Judges are supposed to ensure justice is done so that law and order can be maintained, so here are the top 13 Bible verses for judges to consider when rendering decisions.
13 So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.
- Romans 14:12
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12 The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening.
- Exodus 18:13
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11 In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and they shall keep my Sabbaths holy.
- Ezekiel 44:24
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10 If there is a dispute between men and they come into court and the judges decide between them, acquitting the innocent and condemning the guilty, then if the guilty man deserves to be beaten, the judge shall cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with a number of stripes in proportion to his offense.
- Deuteronomy 25:1-2
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9 Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment.
- Judges 4:4-5
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8 Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places.
- 1 Samuel 7:15-16
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7 Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the LORD, and they did not do so.
- Judges 2:16-17
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6 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
- Ecclesiastes 12:14
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5 And all Israel, sojourner as well as native born, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first, to bless the people of Israel.
- Joshua 8:33
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4 Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.
- Judges 2:18-20
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3 He appointed judges in the land in all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, and said to the judges, Consider what you do, for you judge not for man but for the LORD. He is with you in giving judgment.
- 2 Chronicles 19:5-6
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2 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
- John 5:30
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1 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
- John 12:48
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5 Stories From The Bible For Judges To Consider
Here are 5 stories from the Bible that judges should read and consider.
Righteous Judgment
The Old Testament had laws that many nations based their own laws upon, and one such law was like that found in Deuteronomy 16:18, where they were told that they “shall judge the people with righteous judgment,” and by all means, “You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous” (Deuteronomy 16:19). Far too often we hear of such news that an elected official, public officer, and even judges have perverted justice by accepting a bribe.
Judge with Righteous Judgment
Sometimes we’re hear people say, “Judge and you shall not be judged,” and that’s typically right after they’re seen in a less than wholesome setting or situation. Actually, we make judgments every day. We know that if a person is late at work, day after day, we make a judgment as to whether they’ll show up on time. We are not to judge people, for God’s throne is a one-seater, but we must make a judgment based upon the Word of God, which is judging righteously. Jesus said, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment” (John 7:24), but we have no right to condemn or judge people by the way they look or what they do.
No Partiality
The Judges in Israel were given stern warnings from God that “You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor” (Leviticus 19:15). To show bias toward the rich and against the poor is to incur the wrath of God. No judge that does such things will ultimately escape his own judgment.
God Judges
God Himself spoke through Moses and told every judge of Israel, “I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him” (Deuteronomy 1:16). Here, even the alien is given rights to a fair trial and to receive equal justices under the Law, thereby establishing quality between the Israelite and the alien, for God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11-16)
The Sojourner
The Old Testament had laws protecting the alien and sojourners in the land, and the Law said that when a “stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong” (Leviticus 19:34), and to remind them about why they should do this, they should remember they that too “were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Leviticus 19:35b).
If you know of a judge who might benefit from these top 13 Bible verses for judges, please share them so that they might see the biblical view of justice.
Written by Pastor Jack Wellman
