59 Bible Verses about Leaders, Political

Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hands of their oppressors,

And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth judged Israel the same time,

Then Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his eldest son was Joel, and the name of the second Abiah, which were judges in Beersheba. Nevertheless, his sons followed not his steps: but turned aside after lucre and took rewards, and perverted the right.read more.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered them together and came to Samuel unto Ramah, and said unto him, "Behold, thou art old and thy sons follow not thy ways. Now, therefore, make us a king to judge us, as all other nations have." But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, "Hear the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee. For they have not cast thee away, but me: that I should not reign over them. And as they have ever done - since I brought them out of Egypt unto this day, and have forsaken me and served other gods - even so do they unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet, testify unto them and show them the duty of the king that shall reign over them." And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked a king of him, and he said, "This shall be the duty of the king that shall reign over you: he will take your sons and put them to his chariots and make his horsemen of them and they must run before his chariot, and will make him captains of them over thousands and over fifties, and set them to ear his ground, and to gather in his harvest, and to make instruments of war and apparel for his chariots. And he will take your daughters and make them the dressers of his ointments, and his cooks and bakers. And he shall take the best of your fields, and of your vineyards and of your olive trees, and give them to his servants. And he shall take the tenth of your seed and of your vines, and give it to his lords, and to his servants. And he shall take the best of your menservants and maidservants and young men, and of your asses, and do his work with them. And he shall take the tenth of your sheep, and ye shall be his servants. And when ye cry out at that time upon your king which ye shall have chosen you, the LORD will not hear you at that day." Nevertheless, the people would not hear the voice of Samuel, but did say, "Nay, not so: But there shall be a king over us, and we will be like all other nations. And our king shall judge us, and go out before us and fight our battles." And Samuel heard all the words of the people and rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD.

And then Samuel took a box of oil and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, "The LORD hath anointed thee to be a captain over his inheritance.

And then the LORD said unto Samuel, "How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have cast him away from reigning over Israel? Fill a horn with ointment, and come: I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have spied me a king among his sons." But Samuel answered, "How shall I go? For Saul shall hear it and will kill me." And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with thee, and say thou goest to offer to the LORD. And call Jesse to the offering, and I will show thee what thou shalt do: And thou shalt anoint him whom I say unto thee."read more.
And Samuel did as the LORD bade him. And when he came to Bethlehem, the elders of the town were astonished at his coming, and said, "Betokeneth thy coming peace?" And he said "Yea, for I am come to offer unto the LORD. Cleanse yourselves and come with me to the offering." And he purified Jesse and his sons, and bade them to the offering. And when they were come, he looked on Eliab and said, "The LORD's anointed is before him." But the LORD said unto Samuel, "Look not on his fashion nor on the height of his stature, for I have refused him. Because it is not as man seeth. For man looketh on the outward appearance: but the LORD beholdeth the heart." Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him come before Samuel. And he said, "Neither hath the LORD chosen this." Then Jesse made Shammah come, and he said, "Neither hath the LORD chosen him." Then made Jesse seven of his sons come before Samuel. And Samuel said, "The LORD hath chosen none of these." Then said Samuel to Jesse, "Are here all thy children?" And he said, "The youngest is yet behind. Behold, he keepeth the sheep." Then Samuel said unto Jesse, "Send and fetch him for we will not sit down, till he be come hither." And he sent and brought him in. And he was brown with goodly eyes, and well favoured in sight. And then the LORD said, "Up and anoint him: for this is he." And Samuel took the horn with the ointment and anointed him in the presence of his brethren. And the spirit of the LORD came upon David, from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou laid to rest with thy fathers, then I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy body, and will establish his kingdom.

