'Righteous' in the Bible

Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.

“Now suppose a man is righteous and does what is just and right:

He follows My statutes and keeps My ordinances, acting faithfully. Such a person is righteous; he will certainly live.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

(though the father did not do any of these things), that is, the son even eats [the food set before idols] at the mountain shrines, and defiles his neighbor’s wife,

The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

None of the transgressions that he had committed will be held against him. Because of the righteous deeds that he had done, he'll live.

But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.

When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.

And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.

Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:

And the righteous men, they shall judge them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women that shed blood; because they are adulteresses, and blood is in their hands.

Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.

When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.

"You are righteous, O Lord, but we are humiliated this day -- the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far away in all the countries in which you have scattered them, because they have behaved unfaithfully toward you.

Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice.

Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, may Your anger and wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become an object of ridicule to all those around us.

Listen, my God, and hear. Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city called by Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You based on our righteous acts, but based on Your abundant compassion.

I will make you my wife forever I will make you my wife in a way that is righteous, in a manner that is just, by a love that is gracious, and by a motive that is mercy.

Sow with a view to righteousness [that righteousness, like seed, may germinate];Reap in accordance with mercy and lovingkindness.Break up your uncultivated ground,For it is time to seek and search diligently for the Lord [and to long for His blessing]Until He comes to rain righteousness and His gift of salvation on you.

Let whoever is wise understand these things,and whoever is insightful recognize them.For the ways of the Lord are right,and the righteous walk in them,but the rebellious stumble in them.

Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;

For I know your crimes are manyand your sins innumerable.They oppress the righteous, take a bribe,and deprive the poor of justice at the gates.

Justice must flow like torrents of water, righteous actions like a stream that never dries up.

Can horses run on rocky cliffs? Can one plow the sea with oxen? Yet you have turned justice into a poisonous plant, and the fruit of righteous actions into a bitter plant.

“Arise and depart [because the captivity is inevitable],For this [land] is not the place of restBecause of the defilement that brings destruction,A painful and terrible destruction.

My people,remember what Balak king of Moab proposed,what Balaam son of Beor answered him,and what happened from the Acacia Grove to Gilgalso that you may acknowledgethe Lord’s righteous acts.

I will bear the indignation and wrath of the LordBecause I have sinned against Him,Until He pleads my case and executes judgment for me.He will bring me out to the light,And I will behold His [amazing] righteousness and His remarkable deliverance.

Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.

Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

Look, his ego is inflated;he is without integrity.But the righteous one will live by his faith.

You march through the land in righteous indignation; you tread down the nations in anger.

The righteous Lord is in her;He does no wrong.He applies His justice morning by morning;He does not fail at dawn,yet the one who does wrong knows no shame.

I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem. They will be My people, and I will be their faithful and righteous God.”

These are the things you must do: Speak the truth, each of you, to one another. Practice true and righteous judgment in your courts.

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem!Look, your King is coming to you;He is righteous and victorious,humble and riding on a donkey,on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

he will sit refining and purifying silver, purifying the descendants of Levi, refining them like gold and silver. Then they'll bring a righteous offering to the LORD.

Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.

So her husband Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.

so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.

for from thy words thou shalt be declared righteous, and from thy words thou shalt be declared unrighteous.'

For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out, separate the evil people from the righteous,

and to these he said, Go ye -- also ye -- to the vineyard, and whatever may be righteous I will give you;

they say to him, Because no one did hire us; he saith to them, Go ye -- ye also -- to the vineyard, and whatever may be righteous ye shall receive.

Jesus told them, "I tell all of you with certainty, tax collectors and prostitutes will get into God's kingdom ahead of you! John came to you living a righteous life, and you didn't believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. But even when you saw that, you didn't change your minds at last and believe him."

Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,

That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

While he was sitting on the judge’s bench, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for today I’ve suffered terribly in a dream because of Him!”

And Pilate having seen that it profiteth nothing, but rather a tumult is made, having taken water, he did wash the hands before the multitude, saying, 'I am innocent from the blood of this righteous one; ye -- ye shall see;'

When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

because Herod was in awe of John and was protecting him, knowing he was a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard him he would be very disturbed, yet would hear him gladly.

And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

And he will go before Himin the spirit and power of Elijah,to turn the hearts of fathersto their children,and the disobedientto the understanding of the righteous,to make ready for the Lord a prepared people.

and be holy and righteous before him all of our days.

There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking forward to Israel’s consolation, and the Holy Spirit was on him.

I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

And all the people having heard, and the tax-gatherers, declared God righteous, having been baptized with the baptism of John,

And he, willing to declare himself righteous, said unto Jesus, 'And who is my neighbour?'

'And why, also, of yourselves, judge ye not what is righteous?

And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who don’t need repentance.

and he said to them, 'Ye are those declaring yourselves righteous before men, but God doth know your hearts; because that which among men is high, is abomination before God;

And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

I say to you, this one went down declared righteous, to his house, rather than that one: for every one who is exalting himself shall be humbled, and he who is humbling himself shall be exalted.'

They watched closely and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, so they could catch Him in what He said, to hand Him over to the governor’s rule and authority.

Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.

There was a good and righteous man named Joseph, a member of the Sanhedrin,

“I can do nothing on My own. I judge only as I hear, and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.

O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.

But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you.

and Peter and John answering unto them said, 'Whether it is righteous before God to hearken to you rather than to God, judge ye;

Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They even killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.

And they said, 'Cornelius, a centurion, a man righteous and fearing God, well testified to, also, by all the nation of the Jews, was divinely warned by a holy messenger to send for thee, to his house, and to hear sayings from thee.'

and from all things from which ye were not able in the law of Moses to be declared righteous, in this one every one who is believing is declared righteous;

Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear the sound of His voice.

And I have a hope in God, which these men themselves also accept, that there is going to be a resurrection, both of the righteous and the unrighteous.

For in it God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.

who the righteous judgment of God having known -- that those practising such things are worthy of death -- not only do them, but also have delight with those practising them.

But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

For the hearers of the law are not righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be declared righteous.

Therefore if the uncircumcised man obeys the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?

let it not be! and let God become true, and every man false, according as it hath been written, 'That Thou mayest be declared righteous in Thy words, and mayest overcome in Thy being judged.'

and not, as we are evil spoken of, and as certain affirm us to say -- 'We may do the evil things, that the good ones may come?' whose judgment is righteous.

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

wherefore by works of law shall no flesh be declared righteous before Him, for through law is a knowledge of sin.

being declared righteous freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

God presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus.

therefore do we reckon a man to be declared righteous by faith, apart from works of law.

yes, also of nations; since one is God who shall declare righteous the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through the faith.

for if Abraham by works was declared righteous, he hath to boast -- but not before God;

But to the one who does not work, but believes on Him who declares the ungodly to be righteous, his faith is credited for righteousness.

Likewise, David also speaks of the blessedness of the person whom God regards as righteous apart from actions: