Bible Verses About Rulers: Character and qualifications of

Now, therefore, Pharaoh should look for a discerning and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt.

Furthermore, select capable men from among the people—God-fearing, trustworthy men who are averse to dishonest gain. Appoint them over the people as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.

Have these men judge the people at all times. Then they can bring you any major issue, but all minor cases they can judge on their own, so that your load may be lightened as they share it with you.

Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.

Choose for yourselves wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will appoint them as your leaders.”

You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.

Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

Pursue justice, and justice alone, so that you may live, and you may possess the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

The God of Israel spoke; the Rock of Israel said to me, ‘He who rules the people with justice, who rules in the fear of God,

is like the light of the morning at sunrise of a cloudless dawn, the glistening after the rain on the sprouting grass of the earth.’

And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which you possess, are to appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people west of the Euphrates—all who know the laws of your God. And you are to teach these laws to anyone who does not know them.

Therefore be wise, O kings; be admonished, O judges of the earth.

Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Endow the king with Your justice, O God, and the son of the king with Your righteousness.

May he judge Your people with righteousness and Your afflicted with justice.

May the mountains bring peace to the people, and the hills bring righteousness.

May he vindicate the afflicted among the people; may he save the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.

May they fear him as long as the sun shines, as long as the moon remains, through all generations.

May he be like rain that falls on freshly cut grass, like spring showers that water the earth.

May the righteous flourish in his days and prosperity abound, until the moon is no more.

May he rule from sea to sea, and from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.

May the nomads bow before him, and his enemies lick the dust.

May the kings of Tarshish and distant shores bring tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.

May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him.