63 Bible Verses about Judges

And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.

Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, who delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. And yet they would not hearken to their judges, but they went astray after other gods, and bowed themselves to them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so. And when the LORD raised up judges for them, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: (for the LORD repented because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and burdened them.)read more.
And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down to them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.

And when the children of Israel cried to the LORD, the LORD raised up a deliverer to the children of Israel, who delivered them, even Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother. And the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and he judged Israel, and went out to war: and the LORD delivered Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand; and his hand prevailed against Chushan-rishathaim. And the land had rest forty years: and Othniel the son of Kenaz died.

And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm-tree of Deborah, between Ramah and Beth-el in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, Hath not the LORD God of Israel commanded, saying, Go, and draw towards mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali, and of the children of Zebulun?read more.
And I will draw to thee, to the river Kishon, Sisera the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thy hand. And Barak said to her, if thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thy honor; for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.

Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Beth-lehem-judah went to dwell in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.

Surely there was not held such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah.

If there shall be a controversy between men, and they come to judgment, that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked. And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.

And Lot went out at the door to them, and shut the door after him, And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. Behold now, I have two daughters who have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out to you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only to these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.read more.
And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one man came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: Now will we deal worse with thee than with them. And they pressed hard upon the man, Lot, and came near to break the door.

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning to the evening. And when Moses's father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? Why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning to evening? And Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to inquire of God:read more.
When they have a matter, they come to me, and I judge between one and another, and I make them know the statutes of God, and his laws. And Moses's father-in-law said to him, The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. Hearken now to my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people toward God, that thou mayest bring the causes to God: And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt show them the way in which they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover, thou shalt provide out of all the people, able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring to thee, but every small matter they shall judge: So shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law, and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought to Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.

If a man shall deliver to his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man's house; if the thief shall be found, let him pay double. If the thief shall not be found, then the master of the house shall be brought to the judges, to see whether he hath put his hand to his neighbor's goods. For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing which another challengeth to be his: the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and he whom the judges shall condemn, shall pay double to his neighbor.

And Moses said to the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined to Baal-peor.

And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.

If a false witness shall rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong; Then both the men between whom the controversy is shall stand before the LORD, before the priests, and the judges, who shall be in those days; And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and behold, if the witness is a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;read more.
Then shall ye do to him, as he had thought to do to his brother: so shalt thou remove the evil from among you. And those who remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you. And thy eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

If one shall be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him: Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure to the cities which are around him that is slain:

And he set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment. Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.

And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; and they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.

And he said to him, Man, who made me a judge, or a divider over you?

Do ye not know that the saints will judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more, things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.read more.
I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that will be able to judge between his brethren?

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

If thou shalt buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall depart free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall depart by himself: if he was married, then his wife shall depart with him. If his master hath given him a wife, and she hath borne him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall depart by himself.read more.
And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not depart free: Then his master shall bring him to the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or to the door-post: and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for ever.

Let now our rulers of all the congregation stand, and let all them who have taken foreign wives in our cities come at appointed times, and with them the elders of every city, and its judges, until the fierce wrath of our God for this matter shall be turned from us.

Then Paul, after the governor had beckoned to him to speak, answered, Forasmuch as I know that thou hast been for many years a judge to this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself:

And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side of the ark, and on that side, before the priests the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel.

And it came to pass, a long time after that the LORD had given rest to Israel from all their enemies on all sides, that Joshua became old and advanced in age. And Joshua called for all Israel, and for their elders, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them, I am old and advanced in age: And ye have seen all that the LORD your God hath done to all these nations because of you; for the LORD your God is he that hath fought for you.read more.
Behold, I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even to the great sea westward. And the LORD your God, he shall expel them from before you, and drive them from your sight; and ye shall possess their land, as the LORD your God hath promised to you. Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that ye turn not aside from it to the right hand or to the left; That ye come not among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow yourselves to them: But cleave to the LORD your God, as ye have done to this day. For the LORD hath driven out from before you great nations and strong: but as for you, no man hath been able to stand before you to this day. One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you. Take good heed therefore to yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God. Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave to the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and associate with them, and they with you: Know for a certainty that the LORD your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. And behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth; and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the LORD your God spoke concerning you: all are come to pass to you, and not one thing hath failed of it. Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all good things are come upon you, which the LORD your God promised you; so shall the LORD bring upon you all evil things, until he hath destroyed you from off this good land which the LORD your God hath given you. When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given to you. And Joshua convened all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. And I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave to Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out. And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came to the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red sea. And when they cried to the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season. And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, who dwelt on the other side of Jordan, and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.

Then Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every governor in all Israel, the chief of the fathers. So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon: for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness.

Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.

And he set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city,

And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went from year to year in circuit to Beth-el, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places. And his return was to Ramah; for there was his house; and there he judged Israel; and there he built an altar to the LORD.

If there shall arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and go up to the place which the LORD thy God shall choose; And thou shalt come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall show thee the sentence of judgment:

Absalom said moreover, Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man who hath any suit or cause might come to me, and I would do him justice!

And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken to the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or to the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt remove the evil from Israel.

And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number. Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile to thee.

That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.

Saying, There was in a city a judge, who feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, Avenge me of my adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;read more.
Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And will not God avenge his own elect, who cry day and night to him, though he beareth long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, will he find faith on the earth?

Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand. Of which, twenty and four thousand were to oversee the work of the house of the LORD; and six thousand were officers and judges:

Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons were for the outward business over Israel, for officers and judges.

Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to convene the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sherifs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sherifs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were assembled to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.

And thou, Ezra, after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thy hand, set magistrates and judges, who may judge all the people that are beyond the river, all such as know the laws of thy God; and teach ye them that know them not.

Then wrote Rehum the chancellor, and Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their companions; the Dianites, the Apharsathchites, the Tarpelites, the Apharsites, the Archevites, the Babylonians, the Susanchites, the Dehavites, and the Elamites,

When he was sitting on the judgment-seat, his wife sent to him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream, because of him.

Agree with thy adversary quickly, while thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

When thou goest with thy adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him; lest he draw thee before the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison.

When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down on the judgment-seat, in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.

For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us.

Wherefore I have not sinned against thee, but thou doest me wrong to war against me: the LORD the Judge be judge this day between the children of Israel and the children of Ammon.

The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but my hand shall not be upon thee.

If any man shall trespass against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thy altar in this house: Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.

Then shall the trees of the wood sing at the presence of the LORD, because he cometh to judge the earth.

Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my judge.

So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.

Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.

And I seek not my own glory: there is one that seeketh and judgeth.

He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

To the general assembly and church of the first-born, who are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.

And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.

And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is he who was ordained by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead.

For the Father judgeth no man; but hath committed all judgment to the Son:

Because he hath appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained: of which he hath given assurance to all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to what he hath done, whether good or bad.

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;