'Terrible' in the Bible

Then God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will do wondrous works (miracles) such as have not been created or produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live shall see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful and awesome thing that I am going to do with you.

Then Aaron said to Moses, “This very day they have [obediently] presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, but [such terrible things] as these have happened to me [and to them]; if I [and my sons] had eaten a sin offering today would it have been acceptable and pleasing in the sight of the Lord?”

“Then we set out from Horeb (Sinai), and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, just as the Lord our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.

You shall not dread them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God.

He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; it was He who brought water for you out of the flinty rock.

For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.

He is your praise and glory; He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which you have seen with your own eyes.

and in all the mighty power and all the great and terrible deeds which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

He said to me, ‘Stand up facing me and kill me, for [terrible] agony has come over me, yet I still live [and I will be taken alive].’

What one nation on earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people and to make a name for Himself, and to do great and awesome things for Yourself and for Your land, before Your people whom You have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, from nations and their gods?

And what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make a name for Yourself by great and awesome and terrible things, by driving out nations from before Your people, whom You redeemed out of Egypt?

And I said, “Please, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,

When I saw their fear, I stood and said to the nobles and officials and the rest of the people: “Do not be afraid of them; [confidently] remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and [with courage from Him] fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and for your homes.”

“Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps the covenant and lovingkindness,Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You,Which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people,Since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day.

“Out of the north comes golden splendor [and people can hardly look on it];Around God is awesome splendor and majesty [far too glorious for man’s eyes].

“Have you [Job] made him leap like a locust?The majesty of his snorting [nostrils] is terrible.

“Who can open the doors (jaws) of his face?Around his [open jaws and] teeth there is terror.

Come and see the works of God,He is awesome in His deeds toward the children of men.

O God, You are awesome and profoundly majestic from Your sanctuary;The God of Israel gives strength and power to His people.Blessed be God!

He will cut off the spirit of princes;He is awesome and feared by the kings of the earth.

People will speak of the power of Your awesome acts,And [with gratitude and submissive wonder] I will tell of Your greatness.

(The Bridegroom)“You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,As lovely as Jerusalem,As majestic as an army with banners!

‘Who is this that looks down like the dawn,Fair and beautiful as the full moon,Clear and pure as the sun,As majestic as an army with banners?’

In this way I will punish the world for its evilAnd the wicked for their wickedness [their sin, their injustice, their wrongdoing];I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proudAnd will abase the arrogance of the tyrant.

Which sends ambassadors by the sea,Even in vessels of papyrus on the surface of the waters.Go, swift messengers, to a nation [of people] tall and smooth (clean shaven),To a people feared far and wide,A powerful and oppressive nationWhose land the rivers divide.

At that time a gift of homage will be brought to the Lord of hostsFrom a people tall and smooth (clean shaven),From a people feared far and wide,A powerful and oppressive nation,Whose land the rivers divide—To the place [of worship] of the name of the Lord of hosts, to Mount Zion [in Jerusalem].

The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning the Desert of the Sea (the seasonally flooded plains just south of Babylon):As windstorms in the Negev (the South) sweep through,So it (God’s judgment) comes from the desert, from [the hostile armies of] a terrifying land.

Therefore a strong people will honor You;Cities of terrible and violent nations will fear You.

But the multitude of your enemies [that assault you] will become like fine dust,And the multitude of the tyrants like the chaff which blows away;And it will happen in an instant, suddenly [that your enemy is destroyed].

For the tyrant will come to an end and the scorner will be finished,Indeed all who are intent on doing evil will be cut off—

Indeed, this is what the Lord says,“Even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away,And the tyrant’s spoils of war will be rescued;For I will contend with your opponent,And I will save your children.

When You did awesome and amazing things which we did not expect,You came down [at Sinai]; the mountains quaked at Your presence.

“So I will rescue you out of the hand of the wicked,And I will redeem you from the [grasping] palm of the terrible and ruthless [tyrant].”

But the Lord is with me as a dread champion [one to be greatly feared];Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not overcome [me].They will be completely shamed, for they have not acted wisely and have failed [in their schemes];Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.

Now stretched over the heads of the living beings there was something like an expanse, looking like the terrible and awesome shimmer of icy crystal.

Therefore, behold, I will bring strangers (Babylonians) upon you,The most ruthless and violent of the nations.And they will draw their swordsAgainst the beauty of your wisdom [O Tyre]And defile your splendor.

“He and his people with him,The most violent and ruthless of the nations,Will be brought in to destroy the land,And they will draw their swords against EgyptAnd fill the land with the slain.

Alien tyrants of the nations have cut it down and left it; its foliage has fallen on the mountains and in all the valleys and its branches have been broken in all the ravines of the land. And all the nations of the earth have come from under its shade and have left it.

I will make your horde [of people] fall by the swords of the mighty—all of them are tyrants among the nations,And they will devastate the pride and presumption of Egypt,And all its hordes will be destroyed.

“You, O king, were looking, and behold, [there was] a single great statue; this image, which was large and of unsurpassed splendor, stood before you, and its appearance was awesome and terrifying.

After this I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, [I saw] a fourth beast (the Roman Empire), terrible and extremely strong; and it had huge iron teeth. It devoured and crushed and trampled down what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that came before it, and it had ten horns (ten kings).

“Then I wished to know the exact meaning of the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, extremely dreadful, with teeth of iron and claws of bronze, which devoured, crushed and trampled down what was left with its feet,

The Lord utters His voice before His army,For His camp is very great,Because strong and powerful is he who [obediently] carries out His word.For the day of the Lord is indeed great and very terrible [causing dread];Who can endure it?

“The sun will be turned into darknessAnd the moon into bloodBefore the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.

“The Chaldeans are dreaded and feared;Their justice and authority originate with themselves and are defined only by their decree.

The Lord will be terrifying and awesome to them, for He will starve all the gods of the earth; and all the coastlands of the nations will bow down and worship Him, everyone from his own place.

“But cursed is the swindler who has a male in his flock and vows [to offer] it, but sacrifices to the Lord a blemished or diseased thing! For I am a great King,” says the Lord of hosts, “and My name is to be [reverently and greatly] feared among the nations.”

“Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.

Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out [terribly from the depths of his throat],

There was a man in the synagogue who was possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon; and he cried out with a loud and terrible voice,

Seeing Jesus, he cried out [with a terrible voice from the depths of his throat] and fell down before Him [in dread and terror], and shouted loudly, “What business do we have [in common] with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me [before the appointed time of judgment]!”

It is a fearful and terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God [incurring His judgment and wrath].