Then king David answered, and said, "Call me Bathsheba." And she came in and stood before him. And the king sware, saying, "As sure as the LORD, that hath rid my soul out of all adversity, liveth: even as I sware unto thee by the LORD God of Israel, saying 'Solomon shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my seat for me,' so will I do this day."read more.
And Bathsheba bowed on her face to the earth and did obeisance unto the king, and said, "I pray God my lord king David may live ever." Then said king David, "Call me Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada." And when they came before the king, the king said unto them, "Take with you the servants of your lord, and set Solomon my son upon mine own mule and carry him down to Gihon. And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there, to be king over Israel. And then blow ye with a trumpet and say, 'God save king Solomon.' And then come up after him, and let him come and sit upon my seat. For he shall be king in my stead. And him I have commanded to be captain over Israel and Judah." And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, "Amen, and so I pray God that the LORD God of my lord the king say so too. And as the LORD hath been with my lord the king, even so I pray God he may be with Solomon, and that he make his seat greater than the seat of my lord king David." And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and the Cherethites and Pelethites went down, and set Solomon upon king David's mule and led him to Gihon. And Zadok the priest took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew a trumpet, and they all said, "God save king Solomon!" And all the people came up after him piping with pipes and rejoicing greatly, so that the earth rang with the sound of them.

And Moses came and called for the elders of Israel, and laid before them all these words which the LORD had commanded him.

If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, and lieth in the fields, and not known who hath slain him: Then let thine elders and thy judges come forth and meet unto the cities that are round about the slain.

Then went Boaz unto the gate and sat him down there. And behold, the kinsman of which Boaz spake came by. Unto whom he said, "Come and sit down here, and called him by his name." And he turned in and sat down. Then he took ten men of the elders of the city and said, "Sit ye down here." And they sat down.

When I went through the city unto the gate, and when they set me a chair in the street; When the young men, as soon as they saw me, hid themselves, and when the aged arose, and stood up unto me; when the princes left of their talking, and laid their hand to their mouth;read more.
when the mighty kept still their voice, and when their tongues cleaved to the roof of their mouths; When all they that heard me, called me happy, and when all they that saw me, wished me good. "For I delivered the poor when he cried, and the fatherless that wanted help.

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius the Emperor, Pontius Pilate being leftenant of Jewry, and Herod being Tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip Tetrarch in Ituraea, and in the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the Tetrarch of Abilene:

And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life,

And the LORD said unto Moses, "Hew the two tables of stone like unto the first that I may write in them the words which were in the first two tables, which thou brakest.

He put away the hill altars, and brake the images and cut down the groves, and all to brake the brazen serpent that Moses made - for unto those days the children of Israel did burn sacrifice to it, and called it Nehushtan.

And when they had finished all this, then all Israel that were found in cities of Judah went out and brake the Images and cut down the groves, and all to break the hill altars and the other altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had made an end of them. And afterward all the children of Israel returned every man to his possession in their own cities.

These be they which David set for to sing in the house of the LORD, after that the Ark had rest.

and said to Jeroboam, "Take thee ten pieces. For this sayeth the LORD God of Israel, 'Behold, I will rent the kingdom out of the hands of Solomon and will give ten tribes to thee,

But come, I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring my people the children of Israel out of Egypt."

And the LORD looked upon him and said, "Go hence in this thy might and deliver Israel out of the hands of the Midianites: Behold, I have sent thee."

And then the LORD said unto Samuel, "How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have cast him away from reigning over Israel? Fill a horn with ointment, and come: I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have spied me a king among his sons."

But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, "Hear the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee. For they have not cast thee away, but me: that I should not reign over them. And as they have ever done - since I brought them out of Egypt unto this day, and have forsaken me and served other gods - even so do they unto thee.

and said unto him, "Behold, thou art old and thy sons follow not thy ways. Now, therefore, make us a king to judge us, as all other nations have."

For he shall deliver the poor when he crieth, and the needy that hath no help. He shall be favorable to the simple and poor; he shall preserve the souls of such as be in adversity. He shall deliver their souls from extortion and wrong, and dear shall their blood be in his sight.

Then shall he judge thy people according unto right, and defend the poor.

A king that sitteth in judgment, and looketh well about him, driveth away all evil.

With true judgment the king setteth up the land; but if he be a man that taketh gifts, he turneth it upside down.

He shall make no end to increase the kingdom and peace, and shall sit upon the seat of David and in his kingdom, to set up the same: to establish it with equity and righteousness, from thenceforth for evermore. This shall the jealousy of the LORD of hosts bring to pass.

