32 Bible Verses about Respecting Parents

Honor [esteem, value as precious] your father and your mother [and be respectful to them]—this is the first commandment with a promise—

For God said [through Moses], ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of or insults or treats improperly father or mother is to be put to death.’

“Honor (respect, obey, care for) your father and your mother, so that your days may be prolonged in the land the Lord your God gives you.

‘Honor (respect, obey, care for) your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that your days [on the earth] may be prolonged and so that it may go well with you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

“‘A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is the [reverent] fear and respect due Me?’ says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise My name. But you say, ‘How and in what way have we despised Your name?’

so that it may be well with you, and that you may have a long life on the earth.

Each of you shall respect his mother and his father, and you shall keep My Sabbaths; I am the Lord your God.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord [that is, accept their guidance and discipline as His representatives], for this is right [for obedience teaches wisdom and self-discipline].

Children, obey your parents [as God’s representatives] in all things, for this [attitude of respect and obedience] is well-pleasing to the Lord [and will bring you God’s promised blessings].

Honor your father and mother; and love your neighbor as yourself” [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].

For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother [with respect and gratitude]’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of his father or mother must be put to death’;

Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger [do not exasperate them to the point of resentment with demands that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive; nor by showing favoritism or indifference to any of them], but bring them up [tenderly, with lovingkindness] in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Show respect for all people [treat them honorably], love the brotherhood [of believers], fear God, honor the king.

he is not to honor his father or his mother [by helping them with their need].’ So by this you have invalidated the word of God [depriving it of force and authority and making it of no effect] for the sake of your tradition [handed down by the elders].

‘You shall rise before the gray-headed and honor the aged, and you shall fear your God [with profound reverence]; I am the Lord.

Fathers, do not provoke or irritate or exasperate your children [with demands that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive; nor by favoritism or indifference; treat them tenderly with lovingkindness], so they will not lose heart and become discouraged or unmotivated [with their spirits broken].

Listen to your father, who sired you,
And do not despise your mother when she is old.

But if a widow has children or grandchildren [who are adults], see to it that these first learn to show great respect to their own family [as their religious duty and natural obligation], and to compensate their parents or grandparents [for their upbringing]; for this is acceptable and pleasing in the sight of God.

A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish man despises his mother.

The eye that mocks a father
And scorns a mother,
The ravens of the valley will pick it out,
And the young vultures will devour it.

My son, hear the instruction of your father,
And do not reject the teaching of your mother.

My son, be guided by your father’s [God-given] commandment (instruction)
And do not reject the teaching of your mother;

Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with respect for authority, and with a sincere heart [seeking to please them], as [service] to Christ—

to older women as mothers, to younger women as sisters, in all purity [being careful to maintain appropriate relationships].

Be devoted to one another with [authentic] brotherly affection [as members of one family], give preference to one another in honor;

‘If anyone curses his father or mother, he shall most certainly be put to death; he has cursed his father or mother; his blood is on him [that is, he bears full responsibility for the consequences].

Pay to all what is due: tax to whom tax is due, customs to whom customs, respect to whom respect, honor to whom honor.

Do not sharply reprimand an older man, but appeal to him as [you would to] a father, to younger men as brothers,

Moreover, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we submitted and respected them [for training us]; shall we not much more willingly submit to the Father of spirits, and live [by learning from His discipline]?

slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors [of new forms] of evil, disobedient and disrespectful to parents,

You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not testify falsely, Honor your father and your mother.’”

For length of days and years of life [worth living]
And tranquility and prosperity [the wholeness of life’s blessings] they will add to you.