43 Bible Verses about Challenges

"See, I am setting {before you} {today} life and prosperity and death and disaster; what I am commanding you {today} [is] to love Yahweh your God by going in his ways and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his regulations, and then you will live, and you will become numerous, and Yahweh your God will bless you in the {land where you are going}. However, if your heart turns aside and you [do] not listen and you are lured away and you bow down to other gods and you serve them,read more.
I declare to you {today} that you will certainly perish; {you will not extend your time} on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to go there to take possession of it.

And now if you will carefully listen to my voice and keep my covenant, you will be a treasured possession for me out of all the peoples, {for all the earth is mine}, but you, you will [belong] to me [as] a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you will speak to the {Israelites}."

And {you must diligently observe the words of this covenant}, so that you may succeed in all that you do.

Seek good and not bad in order that you may live, and so Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be with you, as you have said. Hate evil and love good and establish justice in the gate; perhaps Yahweh, the God of hosts, will be gracious [to] the remnant of Joseph.

Elijah approached to all the people and said, "How long [will] you [go] limping over two opinions? If Yahweh [is] God, go after him; but if Baal, go after him." But the people did not answer him a word.

"So now, revere Yahweh and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness; remove the gods that your ancestors served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve Yahweh. But if it is bad in your eyes to serve Yahweh, choose for yourselves today whom you want to serve, whether it is the gods that your ancestors served beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you [are] living; but as for me and my household, we will serve Yahweh."

Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, 'Return, apostate Israel,' {declares} Yahweh. 'I will not cause my {anger} to fall on you. For I [am] loyal,' {declares} Yahweh. 'I will not be angry {forever}. Only acknowledge your guilt, that against Yahweh your God you have rebelled, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every leafy tree, and you have not obeyed my voice,' {declares} Yahweh." "Return, apostate children," {declares} Yahweh. "For {I am your master}, and I will take you one from a city and two from a clan, and I will bring you [to] Zion.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life on account of me will find it. For what will a person be benefited if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what will a person give in exchange for his life?

And summoning the crowd together with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life on account of me and of the gospel will save it. For what does it benefit a person to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?

And he said to [them] all, "If anyone wants to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life on account of me, this person will save it. For what is a person benefited [if he] gains the whole world but loses or forfeits himself?

Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give [the proceeds] to the poor--and you will have treasure in heaven--and come, follow me."

And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one [thing]: Go, sell all that you have, and give [the proceeds] to the poor--and you will have treasure in heaven--and come, follow me."

And [when he] heard [this], Jesus said to him, "{You still lack one thing}: Sell all that you have, and distribute [the proceeds] to the poor--and you will have treasure in heaven--and come, follow me."

And [as] they were traveling on the road, someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go!" And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky [have] nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay [his] head." And he said to another, "Follow me!" But he said, "Lord, first allow me to go [and] bury my father."read more.
But he said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead! But you go [and] proclaim the kingdom of God." And another [person] also said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first allow me to say farewell to those in my house." But Jesus said, "No one who puts [his] hand on the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God!"

And a scribe approached [and] said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go!" And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky [have] nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." And another of the disciples said to him, "Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father."read more.
But Jesus said to him, "Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead!"

He said to him a third [time], "Simon [son] of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed because he said to him a third [time], "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything! You know that I love you!" Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep! Truly, truly I say to you, when you were young, you tied [your clothes] around yourself and walked wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will tie you up and carry [you] where you do not want [to go]. (Now he said this to indicate by what kind of death he would glorify God.) And [after he] had said this, he said to him, "Follow me!"

"Be concerned about yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another with all wisdom, with psalms, hymns, [and] spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God,

" 'You shall not hate your brother in your heart; you shall surely rebuke your fellow citizen, so that you do not incur sin {along with} him.

And we urge you, brothers, admonish the disorderly, console the discouraged, help the sick, be patient toward all [people].

But if anyone does not obey our message through this letter, take note not to associate with him, in order that he may be put to shame. And do not consider [him] as an enemy, but admonish [him] as a brother.

preach the word, be ready in season [and] out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all patience and instruction.

Speak these [things] and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

Reject a divisive person after a first and second admonition,

You were patient toward them for many years, and you have warned them by your spirit through the hand of your prophets, but they did not listen. So you gave them into the hand of the nations of the lands.

