What Does the Bible Say About War?

James 4:1-2 ESV / 9 helpful votes

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.

Matthew 24:6 ESV / 9 helpful votes

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.

Ecclesiastes 3:8 ESV / 9 helpful votes

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

Isaiah 2:4 ESV / 8 helpful votes

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.

1 Timothy 2:1-2 ESV / 7 helpful votes

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

2 Corinthians 10:4 ESV / 7 helpful votes

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

2 Chronicles 24:24 ESV / 7 helpful votes

Though the army of the Syrians had come with few men, the Lord delivered into their hand a very great army, because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment on Joash.

2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV / 6 helpful votes

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

Romans 13:4 ESV / 6 helpful votes

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.

Romans 7:25 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Matthew 24:36 ESV / 6 helpful votes

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.

Jeremiah 46:15 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Why are your mighty ones face down? They do not stand because the Lord thrust them down.

Jeremiah 7:33 ESV / 6 helpful votes

And the dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away.

Isaiah 18:6 ESV / 6 helpful votes

They shall all of them be left to the birds of prey of the mountains and to the beasts of the earth. And the birds of prey will summer on them, and all the beasts of the earth will winter on them.

Isaiah 13:15 ESV / 6 helpful votes

Whoever is found will be thrust through, and whoever is caught will fall by the sword.

Psalm 76:3 ESV / 6 helpful votes

There he broke the flashing arrows, the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war. Selah

2 Chronicles 24:23 ESV / 6 helpful votes

At the end of the year the army of the Syrians came up against Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus.

1 Samuel 30:8 ESV / 6 helpful votes

And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.”

Hebrews 11:1-40 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. ...

Ephesians 6:14 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

Ephesians 6:13 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

Romans 12:18 ESV / 5 helpful votes

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Zechariah 14:2 ESV / 5 helpful votes

For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

Isaiah 19:2 ESV / 5 helpful votes

And I will stir up Egyptians against Egyptians, and they will fight, each against another and each against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom;

Proverbs 21:15 ESV / 5 helpful votes

When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.

Psalm 68:30 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds, the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples. Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute; scatter the peoples who delight in war.

Numbers 32:1-42 ESV / 5 helpful votes

Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the congregation, “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, the land that the Lord struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan.” ...

Revelation 12:7-11 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

Revelation 6:4 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

Hebrews 11:33-37 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—

2 Timothy 2:3 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 6:12 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

2 Corinthians 7:5 ESV / 4 helpful votes

For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within.

Acts 1:7-8 ESV / 4 helpful votes

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

John 19:11 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

John 14:1-31 ESV / 4 helpful votes

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ...

Luke 21:8-9 ESV / 4 helpful votes

And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.”

Matthew 25:1-46 ESV / 4 helpful votes

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. ...

Matthew 8:5-10 ESV / 4 helpful votes

When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ...

Micah 7:8 ESV / 4 helpful votes

Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.

Psalm 56:2 ESV / 4 helpful votes

My enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly.

Deuteronomy 20:1-4 ESV / 4 helpful votes

“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.’

Revelation 21:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

Revelation 19:18 ESV / 3 helpful votes

To eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.”

Revelation 19:17 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God,

Revelation 13:10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.

Revelation 12:17 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.

Revelation 12:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

Revelation 12:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back,

Revelation 3:21 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Revelation 2:26 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations,

Revelation 2:17 ESV / 3 helpful votes

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

Revelation 2:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’

Revelation 2:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

Jude 1:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

Jude 1:2 ESV / 3 helpful votes

May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

1 John 5:5 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

1 John 5:4 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

1 John 4:4 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

1 John 2:14 ESV / 3 helpful votes

I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

1 Peter 5:9 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

1 Peter 5:8 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

1 Peter 3:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

1 Peter 2:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.

1 Peter 2:9-10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

James 4:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Hebrews 10:23 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 2:15 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

Hebrews 2:14 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

Hebrews 2:10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

2 Timothy 4:18 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

2 Timothy 4:17 ESV / 3 helpful votes

But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.

2 Timothy 2:10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

2 Timothy 2:4 ESV / 3 helpful votes

No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

1 Timothy 2:1-6 ESV / 3 helpful votes

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ...

