100 Bible Verses About Speaking Truth to Power

And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.

Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.

Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.

And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?

And these went into Micah’s house, and fetched the carved image, the ephod, and the teraphim, and the molten image. Then said the priest unto them, What do ye?

And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets.

Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:

And he answered and said, Must I not take heed to speak that which the Lord hath put in my mouth?

And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel,

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.

The Lord is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked.

And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.

But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.

There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for ever from my judge.

And they set them up Micah’s graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.

And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.

And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.

And the Lord put a word in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Return unto Balak, and thus thou shalt speak.

It is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people under me,

Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:

And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God.

Suffer me a little, and I will shew thee that I have yet to speak on God’s behalf.

So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.

And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David.

And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.

A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring.

And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done?

I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.

And the Lord said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.

And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.

Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder, to Hezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words of Rab–shakeh.

Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?

And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under.

How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own house upon his bed? shall I not therefore now require his blood of your hand, and take you away from the earth?

Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.

I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.

Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying,

And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly:

Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the Lord; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel.

All thy commandments are faithful: they persecute me wrongfully; help thou me.

I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.

They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths.

Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:

If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; but what the Lord saith, that will I speak?

Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.

And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he smote his hands together: and Balak said unto Balaam, I called thee to curse mine enemies, and, behold, thou hast altogether blessed them these three times.

Said he not unto me, She is my sister? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this.

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.

Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.

There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people.

For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.

Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.

And the king of Babylon made Mattaniah his father’s brother king in his stead, and changed his name to Zedekiah.

The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:

And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:

And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.

Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart.

When the wicked rise, men hide themselves: but when they perish, the righteous increase.

For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.

Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah.

For thus hath the Lord of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.

A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompence to his enemies.

And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, wrote they unto him an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

Go in, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.

Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?

And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.

They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.

With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth.

There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.

But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:

That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.

They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.

Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!

Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou saidst, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go out, I pray now, and fight with them.

Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.

Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through?

And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me:

And the woman said, Wherefore then hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God? for the king doth speak this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king doth not fetch home again his banished.

Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few.

And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Beth–el: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.

Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen.

For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.

All the horns of the wicked also will I cut off; but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.

And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial:

But thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision.

Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here.

Then they said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king’s household.

Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and thy handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid.

For I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the Lord.

My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?