100 Bible Verses about Tradition

2 Thessalonians 2:15 ESV / 70 helpful votes

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 2:8 ESV / 56 helpful votes

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:1-2 ESV / 56 helpful votes

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.

1 Corinthians 11:2 ESV / 44 helpful votes

Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.

2 Thessalonians 3:6 ESV / 43 helpful votes

Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us.

Matthew 15:3 ESV / 41 helpful votes

He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

1 Timothy 4:7 ESV / 34 helpful votes

Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;

2 Thessalonians 2:14-15 ESV / 33 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.

John 20:19-24 ESV / 21 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.” ...

1 Timothy 3:14-15 ESV / 20 helpful votes

I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 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.

Matthew 15:2-6 ESV / 20 helpful votes

“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.

John 6:50-71 ESV / 19 helpful votes

This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. ...

1 Timothy 1:4 ESV / 18 helpful votes

Nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.

Matthew 15:6 ESV / 18 helpful votes

He need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God.

John 16:13 ESV / 17 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 7:3-9 ESV / 16 helpful votes

(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ...

James 1:1-4 ESV / 15 helpful votes

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Mark 7:1-37 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” ...

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV / 14 helpful votes

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

2 Timothy 2:2 ESV / 14 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.

Acts 17:11 ESV / 14 helpful votes

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Colossians 3:2 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

John 21:25 ESV / 13 helpful votes

Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

Matthew 15:3-20 ESV / 13 helpful votes

He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: ...

1 Peter 1:18 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,

Galatians 1:14 ESV / 12 helpful votes

And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.

Mark 7:8 ESV / 12 helpful votes

You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

1 Corinthians 7:10-11 ESV / 11 helpful votes

To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife.

Matthew 9:6-8 ESV / 11 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.

John 20:30 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;

Luke 10:16 ESV / 10 helpful votes

“The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

Mark 7:5 ESV / 10 helpful votes

And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”

James 3:6 ESV / 9 helpful votes

And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.

2 Timothy 4:2-4 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

2 Timothy 3:15 ESV / 9 helpful votes

And how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 15:11 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

1 Corinthians 15:3 ESV / 9 helpful votes

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,

1 Corinthians 10:31-11:2 ESV / 9 helpful votes

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you.

Romans 14:1 ESV / 9 helpful votes

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.

Luke 16:14-15 ESV / 9 helpful votes

The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

Luke 6:1-11 ESV / 9 helpful votes

On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” ...

Matthew 24:35 ESV / 9 helpful votes

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

Isaiah 43:18-19 ESV / 9 helpful votes

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

1 Corinthians 11:23 ESV / 8 helpful votes

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,

Mark 7:13 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

Mark 7:3-4 ESV / 8 helpful votes

(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.)

Mark 7:3 ESV / 8 helpful votes

(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders,

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 7 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,

Mark 7:1 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem,

Matthew 15:2 ESV / 7 helpful votes

“Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.”

Jeremiah 10:1-5 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord: “Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move. Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.”

Ecclesiastes 7:1-29 ESV / 7 helpful votes

A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools. ...

Deuteronomy 5:32-33 ESV / 7 helpful votes

You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 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.

Jude 1:3 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

1 Peter 1:3 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Romans 12:1-14:23 ESV / 6 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. ...

Acts 17:10-11 ESV / 6 helpful votes

The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

John 8:32 ESV / 6 helpful votes

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Matthew 18:15-17 ESV / 6 helpful votes

“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

Revelation 22:18-19 ESV / 5 helpful votes

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

Revelation 12:9 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

2 Peter 1:20-21 ESV / 5 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.

1 Peter 4:8 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 1:18-19 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Hebrews 13:1-25 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” ...

2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV / 5 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 Timothy 4:1 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,

1 Timothy 2:5 ESV / 5 helpful votes

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

1 Thessalonians 5:21 ESV / 5 helpful votes

But test everything; hold fast what is good.

1 Thessalonians 2:15 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and oppose all mankind

1 Thessalonians 2:13 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.

Colossians 2:1-23 ESV / 5 helpful votes

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. ...

Ephesians 2:20 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,

Galatians 1:11-12 ESV / 5 helpful votes

For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:7-16 ESV / 5 helpful votes

For we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. ...

2 Corinthians 3:17 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

1 Corinthians 14:37 ESV / 5 helpful votes

If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 4:6 ESV / 5 helpful votes

I have applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us not to go beyond what is written, that none of you may be puffed up in favor of one against another.

1 Corinthians 2:5 ESV / 5 helpful votes

So that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Romans 10:17 ESV / 5 helpful votes

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Acts 20:35 ESV / 5 helpful votes

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

John 20:30-31 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John 17:17 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

John 12:48 ESV / 5 helpful votes

The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

John 10:27-37 ESV / 5 helpful votes

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.” The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. ...

John 4:23-24 ESV / 5 helpful votes

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

John 1:1 ESV / 5 helpful votes

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Luke 21:1-38 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, ...

Luke 15:11-32 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ...

Luke 15:1-17:37 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ...

Mark 7:14 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand:

Mark 7:9 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!

Matthew 28:18-20 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 12:1-8 ESV / 5 helpful votes

At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? ...

Isaiah 49:25 ESV / 5 helpful votes

For thus says the Lord: “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.

Proverbs 14:15 ESV / 5 helpful votes

The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.

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.

Matthew 23:4 ESV / 4 helpful votes

They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.

Matthew 5:17 ESV / 4 helpful votes

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

Amos 5:21-25 ESV / 4 helpful votes

“I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. “Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

Suggest a Verse


Visit the Bible online to search for words if you don’t know the specific passage your’re looking for.