1 Timothy 1:19 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith,

1 Timothy 1:18 ESV / 3 helpful votes

This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,

1 Thessalonians 5:8 ESV / 3 helpful votes

But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

1 Thessalonians 5:6 ESV / 3 helpful votes

So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

Philippians 1:30 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Ephesians 6:18 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Ephesians 6:17 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

Ephesians 6:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

Ephesians 6:15 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.

Ephesians 6:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

Ephesians 1:12 ESV / 3 helpful votes

So that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

Galatians 5:24 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Galatians 5:17 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV / 3 helpful votes

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Corinthians 12:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.

2 Corinthians 10:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.

2 Corinthians 7:6 ESV / 3 helpful votes

But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,

2 Corinthians 6:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

By truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;

2 Corinthians 2:14 ESV / 3 helpful votes

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

2 Corinthians 2:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

So that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.

1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.

1 Corinthians 15:57 ESV / 3 helpful votes

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:55 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

1 Corinthians 15:54 ESV / 3 helpful votes

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

1 Corinthians 15:26 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

1 Corinthians 9:25-27 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Romans 16:20 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Romans 13:12 ESV / 3 helpful votes

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.

Romans 13:1-14 ESV / 3 helpful votes

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. ...

Romans 13:1-7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

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. ...

Romans 13:1-5 ESV / 3 helpful votes

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.

Romans 12:14 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.

Romans 8:37 ESV / 3 helpful votes

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Romans 7:24 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Romans 7:23 ESV / 3 helpful votes

But I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

John 16:33 ESV / 3 helpful votes

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Luke 21:20-26 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. ...

Luke 21:9 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.”

Luke 14:32 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

Luke 14:31 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?

Mark 13:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet.

Matthew 24:6-8 ESV / 3 helpful votes

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. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

Matthew 10:36 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And a person's enemies will be those of his own household.

Matthew 10:35 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

Matthew 10:28 ESV / 3 helpful votes

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.

Matthew 6:9-13 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Zechariah 10:5 ESV / 3 helpful votes

They shall be like mighty men in battle, trampling the foe in the mud of the streets; they shall fight because the Lord is with them, and they shall put to shame the riders on horses.

Zechariah 8:10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For before those days there was no wage for man or any wage for beast, neither was there any safety from the foe for him who went out or came in, for I set every man against his neighbor.

Zephaniah 1:7-18 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near; the Lord has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests. And on the day of the Lord's sacrifice— “I will punish the officials and the king's sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire. On that day I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill their master's house with violence and fraud. “On that day,” declares the Lord, “a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate, a wail from the Second Quarter, a loud crash from the hills. Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar! For all the traders are no more; all who weigh out silver are cut off. ...

Nahum 3:10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity; her infants were dashed in pieces at the head of every street; for her honored men lots were cast, and all her great men were bound in chains.

Nahum 3:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear, hosts of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end— they stumble over the bodies!

Nahum 2:10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale!

Micah 7:6 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.

Micah 4:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

He shall judge between many peoples, and shall decide for strong nations far away; 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;

Amos 8:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,” declares the Lord God. “So many dead bodies!” “They are thrown everywhere!” “Silence!”

Amos 6:10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And when one's relative, the one who anoints him for burial, shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still anyone with you?” he shall say, “No”; and he shall say, “Silence! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”

Amos 6:9 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And if ten men remain in one house, they shall die.

Amos 5:9 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Who makes destruction flash forth against the strong, so that destruction comes upon the fortress.

Amos 5:8 ESV / 3 helpful votes

He who made the Pleiades and Orion, and turns deep darkness into the morning and darkens the day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth, the Lord is his name;

Amos 4:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“I overthrew some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as a brand plucked out of the burning; yet you did not return to me,” declares the Lord.

Amos 3:6 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the Lord has done it?

Amos 2:2 ESV / 3 helpful votes

So I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the strongholds of Kerioth, and Moab shall die amid uproar, amid shouting and the sound of the trumpet;

Amos 1:13 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Thus says the Lord: “For three transgressions of the Ammonites, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they have ripped open pregnant women in Gilead, that they might enlarge their border.

