23 Bible Verses about Theocracy

Then Yahweh said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people concerning all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

And all the people together answered and said, "All that Yahweh has spoken we will do." And Moses brought back the words of the people to Yahweh.

On the {command of Yahweh} the {Israelites} would set out, and on the {command of Yahweh} they encamped; all the days that the cloud dwelled on the tabernacle they encamped.

{in order for you to enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God}, and into his oath that Yahweh your God [is] {making with you} {today},

But Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; Yahweh will rule over you."

And he took the scroll of the covenant and read [it] in the hearing of the people, and they said, "All that Yahweh has spoken we will do, and we will listen."

And all the people together answered and said, "All that Yahweh has spoken we will do." And Moses brought back the words of the people to Yahweh.

But Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; Yahweh will rule over you."

"And when you saw that Nahash, the king of [the] {Ammonites}, was coming against you, you said to me, 'No! A king shall reign over us,' although Yahweh your God [is] your king.

And Moses came, and he told the people all the words of Yahweh and all the regulations. And all the people answered with one voice, and they said, "All the words that Yahweh has spoken we will do."

So now you yourselves are considering [that you are] strong before the kingdom of Yahweh [which is] in the hand the sons of David, since you yourselves are a great multitude and you have bull calves of gold that Jeroboam has made for idols.

Then Yahweh said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people concerning all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

But you today have rejected your God who always delivers you from all of your calamities and your distresses. You have said to him, 'No, but you must appoint a king over us!' So then present yourselves before Yahweh by your tribes and by your clans."

However, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel and they said, "No, but there must be a king over us,

Three times in the year all [of] your males shall appear {before } Yahweh your God at the place that he will choose, at the Feast of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Booths, and they shall not appear {before Yahweh} empty-handed.

" 'And any tithe of the land from the land's seed [or] from the fruit of the trees [is] for Yahweh; it [is] a holy object for Yahweh.

And Moses said to all the community of the {Israelites}, saying, "This is the word that Yahweh has commanded, saying, 'Take from among you a contribution for Yahweh, anyone willing of heart, let him bring Yahweh's contribution--gold and silver and bronze, and blue and purple and crimson [yarns], and fine linen and goat hair, read more.
and red-dyed ram skins, and fine leather, and acacia wood, and oil for the lamp, balsam oils for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones and stones for mountings on the ephod and the breast piece. "And let all [the] skilled of heart among you come and make all that Yahweh has commanded: The tabernacle, its tent, and its covering; its clasps and its frames; its bars, its pillars, and its bases; the ark and its poles; the atonement cover and the curtain of the screen; the table and its poles and all its equipment; and the bread of the presence; and lampstand of the light and its equipment and its lamps and the oil for the light; and the altar of incense and its poles; and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense and the entrance curtain for the entrance of the tabernacle; the altar of the burnt offering and the bronze grating that [is] for it, its poles and all its equipment; the basin and its stand; the hangings of the courtyard, its pillars, and its bases, and the screen for the courtyard gate; the {pegs} of the tabernacle and the {pegs} of the courtyard and their cords; the woven garments for serving in the sanctuary--the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons to serve as priests." And all the community of the {Israelites} went out from before Moses. And they came--every man whose heart lifted him and every man whose spirit impelled him--they brought Yahweh's contribution for the work of the tent of assembly and for all its service and for the holy garments. And they came, the men in addition to the women, all [who were] willing of heart; they brought brooches and jewelry rings and signet rings and ornaments--every [variety] of gold object--every man who waved a wave offering of gold for Yahweh, and every man with whom was found blue and purple and crimson [yarns] and fine linen and goat hair and red-dyed ram skins and fine leather brought [it]. All [who were] presenting a contribution of silver and bronze brought Yahweh's contribution, and all with whom was found acacia wood for all the work of service brought [it]. And every woman [who was] skilled of heart with her hands they spun, and they brought yarn--the blue and the purple, the crimson and the fine linen. And all the women whose heart lifted them with skill spun the goat hair. And the leaders brought the onyx stones and stones for mountings for the ephod and for the breast piece and the balsam oils and the oil for light and for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense. Every man and woman whose heart impelled them to bring for all the work to be done that Yahweh had commanded {by the agency of} Moses--the {Israelites} brought freely to Yahweh.

"{And then} when you come to the land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you [as an] inheritance, and you take possession of it and you settle in it, then you shall take from the firstfruit of all the fruit of the ground that you harvest from your land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you, and you shall put [it] in a basket, and you shall go to the place that Yahweh your God will choose to make his name to dwell there. And you shall go to the priest who is [in office] in those days, and you shall say, 'I declare {today} to Yahweh your God that I have come into the land that Yahweh swore to our ancestors to give to us.' read more.
Then the priest takes the basket from your hand and places it {before} the altar of Yahweh your God.

And they put him under watch because it was not made clear what should be done to him.

Moses said to them, "Stay. I will hear what Yahweh commands to you." And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the {Israelites}, saying, 'Each man that is unclean {by a dead person} or [is] on a far journey, you or your {descendants}, he will observe the Passover of Yahweh. read more.
On the second month on the fourteenth day {at twilight} they will observe it; they will eat it with unleavened bread and bitter plants.

