'Violence' in the Bible

The [population of the] earth was corrupt [absolutely depraved—spiritually and morally putrid] in God’s sight, and the land was filled with violence [desecration, infringement, outrage, assault, and lust for power].

God said to Noah, “I intend to make an end of all that lives, for through men the land is filled with violence; and behold, I am about to destroy them together with the land.

“Simeon and Levi are brothers [equally headstrong, deceitful, vindictive, and cruel];Their swords are weapons of violence and revenge.

so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal (Gideon) might come [on the guilty], and that their [innocent] blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother, who had killed them, and on the leaders of Shechem, who strengthened his hands (encouraged him) to kill his brothers.

My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge,My Savior—You save me from violence.

David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come peacefully to me to help me, my heart shall be united with you; but if you have come to betray me to my adversaries, since there is no violence or wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look on [what you are doing] and punish [you].”

Although there is no violence or wrongdoing in my hands,And my prayer is pure.

“Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not heard;I shout for help, but there is no justice.

“Because of the multitudes of oppressions the people cry out;They cry for help because of the [violent] arm of the mighty.

“The Almighty—we cannot find Him;He is exalted in powerAnd He will not do violence to [nor disregard] justice and abundant righteousness.

His mischief will return on his own head,And his violence will come down on the top of his head [like loose dirt].

The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,And His soul hates the [malevolent] one who loves violence.

He rescues me from my enemies;Yes, You lift me up above those who rise up against me;You deliver me from the man of violence.

Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,For false witnesses have come against me;They breathe out violence.

Confuse [my enemies], O Lord, divide their tongues [destroying their schemes],For I have seen violence and strife in the city.

Destruction is within her;Oppression and deceit do not depart from her streets and market places.

No, in your heart you devise wrongdoing;On earth you deal out the violence of your hands.

He will redeem their life from oppression and fraud and violence,And their blood will be precious in His sight.

Therefore pride is their necklace;Violence covers them like a garment [like a long, luxurious robe].

Consider the covenant [You made with Abraham],For the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.

“The enemy will not outwit him,Nor will the wicked man afflict or humiliate him.

For they eat the bread of wickednessAnd drink the wine of violence.

Blessings are on the head of the righteous [the upright, those in right standing with God],But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life and his words of wisdom are a source of blessing,But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence and evil.

From the fruit of his mouth a [wise] man enjoys good,But the desire of the treacherous is for violence.

He who assaults his father and chases away his motherIs a son who brings shame and disgrace.

The violence of the wicked will [return to them and] drag them away [like fish caught in a net],Because they refuse to act with justice.

For their minds plot violence,And their lips talk of trouble [for the innocent].

His grave was assigned with the wicked,But He was with a rich man in His death,Because He had done no violence,Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

Their webs will not serve as clothing,Nor will they cover themselves with what they make;Their works are works of wickedness [of sin, of injustice, of wrongdoing],And the act of violence is in their hands.

“Violence will not be heard again in your land,Nor devastation or destruction within your borders;But you will call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise [to God].

For I, the Lord, love justice;I hate robbery with a burnt offering.And I will faithfully reward them,And make an everlasting covenant with them.

“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled,I have not gone after [man-made gods like] the Baals’?Look at your way in the valley;Know [without any doubt] what you have done!You are a swift and restless young [female] camel [in the heat of her passion] running here and there,

“As a fountain springs up and pours out its fresh waters,So she [continually] pours out her fresh wickedness.Violence and destruction are heard inside her [walls];Sickness and wounds are always before Me.

Has this house, which is called by My Name, become a den of robbers in your eyes [a place of retreat for you between acts of violence]? Behold, I Myself have seen it,” says the Lord.

“And if you [wonder and] say in your heart,‘Why have these things happened to me?’It is because of the greatness and nature of your sinThat your skirts have been pulled away [subjecting you to public disgrace]And [like a barefoot slave] your heels have been wounded.

For whenever I speak, I must shout out;I shout violence and destruction,Because the word of the Lord has become to meA reprimand and a mockery and has brought me insult all day long.

Thus says the Lord, “Execute justice and righteousness, and rescue the one who has been robbed from the hand of his oppressor. And do no wrong; do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, or the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.

“But your eyes and your heartAre only intent on your own dishonest gain,On shedding innocent blood,On oppression and extortion and violence.”

“May the violence done to me and to my flesh and blood be upon Babylon,”The inhabitant of Zion will say;And, “May my blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”Jerusalem will say.

