Since the fall, human beings have suffered in various ways. Scripture provides insights into the nature and place of suffering both in the world and in the lives of believers. Passages gathered in the Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin H. Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die."
To the woman He said: "I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." And to Adam He said: "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it will yield for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground— because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return."
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.
Some time later Joseph was told, "Your father is ill." So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, "This is what the LORD says: 'Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.'"
In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. So he prayed to the LORD, who spoke to him and gave him a sign.
In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, "This is what the LORD says: 'Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.'"
So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and infected Job with terrible boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?"
"Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water.
After Jesus had left the synagogue, He went to the home of Simon, whose mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever. So they appealed to Jesus on her behalf,
The father of Publius was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after praying and placing his hands on him, he healed the man.
Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.
My heart murmurs within me, and the terrors of death assail me. Fear and trembling grip me, and horror has overwhelmed me.
And with her last breath—for she was dying—she named him Ben-oni. But his father called him Benjamin.
When Mary came to Jesus and saw Him, she fell at His feet and said, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. "Where have you put him?" He asked. "Come and see, Lord," they answered. Jesus wept.
He was sick indeed, nearly unto death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.
My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from my words of groaning?
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground— because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return."
before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
And to Adam He said: "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.
Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.
What the devouring locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust has left, the young locust has eaten; and what the young locust has left, the destroying locust has eaten.
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
There will be great earthquakes, famines, and pestilences in various places, along with fearful sights and great signs from heaven.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time.
And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand were killed in the quake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
For strangers rise up against me, and ruthless men seek my life— men with no regard for God. Selah
Then Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
"When you help the Hebrew women give birth, observe them on the birthstools. If the child is a son, kill him; but if it is a daughter, let her live."
Then Pharaoh commanded all his people: "Every son born to the Hebrews you must throw into the Nile, but every daughter you may allow to live."
Tell him that this is what the LORD says: 'Have you not murdered a man and seized his land?' Then tell him that this is also what the LORD says: 'In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, there also the dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!' "
When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time he had learned from the Magi.
Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence. May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim. Cursed be their anger, for it is strong, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.
So the Egyptians appointed taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. As a result, they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Israel, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the earth; they push the needy out of their way. A man and his father have relations with the same girl and so profane My holy name.
Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy, who say to your husbands, "Bring us more to drink."
"Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me," says the LORD of Hosts.
So there was a great famine in Samaria. Indeed, they besieged the city so long that a donkey's head sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a quarter cab of dove's dung sold for five shekels of silver.
Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste these nations and their lands.
And the king answered them harshly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders and spoke to them as the young men had advised, saying, "Whereas my father made your yoke heavy, I will add to your yoke. Whereas my father scourged you with whips, I will scourge you with scorpions."
a messenger came and reported to Job: "While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!"
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: "The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels, and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!"
This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Damascus, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they threshed Gilead with sledges of iron.
This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of the Ammonites, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their territory.
Look, the wages you withheld from the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous, who did not resist you.
Then another horse went forth. It was bright red, and its rider was granted permission to take away peace from the earth and to make men slay one another. And he was given a great sword.
And this went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival taunted her until she wept and would not eat.
Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, "Behold, my own son, my own flesh and blood, seeks my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone and let him curse me, for the LORD has told him so.
My kinsmen have failed me, and my friends have forgotten me. My guests and maidservants count me as a stranger; I am a foreigner in their sight. I call for my servant, but he does not answer, though I implore him with my own mouth. My breath is repulsive to my wife, and I am loathsome to my own family. Even little boys scorn me; when I appear, they deride me. All my best friends despise me, and those I love have turned against me.
Yet you ask, "Why?" It is because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have broken faith, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant.
Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, "I find no pleasure in them," before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is darkened, and the clouds return after the rain, on the day the keepers of the house tremble and the strong men stoop, when those grinding cease because they are few and those watching through windows see dimly, when the doors to the street are shut and the sound of the mill fades away, when one rises at the sound of a bird and all the daughters of song grow faint, when men fear the heights and dangers of the road, when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper loses its spring, and the caper berry shrivels— for then man goes to his eternal home and mourners walk the streets. Remember Him before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is crushed, before the pitcher is shattered at the spring and the wheel is broken at the well, before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
We know that we are of God, and that the whole world is under the power of the evil one.
"Very well," said the LORD to Satan. "Everything he has is in your hands, but you must not lay a hand on the man himself." Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
"Very well," said the LORD to Satan. "He is in your hands, but you must spare his life." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and infected Job with terrible boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
Then should not this daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be released from her bondage on the Sabbath day?"
or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
When the thousand years are complete, Satan will be released from his prison, and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to assemble them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the seashore.
Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God would be displayed in him.
Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause."
To this He replied, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered this fate?
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.
Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time. And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, "I will blot out man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—every man and beast and crawling creature and bird of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them."
Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness.
If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
Fools, in their rebellious ways, and through their iniquities, suffered affliction.
They will repay you for your indecency, and you will bear the consequences of your sins of idolatry. Then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.'"
On hearing these words, Ananias fell down and died. And great fear came over all who heard what had happened.
At that instant she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.
Behold, I will cast her onto a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer great tribulation unless they repent of her deeds.
Then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
And many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to everlasting life, but others to shame and everlasting contempt.
But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
"As they go forth, they will see the corpses of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm will never die, their fire will never be quenched, and they will be a horror to all mankind."
And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
And the people were scorched by intense heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues; yet they did not repent and give Him glory.
But the magicians of Egypt did the same things by their magic arts. So Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.
Now the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the works of their hands. They did not stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk. Furthermore, they did not repent of their murder, sorcery, sexual immorality, and theft.
And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers.
Finally he came to his senses and said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have plenty of food? But here I am, starving to death! I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.