Obeying parents is a fundamental teaching found in the Bible, emphasizing respect, love, and honor within the family. This principle is not just about following rules but about building strong, healthy relationships.
Many Bible verses highlight the importance of listening to and respecting our parents, showing that obedience is a way to express our love and gratitude to them. Continue reading to discover these powerful verses.
Also Read: Bible Verses About Parents Love
Top Bible Verses About Obeying Parents
Ephesians 6:1
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.”
Colossians 3:20
“Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.”
Proverbs 1:8
“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”
Exodus 20:12
“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
Deuteronomy 5:16
“Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
Proverbs 6:20
“My son, keep your father’s command and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”
Proverbs 23:22
“Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.”
Leviticus 19:3
“Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God.”
Proverbs 13:1
“A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a mocker does not respond to rebukes.”
Matthew 15:4
“For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.”
Old Testament Verses about Obeying Parents
Deuteronomy 27:16
“Cursed is anyone who dishonors their father or mother.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
Proverbs 15:5
“A fool spurns a parent’s discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.”
Genesis 28:7
“And that Jacob had obeyed his father and mother and gone to Paddan Aram.”
1 Samuel 17:17-18
“Now Jesse said to his son David, ‘Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them.’”
Proverbs 30:17
“The eye that mocks a father, that scorns an aged mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures.”
New Testament Verses about Obeying Parents
Luke 2:51
“Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.”
1 Timothy 5:4
“But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.”
2 Timothy 3:2
“People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy.”
Mark 7:10
“For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’”
Hebrews 12:9
“Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live!”
Consequences of Disobeying Parents
Romans 1:30
“They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents.”
Deuteronomy 21:18-21
“If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. They shall say to the elders, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.”
Ezekiel 22:7
“In you they have treated father and mother with contempt; in you they have oppressed the foreigner and mistreated the fatherless and the widow.”
Proverbs 20:20
“If someone curses their father or mother, their lamp will be snuffed out in pitch darkness.”
Jeremiah 35:16
“The descendants of Jonadab son of Rekab have carried out the command their forefather gave them, but these people have not obeyed me.”
Parental Responsibilities
Ephesians 6:4
“Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”
Proverbs 22:6
“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.”
Colossians 3:21
“Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.”
Deuteronomy 6:6-7
“These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
1 Thessalonians 2:11-12
“For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”
Examples of Obedient Children
Genesis 22:6-9
“Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, ‘Father?’ ‘Yes, my son?’ Abraham replied. ‘The fire and wood are here,’ Isaac said, ‘but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?’ Abraham answered, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’ And the two of them went on together.”
Ruth 3:5-6
“‘I will do whatever you say,’ Ruth answered. So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.”
1 Samuel 3:18
“So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, ‘He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.’”
Luke 8:51-52
“When he arrived at the house of Jairus, he did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. ‘Stop wailing,’ Jesus said. ‘She is not dead but asleep.’”
2 Kings 5:13
“Naaman’s servants went to him and said, ‘My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, “Wash and be cleansed”
Also Read: Bible Verses About Parents Being Wrong
Respect and Honor towards Parents
Leviticus 20:9
“Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death. Because they have cursed their father or mother, their blood will be on their own head.”
Proverbs 19:26
“Whoever robs their father and drives out their mother is a child who brings shame and disgrace.”
Proverbs 28:24
“Whoever robs their father or mother and says, ‘It’s not wrong,’ is partner to one who destroys.”
Micah 7:6
“For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies are the members of his own household.”
Matthew 19:19
“Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”
God’s Commandments about Obedience
Exodus 21:17
“Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.”
Proverbs 1:7-9
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.”
Deuteronomy 4:9-10
“Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when he said to me, ‘Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.’”
Proverbs 3:1-2
“My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity.”
Isaiah 1:19-20
“If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
Lessons from Disobedient Children
Judges 14:3
“His father and mother replied, ‘Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?’ But Samson said to his father, ‘Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.’”
1 Kings 1:6
“His father had never rebuked him by asking, ‘Why do you behave as you do?’ He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom.”
Proverbs 29:15
“The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left undisciplined disgraces its mother.”
Hosea 4:6
“My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.”
Isaiah 30:1
“Woe to the obstinate children,’ declares the Lord, ‘to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin.”
Promises to Obedient Children
Proverbs 4:10
“Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many.”
Proverbs 4:1-4
“Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding. I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching. For I too was a son to my father, still tender, and cherished by my mother. Then he taught me, and he said to me, ‘Take hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands, and you will live.’”
Isaiah 3:10
“Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.”
Jeremiah 7:23
“But I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.”
James 1:25
“But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”
Also Read: Bible Verses About For New Parents