Scripture recognises that human beings exercise authority in various capacities and ways. However, it insists that all human authority derives ultimately from God himself. Passages gathered in the Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin H. Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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And the Lord answered, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their portion at the proper time?
As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are on the LORD our God until He shows us mercy.
Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned.
After a long time the master of those servants returned to settle accounts with them.
Then you will be like servants waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once.
The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do, now that my master is taking away my position? I am too weak to dig and too ashamed to beg.
Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.
And masters, do the same for your slaves. Give up your use of threats, because you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him.
Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only to please them while they are watching, but with sincerity of heart and fear of the Lord.
The owner of the house went out and said to them, "No, my brothers, do not do this wicked thing! After all, this man is a guest in my house. Do not commit this outrage.
What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants, and will give the vineyard to others.
Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those tenants?"
So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?
What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he is the owner of everything.
"Sir," they said, "we remember that while He was alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.'
'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone again this year, until I dig around it and fertilize it.
They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and requested of him, "Sir, we want to see Jesus."
"Woman, why are you weeping?" Jesus asked. "Whom are you seeking?" Thinking He was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried Him off, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him."
just as Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. And you are her children if you do what is right and refuse to give way to fear.
So Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them. But it shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."
But Jesus called them aside and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them. It shall not be this way among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."
So Jesus declared, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them call themselves benefactors. But you shall not be like them. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who leads like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines? But I am among you as one who serves.
Be shepherds of God's flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but because it is God's will; not out of greed, but out of eagerness; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.
God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God also told Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.' This is My name forever, and this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.
I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name the LORD I did not make Myself known to them.
Therefore tell the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling out to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. Then I said: "Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts."
I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God but Me. I will equip you for battle, though you have not known Me, so that all may know, from where the sun rises to where it sets, that there is none but Me; I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create the darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity. I, the LORD, do all these things. Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open up that salvation may sprout and righteousness spring up with it; I, the LORD, have created it.
For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens—He is God; He formed the earth and fashioned it; He established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited: "I am the LORD, and there is no other.
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,
Just then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever."
And I heard the altar reply: "Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are Your judgments."
For I know that the LORD is great; our Lord is above all gods. The LORD does all that pleases Him in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and in all their depths.
At that time Jesus declared, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
At that time Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and declared, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was well-pleasing in Your sight.
The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together, against the LORD and against His Anointed One: "Let us break Their chains and cast away Their cords." The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord taunts them.
For You, O LORD, are Most High over all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.
The king said to Daniel, "Your God is truly the God of gods and Lord of kings, the Revealer of Mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery."
The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands.
which the blessed and only Sovereign One—the King of kings and Lord of lords—will bring about in His own time.
Go to your people, the exiles; speak to them and tell them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says,' whether they listen or refuse to listen."
but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.
Listen, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD has spoken: "I have raised children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against Me.
I have not spoken in secret, from a place in a land of darkness. I did not say to the descendants of Jacob, 'Seek Me in a wasteland.' I, the LORD, speak the truth; I say what is right.
The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah,
Then the LORD reached out His hand, touched my mouth, and said to me: "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
the word of the LORD came directly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Kebar. And there the LORD's hand was upon him.
They are obstinate and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you are to say to them, 'This is what the Lord GOD says.'
Then tell the people of the land that this is what the Lord GOD says about those living in Jerusalem and in the land of Israel: 'They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water in dread, for their land will be stripped of everything in it because of the violence of all who dwell in it.
Do not test the LORD your God as you tested Him at Massah. You are to diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God and the testimonies and statutes He has given you. Do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, so that it may be well with you and that you may enter and possess the good land that the LORD your God swore to give your fathers,
Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing; come out from it, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the LORD.
With a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands to which you have been scattered.
When I bring you from the peoples and gather you from the lands to which you have been scattered, I will accept you as a pleasing aroma. And I will show My holiness through you in the sight of the nations.
I will be his Father, and he will be My son. When he does wrong, I will discipline him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.
Brothers, as an example of patience in affliction, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, to see how they are doing."
This continued for two years, so that everyone who lived in the province of Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord.
The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. For the Day of the LORD of Hosts will come against all the proud and lofty, against all that is exalted— it will be humbled—
So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
The great Day of the LORD is near— near and coming quickly. Listen, the Day of the LORD! Then the cry of the mighty will be bitter. That day will be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of destruction and desolation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, a day of horn blast and battle cry against the fortified cities, and against the high corner towers. I will bring such distress on mankind that they will walk like the blind, because they have sinned against the LORD. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their flesh like dung. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the Day of the LORD's wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of His jealousy." For indeed, He will make a sudden end of all who dwell on the earth.
Wail, for the Day of the LORD is near; it will come as destruction from the Almighty.
Behold, the Day of the LORD is coming— cruel, with fury and burning anger— to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners within it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not give their light. The rising sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light. I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will end the haughtiness of the arrogant and lay low the pride of the ruthless.
Blow the ram's horn in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the Day of the LORD is coming; indeed, it is near— a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like the dawn overspreading the mountains a great and strong army appears, such as never was of old, nor will ever be in ages to come.
Woe to you who long for the Day of the LORD! What will the Day of the LORD be for you? It will be darkness and not light. It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake. Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light, even gloom with no brightness in it?
hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord.
For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
not to be easily disconcerted or alarmed by any spirit or message or letter seeming to be from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has already come.
For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
as you have already understood us in part, so that you may boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of our Lord Jesus.