And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes: neither shall rebuke after the hearing of his ears. But he shall judge the causes of the poor with righteousness, and shall rebuke with equity for the humble of the earth. And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall slay the wicked.

He chose David also his servant, and took him away from the sheepfolds. As he was following the ewes great with young, he took him, that he might feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. So he fed them with a faithful and true heart, and ruled them with all the diligence of his power.

"Thou son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and speak unto them, 'Thus sayeth the LORD God: Woe be unto the shepherds of Israel, that feed themselves. Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye have eaten up the fat, ye have clothed you with the wool: the best fed have ye slain, but the flock have ye not nourished. The weak have ye not holden up, the sick have ye not healed: the broken have ye not bound together, the outcasts have ye not brought again. The lost have ye not sought, but churlishly and cruelly have ye ruled them.read more.
Thus are they scattered here and there without a shepherd: yea, all the beasts of the field devour them, and they go astray. My sheep go wandering upon all mountains, and upon every high hill. Yea they be scattered abroad in all fields, and there is no man, that careth for them, or seeketh after them.

There shall come a rod out of the stock of Jesse, and a branch shall spring out of his root. And on him shall light the spirit of the LORD: the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of strength, the spirit of knowledge and of reverence, and it shall make him savour of the fear of the LORD

And when he is sitten upon the seat of his kingdom, he shall write him out this second law in a book; taking a copy of the priests' the Levites'. And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all days of his life that he may learn to fear the LORD his God for to keep all the words of this law and these ordinances for to do them: that his heart arise not above his brethren and that he turn not from the commandment: either to the righthand or to the left: that both he and his children may prolong their days in his kingdom in Israel.

And he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes: neither shall rebuke after the hearing of his ears.

And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

Through me, kings reign: through me, princes make just laws. Through me, lords bear rule, and all judges of the earth execute judgment.

But Jesus called them unto him, and said, "Ye know that the Lords of the gentiles have domination over them. And they that are great exercise power over them.

But in any wise let him not hold too many horses, that he bring not the people again to Egypt through the multitude of horses, forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, 'Ye shall henceforth go no more again that way.' Also he shall not have too many wives, lest his heart turn away, neither shall he gather him silver and gold too much.

and he said, "This shall be the duty of the king that shall reign over you: he will take your sons and put them to his chariots and make his horsemen of them and they must run before his chariot, and will make him captains of them over thousands and over fifties, and set them to ear his ground, and to gather in his harvest, and to make instruments of war and apparel for his chariots. And he will take your daughters and make them the dressers of his ointments, and his cooks and bakers.read more.
And he shall take the best of your fields, and of your vineyards and of your olive trees, and give them to his servants. And he shall take the tenth of your seed and of your vines, and give it to his lords, and to his servants. And he shall take the best of your menservants and maidservants and young men, and of your asses, and do his work with them. And he shall take the tenth of your sheep, and ye shall be his servants.

"Thy father made our yoke grievous, but now make thou the grievous service of thy father and his sore yoke which he put upon us, lighter; and so we will serve thee."

Woe worth him, that buildeth his house with unrighteousness, and his parlors with the good that he hath gotten by violence: which never recompenceth his neighbour's labour, nor payeth him his hire.

And he tarried seven days, as Samuel had appointed. But Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people scattered from him. Wherefore Saul said, "Bring burnt sacrifice to me and peace offerings." And he offered burnt sacrifice. And as soon as he had made an end of offering burnt offerings behold, Samuel came. And Saul went against him, to salute him. Then said Samuel to Saul, "What hast thou done?"read more.
And Saul said, "Because I saw that the people scattered from me, and yet thou camest not within the days appointed - and that the Philistines gathered themselves together to Michmash - then said I, 'The Philistines shall come down upon me to Gilgal, before I have made supplication unto the LORD.' And therefore I took a courage with me and offered burnt offerings." Then said Samuel to Saul, "Thou hast done foolishly and hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God which he commanded thee. For at this time would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever.

