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100 Bible Verses about Wicked Leaders

Proverbs 29:2 ESV / 21 helpful votes

When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.

Proverbs 29:12 ESV / 16 helpful votes

If a ruler listens to falsehood, all his officials will be wicked.

Proverbs 16:12 ESV / 16 helpful votes

It is an abomination to kings to do evil, for the throne is established by righteousness.

1 Timothy 4:12 ESV / 15 helpful votes

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

2 Timothy 2:24 ESV / 12 helpful votes

And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil,

1 Timothy 3:1-2 ESV / 12 helpful votes

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

Acts 20:28 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Luke 22:26 ESV / 12 helpful votes

But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.

Mark 10:42-45 ESV / 12 helpful votes

And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Proverbs 16:18 ESV / 12 helpful votes

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Psalm 101:5 ESV / 11 helpful votes

Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy. Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not endure.

James 3:1 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

Hebrews 13:7 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

Titus 1:7 ESV / 10 helpful votes

For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain,

2 Timothy 2:15 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

Philippians 2:3 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Galatians 6:9 ESV / 10 helpful votes

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Matthew 20:26 ESV / 10 helpful votes

It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,

Proverbs 28:15 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a poor people.

Proverbs 4:23 ESV / 10 helpful votes

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Revelation 11:1-19 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. ...

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 9 helpful votes

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

Hebrews 13:17 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

1 Timothy 3:1-5 ESV / 9 helpful votes

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?

Colossians 3:23-25 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

Romans 13:1 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

John 3:16-17 ESV / 8 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Matthew 23:1-39 ESV / 8 helpful votes

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, ...

Ezekiel 34:1-8 ESV / 8 helpful votes

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; ...

Ezekiel 3:16-4:17 ESV / 8 helpful votes

And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. ...

Jeremiah 23:1-4 ESV / 8 helpful votes

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.

Proverbs 28:16 ESV / 8 helpful votes

A ruler who lacks understanding is a cruel oppressor, but he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days.

1 Timothy 3:2 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,

Ephesians 4:11 ESV / 7 helpful votes

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,

John 3:30 ESV / 7 helpful votes

He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Isaiah 3:12 ESV / 7 helpful votes

My people—infants are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your guides mislead you and they have swallowed up the course of your paths.

Proverbs 29:4 ESV / 7 helpful votes

By justice a king builds up the land, but he who exacts gifts tears it down.

Proverbs 11:14 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.

Psalm 139:23-24 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Psalm 78:72 ESV / 7 helpful votes

With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.

Exodus 18:21 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.

James 4:10 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

James 1:12 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

1 Timothy 4:8 ESV / 6 helpful votes

For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

Philippians 4:13 ESV / 6 helpful votes

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Philippians 2:4 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Ephesians 4:11-16 ESV / 6 helpful votes

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ...

Romans 8:28 ESV / 6 helpful votes

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 6:23 ESV / 6 helpful votes

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 13:13-17 ESV / 6 helpful votes

You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

Matthew 7:12 ESV / 6 helpful votes

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Isaiah 41:10 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 1:23 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow's cause does not come to them.

Proverbs 22:29 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.

Revelation 21:8 ESV / 5 helpful votes

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Zephaniah 1:18 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the Lord. In the fire of his jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full and sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

Proverbs 29:1 ESV / 5 helpful votes

He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing.

1 Samuel 15:23 ESV / 5 helpful votes

For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”

Deuteronomy 25:13-16 ESV / 5 helpful votes

“You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small. You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small. A full and fair weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are an abomination to the Lord your God.

Genesis 13:10 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)

Revelation 20:10 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

1 Peter 5:8 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

1 Peter 5:2 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly;

1 Peter 4:18 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

1 Peter 4:17 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?

James 3:18 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

1 Timothy 6:10 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Colossians 3:9-10 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

2 Corinthians 9:6 ESV / 4 helpful votes

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

1 Corinthians 9:11 ESV / 4 helpful votes

If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?

Acts 17:10-11 ESV / 4 helpful votes

The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Acts 3:26 ESV / 4 helpful votes

God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

Acts 3:1-26:32 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. ...

John 3:16 ESV / 4 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Matthew 10:28 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Daniel 12:10 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand.

Daniel 11:32 ESV / 4 helpful votes

He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.

Daniel 9:5 ESV / 4 helpful votes

We have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.

Ezekiel 18:21 ESV / 4 helpful votes

“But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

Ezekiel 18:1-21:32 ESV / 4 helpful votes

The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge’? As I live, declares the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die. “If a man is righteous and does what is just and right— ...

Ezekiel 7:19 ESV / 4 helpful votes

They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. For it was the stumbling block of their iniquity.

Jeremiah 31:25 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.”

Jeremiah 17:9-10 ESV / 4 helpful votes

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Isaiah 65:23 ESV / 4 helpful votes

They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them.

Isaiah 55:7 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Isaiah 55:1-57:21 ESV / 4 helpful votes

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. ...

Isaiah 1:4 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.

Ecclesiastes 1:17 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.

Ecclesiastes 1:14 ESV / 4 helpful votes

I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

Proverbs 27:16 ESV / 4 helpful votes

To restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp oil in one's right hand.

Proverbs 21:26 ESV / 4 helpful votes

All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back.

Proverbs 11:30 ESV / 4 helpful votes

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise.

Proverbs 11:21 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.

Proverbs 11:18 ESV / 4 helpful votes

The wicked earns deceptive wages, but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.

Proverbs 11:7 ESV / 4 helpful votes

When the wicked dies, his hope will perish, and the expectation of wealth perishes too.

Proverbs 10:32 ESV / 4 helpful votes

The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse.

Proverbs 10:29 ESV / 4 helpful votes

The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the blameless, but destruction to evildoers.

Proverbs 10:28 ESV / 4 helpful votes

The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.

Proverbs 10:20 ESV / 4 helpful votes

The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is of little worth.

Proverbs 10:7 ESV / 4 helpful votes

The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.

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