Joel 2:2-10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations. Fire devours before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses, and like war horses they run. As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle. Before them peoples are in anguish; all faces grow pale. ...

Hosea 13:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Samaria shall bear her guilt, because she has rebelled against her God; they shall fall by the sword; their little ones shall be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.

Hosea 13:14 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from Death? O Death, where are your plagues? O Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion is hidden from my eyes.

Hosea 10:14 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Therefore the tumult of war shall arise among your people, and all your fortresses shall be destroyed, as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel on the day of battle; mothers were dashed in pieces with their children.

Ezekiel 39:17-19 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God: Speak to the birds of every sort and to all beasts of the field, ‘Assemble and come, gather from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink blood. You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth—of rams, of lambs, and of he-goats, of bulls, all of them fat beasts of Bashan. And you shall eat fat till you are filled, and drink blood till you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you.

Ezekiel 33:27 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Say this to them, Thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword, and whoever is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in strongholds and in caves shall die by pestilence.

Ezekiel 23:22-25 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will stir up against you your lovers from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side: the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and commanders all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. And they shall come against you from the north with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples. They shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments. And I will direct my jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. They shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire.

Ezekiel 21:9-17 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord, say: “A sword, a sword is sharpened and also polished, sharpened for slaughter, polished to flash like lightning! (Or shall we rejoice? You have despised the rod, my son, with everything of wood.) So the sword is given to be polished, that it may be grasped in the hand. It is sharpened and polished to be given into the hand of the slayer. Cry out and wail, son of man, for it is against my people. It is against all the princes of Israel. They are delivered over to the sword with my people. Strike therefore upon your thigh. For it will not be a testing—what could it do if you despise the rod?” declares the Lord God. ...

Ezekiel 15:6-8 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Therefore thus says the Lord God: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will set my face against them. Though they escape from the fire, the fire shall yet consume them, and you will know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. And I will make the land desolate, because they have acted faithlessly, declares the Lord God.”

Lamentations 5:1-22 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us; look, and see our disgrace! Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. We have become orphans, fatherless; our mothers are like widows. We must pay for the water we drink; the wood we get must be bought. Our pursuers are at our necks; we are weary; we are given no rest. ...

Lamentations 4:1-22 ESV / 3 helpful votes

How the gold has grown dim, how the pure gold is changed! The holy stones lie scattered at the head of every street. The precious sons of Zion, worth their weight in fine gold, how they are regarded as earthen pots, the work of a potter's hands! Even jackals offer the breast; they nurse their young, but the daughter of my people has become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. The tongue of the nursing infant sticks to the roof of its mouth for thirst; the children beg for food, but no one gives to them. Those who once feasted on delicacies perish in the streets; those who were brought up in purple embrace ash heaps. ...

Lamentations 3:1-66 ESV / 3 helpful votes

I am the man who has seen affliction under the rod of his wrath; he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light; surely against me he turns his hand again and again the whole day long. He has made my flesh and my skin waste away; he has broken my bones; he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation; ...

Lamentations 2:1-22 ESV / 3 helpful votes

How the Lord in his anger has set the daughter of Zion under a cloud! He has cast down from heaven to earth the splendor of Israel; he has not remembered his footstool in the day of his anger. The Lord has swallowed up without mercy all the habitations of Jacob; in his wrath he has broken down the strongholds of the daughter of Judah; he has brought down to the ground in dishonor the kingdom and its rulers. He has cut down in fierce anger all the might of Israel; he has withdrawn from them his right hand in the face of the enemy; he has burned like a flaming fire in Jacob, consuming all around. He has bent his bow like an enemy, with his right hand set like a foe; and he has killed all who were delightful in our eyes in the tent of the daughter of Zion; he has poured out his fury like fire. The Lord has become like an enemy; he has swallowed up Israel; he has swallowed up all its palaces; he has laid in ruins its strongholds, and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation. ...

Lamentations 1:1-22 ESV / 3 helpful votes

How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave. She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks; among all her lovers she has none to comfort her; all her friends have dealt treacherously with her; they have become her enemies. Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and hard servitude; she dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress. The roads to Zion mourn, for none come to the festival; all her gates are desolate; her priests groan; her virgins have been afflicted, and she herself suffers bitterly. Her foes have become the head; her enemies prosper, because the Lord has afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions; her children have gone away, captives before the foe. ...

Jeremiah 51:30-58 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting; they remain in their strongholds; their strength has failed; they have become women; her dwellings are on fire; her bars are broken. One runner runs to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to tell the king of Babylon that his city is taken on every side; the fords have been seized, the marshes are burned with fire, and the soldiers are in panic. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden; yet a little while and the time of her harvest will come.” “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me; he has made me an empty vessel; he has swallowed me like a monster; he has filled his stomach with my delicacies; he has rinsed me out. ...

Jeremiah 50:25 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The Lord has opened his armory and brought out the weapons of his wrath, for the Lord God of hosts has a work to do in the land of the Chaldeans.

Jeremiah 49:5 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Behold, I will bring terror upon you, declares the Lord God of hosts, from all who are around you, and you shall be driven out, every man straight before him, with none to gather the fugitives.

Jeremiah 48:33 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Gladness and joy have been taken away from the fruitful land of Moab; I have made the wine cease from the winepresses; no one treads them with shouts of joy; the shouting is not the shout of joy.

Jeremiah 48:28 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, O inhabitants of Moab! Be like the dove that nests in the sides of the mouth of a gorge.

Jeremiah 48:10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.

Jeremiah 47:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

How can it be quiet when the Lord has given it a charge? Against Ashkelon and against the seashore he has appointed it.”

Jeremiah 47:6 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Ah, sword of the Lord! How long till you are quiet? Put yourself into your scabbard; rest and be still!

Jeremiah 47:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions, at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of their wheels, the fathers look not back to their children, so feeble are their hands,

Jeremiah 46:21 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Even her hired soldiers in her midst are like fattened calves; yes, they have turned and fled together; they did not stand, for the day of their calamity has come upon them, the time of their punishment.

Jeremiah 46:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

He made many stumble, and they fell, and they said one to another, ‘Arise, and let us go back to our own people and to the land of our birth, because of the sword of the oppressor.’

Jeremiah 46:15-17 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Why are your mighty ones face down? They do not stand because the Lord thrust them down. He made many stumble, and they fell, and they said one to another, ‘Arise, and let us go back to our own people and to the land of our birth, because of the sword of the oppressor.’ Call the name of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, ‘Noisy one who lets the hour go by.’

Jeremiah 46:3-12 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“Prepare buckler and shield, and advance for battle! Harness the horses; mount, O horsemen! Take your stations with your helmets, polish your spears, put on your armor! Why have I seen it? They are dismayed and have turned backward. Their warriors are beaten down and have fled in haste; they look not back— terror on every side! declares the Lord. “The swift cannot flee away, nor the warrior escape; in the north by the river Euphrates they have stumbled and fallen. “Who is this, rising like the Nile, like rivers whose waters surge? ...

Jeremiah 25:33 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“And those pierced by the Lord on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.

Jeremiah 19:7-9 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And in this place I will make void the plans of Judah and Jerusalem, and will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. I will give their dead bodies for food to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth. And I will make this city a horror, a thing to be hissed at. Everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss because of all its wounds. And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his neighbor in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies and those who seek their life afflict them.’

Jeremiah 15:9 ESV / 3 helpful votes

She who bore seven has grown feeble; she has fainted away; her sun went down while it was yet day; she has been shamed and disgraced. And the rest of them I will give to the sword before their enemies, declares the Lord.”

Jeremiah 15:8 ESV / 3 helpful votes

I have made their widows more in number than the sand of the seas; I have brought against the mothers of young men a destroyer at noonday; I have made anguish and terror fall upon them suddenly.

Jeremiah 15:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the Lord: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.

Jeremiah 14:18 ESV / 3 helpful votes

If I go out into the field, behold, those pierced by the sword! And if I enter the city, behold, the diseases of famine! For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land and have no knowledge.’”

Jeremiah 13:14 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And I will dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the Lord. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.’”

