here are 30 Bible verses about corrupt leaders:
- Proverbs 29:2:
“When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.”
- Isaiah 1:23:
“Your rulers are rebels, partners with thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.”
- Proverbs 28:15:
“Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people.”
- Proverbs 16:12:
“Kings detest wrongdoing, for a throne is established through righteousness.”
- Micah 3:11:
“Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the Lord’s support and say, ‘Is not the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon us.'”
- Isaiah 10:1:
“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees.”
- Jeremiah 5:26-28:
“Among my people are the wicked who lie in wait like men who snare birds and like those who set traps to catch people. Like cages full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; they have become rich and powerful and have grown fat and sleek. Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not seek justice. They do not promote the case of the fatherless; they do not defend the just cause of the poor.”
- Hosea 7:7:
“All of them are hot as an oven, And they devour their rulers; All their kings have fallen. None of them calls upon Me.”
- Ecclesiastes 5:8:
“If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still.”
- Isaiah 5:23:
“Who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent.”
- Psalm 12:8:
“The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.”
- Psalm 58:1-2:
“Do you rulers indeed speak justly? Do you judge people with equity? No, in your heart you devise injustice, and your hands mete out violence on the earth.”
- Ezekiel 22:27:
“Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain.”
- Amos 5:12:
“For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.”
- Proverbs 17:15:
“Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent— the Lord detests them both.”
- Isaiah 33:22:
“For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; it is he who will save us.”
- Psalm 94:20-21:
“Can a corrupt throne be allied with you— a throne that brings on misery by its decrees? The wicked band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.”
- Isaiah 28:14-15:
“Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem. You boast, ‘We have entered into a covenant with death, with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.'”
- Psalm 11:3:
“When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
- Proverbs 24:23-24:
“These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judgment is not good. Whoever says to the guilty, ‘You are innocent,’ will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations.”
- Jeremiah 22:3:
“This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.”
- Proverbs 29:4:
“By justice a king gives a country stability, but those who are greedy for bribes tear it down.”
- Isaiah 1:26:
“I will restore your leaders as in days of old, your rulers as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.”
- Proverbs 20:28:
“Love and faithfulness keep a king safe; through love his throne is made secure.”
- Jeremiah 5:31:
“The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?”
- Isaiah 56:10:
“Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep.”
- Jeremiah 23:1:
“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord.”
- Psalm 12:1:
“Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.”
- Proverbs 28:28:
“When the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding; but when the wicked perish, the righteous thrive.”
- Psalm 94:16:
“Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?”
These verses highlight God’s disdain for corrupt leadership and the importance of righteousness and justice in governance.