And in his greatness his heart arose, that he was marred: and transgressed against the LORD his God. For he went into the temple of the LORD to burn cense upon the altar of incense. But Azariah the priest went in after him with four score priests of the LORD that were bold men. And they stepped to Uzziah the king and said to him, "It pertaineth not to thee, Uzziah, to burn cense unto the LORD; but to the priests the children of Aaron that are consecrated for to burn incense. Come out of the sanctuary, for thou hast trespassed, and it shall be no worship to thee before the LORD God."

After that, Solomon built an altar for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites in the hill that standeth before Jerusalem, and unto Moloch the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his outlandish wives, which burnt cense and offered unto their gods.

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem: his mother's name was Hephzibah. And he did that displeased the LORD, even after the abominations of the Heathen, which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel. And he went and built the hill altars again, which Hezekiah his father had destroyed. And he reared up altars to Baal and made groves, as did Ahab king of Israel. And he bowed himself unto all the host of heaven and served them.read more.
And he built altars in the very house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem I will put my name." And he built altars unto all the host of heaven, even in two courts of the house of the LORD. And he offered his son in fire, and observed dismal days; and used witchcraft and maintained workers with spirits, and tellers of fortunes - and wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD to anger him.

Woe be unto them that go down into Egypt for help, and trust in horses, and comfort themselves in chariots, because they be many, and in horsemen because they be lusty and strong. But they regard not the holy one of Israel, and they ask no question at the LORD.

The same season, Merodachbaladan the son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and presents unto Hezekiah, for he heard how that Hezekiah was sick.

Alas, for those disobedient children," sayeth the LORD, "that will take counsel without me. Alas, that they will take a secret advice, and not out of my spirit: and therefore add they sin unto sin. They go down into Egypt, and ask me no counsel; to seek help at he power of Pharaoh, and comfort in the shadow of the Egyptians.

Ephraim is like a dove, that is beguiled, and hath no heart. Now call they upon the Egyptians, now go they to the Assyrians:

And he said unto them, "Go ye and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and heal the people today and tomorrow, and the third day I make an end.

In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, saw Daniel a dream, and a vision was in his head upon his bed. Which dream he wrote, and the sum of the matter is this: Daniel spake and said, "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the sea, and four great beasts came up from the sea, one unlike another.read more.
The first was as a Lion, and yet had he Eagle's wings. I saw, that his wings were plucked from him, and he taken away from the earth: that he stood upon his feet as a man, and that there was given him a man's heart. Behold, the second beast was like a Bear, and stood upon the one side. Among his teeth in his mouth he had three great long teeth, and it was said unto him, 'Arise, eat up, much flesh.' Then I looked, and behold, there was another like unto a leopard: this had wings as a fowl, even four upon the back. This beast had four heads, and there was power given him. After this I saw in a vision by night, and behold, the fourth beast was grim and horrible, and marvelous strong. It had great iron teeth, it devoured and destroyed, and stamped the residue under feet. It was far unlike the other beasts that were before it: for it had ten horns, whereof I took good heed.

And I stood on the sea sand. And I saw a beast rise out of the sea, having seven heads, and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his head, the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw, was like a cat of the mountain, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his seat, and great authority: and I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world wondered at the beast,

Let every soul submit himself unto the authority of the higher powers. For there is no power, but of God. The powers that be, are ordained of God.

Wherefore ye must needs obey, not for fear of vengeance only: but also because of conscience.

Submit yourselves unto all manner ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be unto the King as unto the chief head; other unto rulers, as unto them that are sent of him, for the punishment of evil doers: but for the laud of them that well do. For so is the will of God, that ye put to silence the ignorance of the foolish men:read more.
as free, and not as having the liberty for a cloak of maliciousness: but even as the servants of God. See that ye honour all men. Love brotherly fellowship, fear God, and honour the King.

Peter and the other apostles answered, and said, "We ought more to obey God than men.

And if he will not, yet shalt thou know, O king, that we will not serve thy Gods, nor do reverence to the Image which thou hast set up."

Then answered they, and said unto the king, "Daniel one of the prisoners of Judah, O king, regardeth neither thee nor thy statute that thou hast made, but maketh his petition three times a day."

I exhort therefore that above all things, prayers, supplications, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be had for all men: for kings, and for all that are in authority that we may live a quiet and a peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty.