 12:7 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Luke 1:37 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 23:12 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 1:7 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Psalm 103:13 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Kings 19:1-21 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ESV / 5 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

John 3:16-17 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 13:10 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

2 Samuel 7:14-15 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Hebrews 12:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

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