25 Bible Verses About Just War (ESV)

Bible Verses About

This is a hand-curated and ranked list of the most relevant Bible verses about Just War (ESV). Verses are ranked by number of votes.

Other Translations

Bible Verses About Just War

467

Ecclesiastes 3:8

  a time to love, and a time to hate;
  a time for war, and a time for peace.

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447

Matthew 26:52

52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword.

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286

Matthew 5:9

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

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217

Matthew 10:34

34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

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187

Matthew 24:6-7

And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

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163

Romans 13:4

13:1 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. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

11 Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

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151

Matthew 5:44

44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

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160

Psalm 144:1

Of David.

144:1   Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
    who trains my hands for war,
    and my fingers for battle;

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146

John 18:36

36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”

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139

Exodus 15:3

  The LORD is a man of war;
    the LORD is his name.

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130

Deuteronomy 20:1-4

20:1 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And when you draw near to the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, for the LORD your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’

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105

Matthew 10:28

28 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.

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93

Luke 6:27-31

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

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90

Romans 13:1-7

13:1 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. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

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87

Romans 14:19

19 So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

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85

Isaiah 2:4

  He shall judge between the nations,
    and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
  and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
    and their spears into pruning hooks;
  nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
    neither shall they learn war anymore.

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73

Psalm 28:4

  Give to them according to their work
    and according to the evil of their deeds;
  give to them according to the work of their hands;
    render them their due reward.

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64

1 Samuel 15:3

Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

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62

Exodus 20:13

13 “You shall not murder.

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55

Luke 22:36

36 He said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.

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51

Exodus 17:16

16 saying, “A hand upon the throne of the LORD! The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

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48

Romans 13:1-14

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44

Matthew 10:16

16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

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42

Acts 5:29

29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

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42

Deuteronomy 20:4

for the LORD your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’

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