Leviticus 19:32
Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour
the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.
Numbers 8:23-26
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five
years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of
the tabernacle of the congregation: And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the
service thereof, and shall serve no more: But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the
congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus
shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge.
1 Kings 21:20-22
And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine
enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold
thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD. Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy
posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the
wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of
Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the
provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made
Israel to sin.
Jeremiah 23:1-16
Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the
sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors
that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them
away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the
evil of your doings, saith the LORD. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries
whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their
folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and
they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be
lacking, saith the LORD. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto
David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and
shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely:
and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR
RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall
no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of
Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of
the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries
whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land. Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my
bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath
overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his
holiness. For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the
land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up,
and their course is evil, and their force is not right. For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I
found their wickedness, saith the LORD. Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the
darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will
bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the
LORD. And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied
in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing:
they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the
hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness; they
are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as
Gomorrah. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets;
Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the
water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness
gone forth into all the land. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the
prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a
vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
Ezekiel 34:1-31
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy,
and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe
be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not
the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that
are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that
which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken,
neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither
have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty
have ye ruled them. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they
became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were
scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high
hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth,
and none did search or seek after them. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a
prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because
there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock,
but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock; Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and
I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from
feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any
more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may
not be meat for them. For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search
my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among
his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will
deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the
cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from
the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them
upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited
places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains
of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold,
and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith
the Lord GOD. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was
driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will
strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the
strong; I will feed them with judgment. And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I
judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats. Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good
pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your
pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the
residue with your feet? And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with
your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, even I,
will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed
all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them
abroad; Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey;
and I will judge between cattle and cattle. And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them,
even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their
shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince
among them; I the LORD have spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the
evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in
the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places round about my hill a
blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season;
there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth
shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and
shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their
yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served
themselves of them. And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall
the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and
none shall make them afraid. And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be
no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of
the heathen any more. Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and
that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord
GOD. And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your
God, saith the Lord GOD.
Acts 14:23
And when they had ordained them elders in every church,
and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on
whom they believed.
Acts 20:28
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the
flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to
feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Romans 12:4-8
or as we have many members in one body, and all members
have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members
one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given
to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion
of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth,
on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do
it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth
mercy, with cheerfulness.
1 Timothy 3:1-16
his is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a
bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife,
vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to
teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but
patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in
subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he
take care of the church of God?) Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the
condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without;
lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given
to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office
of a deacon, being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober,
faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their
children and their own houses well. For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to
themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is
in Christ Jesus. These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to
behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the
living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God
was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up
into glory.
1 Timothy 5:1-2
Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and
the younger men as brethren; The elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all
purity.
1 Timothy 5:17-20
Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of
double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that
treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward. Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or
three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.
Titus 1:5-9
For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest
set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every
city, as I had appointed thee: If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful
children not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not
selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given
to filthy lucre; But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just,
holy, temperate; Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may
be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the
gainsayers.
Titus 2:1-7
But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in
charity, in patience. The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh
holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of
good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their
husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their
own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine
shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,
Hebrews 13:7
Remember them which have the rule over you, who have
spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the
end of their conversation.
Hebrews 13:17
Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit
yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give
account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that
is unprofitable for you.
Hebrews 13:24
Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all
the saints. They of Italy salute you.
James 3:1-2
My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall
receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word,
the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
1 Peter 5:1-10
The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an
elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a
partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight
thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but
of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to
the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown
of glory that fadeth not away. Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all
of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for
God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he
may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a
roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same
afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal
glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you
perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
