Bible Verses About Rulers

For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”

For the ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who look for evil will be cut down—

those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice.

For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.

Woe to you, O destroyer never destroyed, O traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, you will be betrayed.

He brings the princes to nothing and makes the rulers of the earth meaningless.

And now what have I here? declares the LORD. For My people have been taken without cause; those who rule them taunt, declares the LORD, and My name is blasphemed continually all day long.

Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke?

So justice is turned away, and righteousness stands at a distance. For truth has stumbled in the public square, and honesty cannot enter.

Truth is missing, and whoever turns from evil becomes prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.

Instead of bronze I will bring you gold; I will bring silver in place of iron, bronze instead of wood, and iron instead of stones. I will appoint peace as your governor and righteousness as your ruler.

They have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in the deeds of the wicked. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.

Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?

Say to the king and to the queen mother: “Take a lowly seat, for your glorious crowns have fallen from your heads.”

O house of David, this is what the LORD says: ‘Administer justice every morning, and rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor, or My wrath will go forth like fire and burn with no one to extinguish it because of their evil deeds.

This is what the LORD says: “Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there,

saying, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, who sits on the throne of David—you and your officials and your people who enter these gates.

This is what the LORD says: Administer justice and righteousness. Rescue the victim of robbery from the hand of his oppressor. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow. Do not shed innocent blood in this place.

And you, O profane and wicked prince of Israel, the day has come for your final punishment.’

This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Remove the turban, and take off the crown. Things will not remain as they are: Exalt the lowly and bring low the exalted.

See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood.

Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.

“Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre that this is what the Lord GOD says: Your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods in the heart of the sea.’ Yet you are a man and not a god, though you have regarded your heart as that of a god.

“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who only feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed their flock?

You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened sheep, but you do not feed the flock.