Jeremiah 12:12 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Upon all the bare heights in the desert destroyers have come, for the sword of the Lord devours from one end of the land to the other; no flesh has peace.

Jeremiah 12:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“I have forsaken my house; I have abandoned my heritage; I have given the beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies.

Jeremiah 10:20 ESV / 3 helpful votes

My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken; my children have gone from me, and they are not; there is no one to spread my tent again and to set up my curtains.

Jeremiah 9:10-21 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“I will take up weeping and wailing for the mountains, and a lamentation for the pastures of the wilderness, because they are laid waste so that no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not heard; both the birds of the air and the beasts have fled and are gone. I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a lair of jackals, and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.” Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? And the Lord says: “Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them. ...

Jeremiah 9:3 ESV / 3 helpful votes

They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 8:17 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For behold, I am sending among you serpents, adders that cannot be charmed, and they shall bite you,” declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 8:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“The snorting of their horses is heard from Dan; at the sound of the neighing of their stallions the whole land quakes. They come and devour the land and all that fills it, the city and those who dwell in it.

Jeremiah 7:34 ESV / 3 helpful votes

And I will silence in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, for the land shall become a waste.

Jeremiah 6:24-26 ESV / 3 helpful votes

We have heard the report of it; our hands fall helpless; anguish has taken hold of us, pain as of a woman in labor. Go not out into the field, nor walk on the road, for the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side. O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth, and roll in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.

Jeremiah 5:17 ESV / 3 helpful votes

They shall eat up your harvest and your food; they shall eat up your sons and your daughters; they shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees; your fortified cities in which you trust they shall beat down with the sword.”

Jeremiah 5:16 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Their quiver is like an open tomb; they are all mighty warriors.

Jeremiah 4:19-31 ESV / 3 helpful votes

My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Crash follows hard on crash; the whole land is laid waste. Suddenly my tents are laid waste, my curtains in a moment. How long must I see the standard and hear the sound of the trumpet? “For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are ‘wise’—in doing evil! But how to do good they know not.” I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light. ...

Isaiah 51:12 ESV / 3 helpful votes

“I, I am he who comforts you; who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, of the son of man who is made like grass,

Isaiah 45:7 ESV / 3 helpful votes

I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.

Isaiah 43:28 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary, and deliver Jacob to utter destruction and Israel to reviling.

Isaiah 41:14 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 41:13 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”

Isaiah 41:12 ESV / 3 helpful votes

You shall seek those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all.

Isaiah 41:11 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish.

Isaiah 41:10 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 34:7-15 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Wild oxen shall fall with them, and young steers with the mighty bulls. Their land shall drink its fill of blood, and their soil shall be gorged with fat. For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion. And the streams of Edom shall be turned into pitch, and her soil into sulfur; her land shall become burning pitch. Night and day it shall not be quenched; its smoke shall go up forever. From generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever. But the hawk and the porcupine shall possess it, the owl and the raven shall dwell in it. He shall stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness. ...

Isaiah 34:2-6 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For the Lord is enraged against all the nations, and furious against all their host; he has devoted them to destruction, has given them over for slaughter. Their slain shall be cast out, and the stench of their corpses shall rise; the mountains shall flow with their blood. All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree. For my sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; behold, it descends for judgment upon Edom, upon the people I have devoted to destruction. The Lord has a sword; it is sated with blood; it is gorged with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

Isaiah 33:9 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is confounded and withers away; Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

Isaiah 33:8 ESV / 3 helpful votes

The highways lie waste; the traveler ceases. Covenants are broken; cities are despised; there is no regard for man.

Isaiah 32:14 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For the palace is forsaken, the populous city deserted; the hill and the watchtower will become dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks;

Isaiah 32:13 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For the soil of my people growing up in thorns and briers, yes, for all the joyous houses in the exultant city.

Isaiah 30:15-17 ESV / 3 helpful votes

For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But you were unwilling, and you said, “No! We will flee upon horses”; therefore you shall flee away; and, “We will ride upon swift steeds”; therefore your pursuers shall be swift. A thousand shall flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you shall flee, till you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, like a signal on a hill.

Isaiah 26:19 ESV / 3 helpful votes

Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.

War

Related Bible Verses