“Now beware so that you do not lose heart,And so that you are not afraid at the rumor that will be heard in the land—For the rumor shall come one year,And after that another rumor in another year,And violence shall be in the land,Ruler against ruler—

Violence has grown into a rod of wickedness; none of them (Israel) will remain, none of their people, none of their wealth, nor anything eminent among them.

‘Prepare the chain [for imprisonment], for the land is full of bloody crimes [murders committed under the pretense of civil justice] and the city is full of violence.

He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too slight a thing for the house of Judah to commit the repulsive acts which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and repeatedly provoked Me to anger? And behold, they are putting the branch to their nose.

Then say to the people of the land, ‘Thus says the Lord God concerning the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the land of Israel, “They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water with horror, because their land will be stripped and looted of its fullness because of the violence of all those who live in it.

“If he is the father of a violent son who sheds blood, and who does any of these things to a brother

Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy (sacred) and the profane (secular), they have not taught [people] the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

“Through the abundance of your commerceYou were internally filled with lawlessness and violence,And you sinned;Therefore I have cast you out as a profane and unholy thingFrom the mountain of God.And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub,From the midst of the stones of fire.

‘Thus says the Lord God, “Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. Stop your forceful seizure of property from My people,” says the Lord God.

“In those times many will rise up against the king of the South (Egypt); also the violent men among your own people will arise in order to fulfill the [earlier] visions, but they will fail.

There is [false] swearing of oaths, deception (broken faith), murder, stealing, and adultery;They employ violence, so that one [act of] bloodshed follows closely on another.

Ephraim feeds on the [emptiness of the] windAnd [continually] pursues the [parching] east wind [which brings destruction];Every day he multiplies lies and violence.Further, he makes a covenant with AssyriaAnd (olive) oil is carried to Egypt [to seek alliances].

Egypt will become a waste,And Edom will become a desolate wilderness,Because of their violence against the children of Judah,In whose land they have shed innocent blood.

For they do not know how to do right,” says the Lord, “these who store up violence and devastation [like treasures] in their strongholds.”

Do you put off the day of punishment,Yet cause the seat of violence to come near?

“Because of the violence you did against your brother Jacob,Shame shall cover you [completely],And you shall be cut off forever.

But both man and animal must be covered with sackcloth; and every one is to call on God earnestly and forcefully that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence that is in his hands.

“For the rich men of the city are full of violence [of every kind];Her inhabitants speak liesAnd their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.

O Lord, how long will I call for helpAnd You will not hear?I cry out to You, “Violence!”Yet You do not save.

Why do You make me see iniquity,And cause me to look on wickedness?For destruction and violence are before me;Strife continues and contention arises.

“They all come for violence;Their horde of faces moves [eagerly] forward,They gather prisoners like sand.

“Because you [king of Babylon] have looted many nations,All peoples who are left will loot you—Because of human bloodshed and for the violence done to the land,To the city and all its inhabitants.

“For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you;The destruction of the animals will terrify youOn account of human bloodshed and the violence done to the land,To the city and all its inhabitants.

“On that day I will also punish all those who leap over the temple threshold,Who fill their [pagan] lord’s temple with violence and deceit.

Her prophets are reckless and treacherous men;Her priests have profaned the sanctuary;They have done violence to the law [by pretending their word is God’s word].

You also say, ‘How tiresome this is!’ And you disdainfully sniff at it,” says the Lord of hosts, “and you bring what was taken by robbery, and the lame or the sick [animals]; this you bring as an offering! Should I receive it with pleasure from your hand?” says the Lord.

“For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong and violence,” says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore keep watch on your spirit, so that you do not deal treacherously [with your wife].”

Then the captain went with the officers and brought them back, without hurting them (because they were afraid of the people, worried that they might be stoned).

But Saul began ravaging the church [and assaulting believers]; entering house after house and dragging off men and women, putting them in prison.

When Paul got to the steps, he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob;

but Lysias the commander came, and with great force took him out of our hands,

On the next day, as we were being violently tossed about by the storm [and taking on water], they began to jettison the cargo;

For I am the least [worthy] of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I [at one time] fiercely oppressed and violently persecuted the church of God.

Then a single powerful angel picked up a boulder like a great millstone and flung it into the sea, saying, “With such violence will Babylon the great city be hurled down [by the sudden, spectacular judgment of God], and will never again be found.