So Moses brought their case before Yahweh. And Yahweh said to Moses, saying, "{The statements of the daughters of Zelophehad are right}. You must surely give them [the] property of an inheritance in the midst of their father's brothers, and you must transfer the inheritance of their father to them. read more.
And you must speak to the {Israelites}, saying, 'If a man dies and has no son, you must transfer his inheritance to his daughter. And if he has no daughter, you must give his inheritance to his brothers. If he has no brothers, then you must give his inheritance to his father's brothers. If his father has no brothers, then you must give his inheritance to his nearest relative from his own clan, and he will take possession of it. It will be as a decree of stipulation for the {Israelites}, just as Yahweh commanded Moses.'"

And now come, and I will send you to Pharaoh, and [you must] bring my people, the {Israelites}, out from Egypt."

Then Yahweh said to Moses, "Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is [the] spirit, and place your hand on him.

You will give to him from your authority so that the entire community of Israel will {obey him}.

For I [am] Yahweh, your God, the holy one of Israel, your savior. I give you Egypt [as] ransom, Cush and Seba in place of you.

Who [is] like your people, like Israel? [Israel is] the one nation on earth whose God {led them}, [in order] to redeem a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to do for you the great and awesome things for your land in the presence of your people whom he redeemed for himself from Egypt, [from the] nations and their gods.

Therefore say to the {Israelites}, 'I [am] Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the {forced labor} of Egypt, and I will deliver you from their slavery, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great punishments. And I will take you {as my people}, and I will be {your God}, and you will know that I [am] Yahweh your God, who brought you out from under the {forced labor} of Egypt.

And [then] I lay prostrate {before} Yahweh, as earlier, forty days and forty nights; I did not eat food and I did not drink water because of all your sins that you committed, by doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh [and so] provoking him. For {I was in dread} from [being in] the presence of the anger and the wrath [with] which Yahweh was angry with you [so as] to destroy you, but Yahweh listened to me also {at that time}. And with Aaron Yahweh was {angry enough} to destroy him, and I prayed also for Aaron at that time.

Yahweh said, "I have forgiven [them] according to your word;

"These words Yahweh spoke to your whole assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire and the very thick cloud [with] a loud voice, and {he did not add anything}, and [then] he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. {And then} {when you heard} the voice from the midst of the darkness, and [as] the mountain [was] burning with fire, and [and] all the heads of your tribes and your elders approached me,

And Yahweh said to Moses, "Write this [as] a memorial in the scroll and {recite it in the hearing of} Joshua, because I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens." And Moses built an altar, and he called its name Yahweh [Is] My Banner. And he said, "Because a hand [was] against the throne of Yah, a war [will be] for Yahweh with Amalek from generation [to] generation."

Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "Seek vengeance for the {Israelites} on the Midianites; afterward you will be gathered to your people."

And make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell in the midst of them,

And I will put my dwelling place in your midst, and my inner self shall not abhor you. And I will walk about in your midst, and I shall be your God, and you shall be my people.

"And bring near to you Aaron, your brother, and his sons with him from the midst of the {Israelites} to serve as priests for me--Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron.

And you will bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of assembly, and you will wash them with the water. And you will clothe Aaron with the holy garments, and you will anoint him, and you will consecrate him, and he will serve as a priest for me. And you will bring his sons, and you will clothe them [with] tunics. read more.
And you will anoint them as you anointed their father, and they will serve as priests for me. And their anointing will be for them to be a lasting priesthood throughout their generations."

Then Yahweh said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people concerning all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.

'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and [how] I bore you on eagles' wings and I brought you to me. And now if you will carefully listen to my voice and keep my covenant, you will be a treasured possession for me out of all the peoples, {for all the earth is mine}, but you, you will [belong] to me [as] a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you will speak to the {Israelites}."

Yahweh you [have] declared {today} to be for you as [your] God, and to go in his ways and to observe his rules and his commandments and his regulations and to listen to his voice. And Yahweh [has] declared you {today} to be for him as a people, a treasured possession, as he {promised} to you, and [that you are] to observe all his commandments, {and that he then will set you} high above all the nations that he has made for his praise and {for fame} and for honor and {for you to be a holy people} to Yahweh your God, as he {promised}."

And when the cloud was lifted from the tabernacle, the {Israelites} set out on all their journeys. But if the cloud was not lifted, they did not set out until the day of its being lifted.

And on a day setting up the tabernacle, the cloud covered the tent of the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony; in the evening it was on the tabernacle as an appearance of fire until morning. So it was continually; the cloud would cover it and the appearance of fire [by] night.

Now Joshua was old [and] {advanced in years}, and Yahweh said to him, "You are old [and] {advanced in years}, and very much of the land remains to be possessed. This [is] the remaining land: all the regions of the Philistines, and all [of] the Geshurites, from the Shihor, which [is] {east of Egypt}, up to the border of Ekron to [the] north, which is reckoned as Canaanite; [there are] five Philistine rulers: the Gazites, Ashdodites, Ashkelonites, Gittites, Ekronites, and the Avvim. read more.
In [the] south; all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah, which [belongs] to the Sidonians up to Aphek, to the border of the Amorites, and the land of the Gebalites, and all the Lebanon, {toward the east}, from Baal Gad {at the foot of} Mount Hermon up to Lebo-Hamath; all the inhabitants of the hill country, from the Lebanon up to Misrephoth Maim, and all [the] Sidonians. I will drive them out from before the {Israelites}; only allocate it to Israel as an inheritance just as I have commanded you. Therefore, divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh."

So the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of Yahweh, because the men treated the offering of Yahweh with contempt.