"But they rebelled and were rebellious against you and cast your law behind their back and killed your prophets, who had warned them to turn back to you, and they did great blasphemies.

So Yahweh sent Nathan to David, and he came to him and said, "Two men were in a certain city; one [was] rich and the other [was] poor. The rich [man] had very many flocks and herds, but the poor [man] had nothing except for one small ewe lamb which he had bought. He had nurtured her, and she grew up with him and with his children together. She used to eat from his morsel and drink from his cup, and she used to lie in his lap and became like a daughter for him.read more.
And a visitor came to the rich man, but he {was reluctant} to take from his flocks or from his herds to prepare a meal for the traveler when he came to him. So he took the ewe lamb of the poor man and prepared it for the man who had come to him." Then {the anger of David was kindled} against the man, and he said to Nathan, "{As Yahweh lives}, the man who has done this {deserves to die}! He shall restore the ewe lamb fourfold because he has done this thing, and because he had no pity." Then Nathan said to him, "You [are] the man! Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: 'I anointed you as king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.

And they stood against King Uzziah and said to him, "It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to Yahweh, but [it is] for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have acted unfaithfully. There will be no honor for you from Yahweh God."

"Son of man, make known to Jerusalem its detestable things,

Plead with your mother, plead-- because she [is] not my wife, and I [am] not her husband. Let her put away her whoring {from before her}, and her adultery from between her breasts.

But Peter said, "Ananias, for what [reason] has Satan filled your heart, [that] you lied to the Holy Spirit and kept back for yourself [some] of the proceeds of the piece of land? [When it] remained to you, did it not remain [yours]? And [when it] was sold, was it at your disposal? How [is it] that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to people, but to God!"

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed [him] to his face, because he was condemned. For before certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles, but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, [because he] was afraid of those [who were] of the circumcision, and the rest of the Jews also joined in [this] hypocrisy with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with them in [their] hypocrisy.read more.
But when I saw that they were not being straightforward with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of [them] all, "If you, [although you] are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you try to compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?"

Woe [to the] one who strives with his {maker}, a potsherd among potsherds of earth! Does [the] clay say to the one who fashions it, 'What are you making?' and 'Your work has no hands'? Woe [to the] one who says to a father, 'What you are begetting?' or to a woman, '[With] what are you in labor?'" Thus says Yahweh, the holy one of Israel, and its {maker}: "Ask me of the things to come {about} my children, and you command me about the work of my hands.

{If} he would snatch away, who could turn him? Who could say to him, 'What are you doing?'

"Like this potter, am I not able to do to you, O house of Israel?" {declares} Yahweh. "Look, like the clay in the hand of the potter, so [are] you in my hand, O house of Israel.

For Yahweh of hosts has planned, and who will frustrate [it]? And his hand [is] stretched out, and who will turn it back?

"I know that you can do all [things], and [any] scheme from you will not be thwarted.

who from [the] beginning declares [the] end, and from before, [things] that have not been done, who says, 'My plan shall stand,' and, 'I will accomplish all my wishes,'

And all the dwellers of the earth are regarded as nothing, and he does {according to} his desire in the host of heaven and [among] the dwellers of earth, and there is not [one] who can hold back his hand, or {ask him}, 'What are you doing?'

And he was driven away {from human society} and his mind was made like the animals and his dwelling [was] with the wild asses; [and] {he was given} grass like oxen to eat, and with the dew of heaven his body was bathed, until he acknowledged that the Most High God [is] sovereign over the kingdom of humankind, and {whoever} he wants he sets over it.

Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets of the Jordan to {a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream}. So {I will chase him away hurriedly} from it. And whoever [is] chosen I will appoint over it. For who [is] like me, and who can summon me? And who [is] this, [the] shepherd who can stand {before me}?"

Look, like a lion he comes up from the thickets of the Jordan against {a pastureland by a constantly flowing stream}, so {I will chase them away quickly} from her, and I will appoint whoever [is] chosen over her. For who [is] like me, and who can summon me, and who [is] this shepherd who can stand {before me}?

And he said, "O Yahweh, God of our ancestors, are you not God in heaven? Now you rule in all the kingdoms of the nations, and in your hand [are] power and might, and there is none [who can] resist against you.