39 Bible Verses about Society, Negative Aspects Of

He cried out in a powerful voice, "Fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen! She has become a home for demons. She is a prison for every unclean spirit, a prison for every unclean bird, and a prison for every unclean and hated beast. For all the nations have drunk from the wine of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her. The world's businesses have become rich from her luxurious excesses."

There was a time when the entire earth spoke a common language with an identical vocabulary. As people migrated westward, they came across a plain in the region of Shinar and settled there. They told each other, "Come on! Let's burn bricks thoroughly." They used bricks for stone and tar for mortar. read more.
Then they said, "Come on! Let's build ourselves a city and a tower, with its summit in the heavens, and let's make a name for ourselves so we won't be scattered over the surface of the whole earth." However, the LORD descended to look over the city and the tower that the humans were building. The LORD said, "Look! They are one people with the same language for all of them, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. Nothing that they have a mind to do will be impossible for them! Come on! Let's go down there and confuse their language, so that they won't understand each other's speech." So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the surface of the whole earth, so that they had to stop building the city. Therefore it was called Babylon, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth, and from there the LORD scattered them over the surface of the entire earth.

The two angels entered Sodom at sunset while Lot was sitting in the gate area of the city. When Lot saw them, he got up, greeted them, bowed low with his face to the ground, and said, "Look, my lords! Please come inside your servant's house, wash your feet, and spend the night. Then you can get up early and be on your way." But they responded, "No, we would rather spend the night in the town square." But Lot kept urging them strongly, so they turned aside and entered his house. He prepared a festival and baked unleavened flat bread for them, and they ate.read more.
Before they could lie down, all the men of Sodom and its outskirts, both young and old, surrounded the house. They called out to Lot and asked, "Where are the men who came to visit you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!" Lot went outside to them, shut the door behind him, and said, "I urge you, my brothers, don't do such a wicked thing. Look here, I have two daughters who are virgins. Let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them whatever you wish, only don't do anything to these men, because they're here under my protection." But they replied, "Get out of the way! This man came here as a foreigner, and now he's acting like a judge! So we're going to deal more harshly with you than with them." Then they pushed hard against the man (that is, against Lot), intending to break down the door. But the angels inside reached out, dragged Lot back into the house with them, shut the door, and blinded the men who were at the entrance of the house, from the least important to the greatest, so they were unable to find the doorway. "Do you have anyone else here in the city?" the angels asked Lot. "A son-in-law? Sons? Daughters? Get them out of this place, because we're going to destroy it. Their outcry has come to the attention of the LORD, so he sent us here to destroy it!"

This message came to me from the LORD: "Now, Son of Man, will you truly judge that blood-stained city? Then make her aware of all of her detestable practices. "You are to say, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "The city keeps on shedding blood within her, hastening her time to be judged. She crafts idols that defile her.read more.
"""You're guilty because of the blood that you've shed. You were defiled by the idols that you've made. You've caused your judgment day to draw near and have even come to the end of your life. Therefore, I've made you an object of derision among the nations and to other lands. Those who are both near and far away from you will scoff at you, because your reputation will be infamous and full of turmoil.

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones to death those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! Look! Your house is left abandoned! I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, "How blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!'"

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones to death those who have been sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you people were unwilling! Look! Your house is left vacant to you. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, "How blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!'"

Then another angel, a second one, followed him, saying, "Fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen! She has made all nations drink the wine, the wrath earned for her sexual sins."

But the Scripture has captured everything by means of sin's net, so that what was promised by the faithfulness of the Messiah might be granted to those who believe.

"If the world hates you, you should realize that it hated me before you.

For our struggle is not against human opponents, but against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers in the darkness around us, and evil spiritual forces in the heavenly realm.

We know that we are from God and that the whole world lies under the control of the evil one.

The huge dragon was hurled down. That ancient serpent, called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was hurled down to the earth, along with its angels.

Stand very strong, then, so you can obey and carry out everything written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning neither to the right nor to the left of it. That way, you will not mingle with those nations that remain among you, nor mention the name of their gods, nor make oaths by them, nor serve them, nor worship them. Instead, you are to hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done today,

You are not to make a covenant with them or with their gods. They are not to live in your land. Otherwise they will cause you to sin against me. If you worship their gods, it will become a snare for you."

"Now you must fear the LORD and serve him in faithfulness and truth. Throw away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Instead, serve the LORD. If you think it's the wrong thing for you to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves today whom you will serve the gods whom your ancestors served on the other side of the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose territories you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." In response, the people said, "Far be it from us that we should abandon the LORD to serve other gods, read more.
since the LORD our God is the one who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, from a life of slavery. He did those great things right in front of us, preserving us along the way that we traveled and among all the nations through whose territory we passed. The LORD expelled all the people before us, including the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore, we also will serve the LORD, since he is our God." So Joshua told the people, "You will not be able to serve the LORD, because he is a God of Holiness. He is a jealous God, and he will forgive neither your transgressions nor your sins. If you abandon the LORD and serve foreign deities, then he will turn and do you harm, consuming you after all the good he has done for you." "No," the people replied to Joshua. "We will serve the LORD." Joshua responded, "You are giving testimony against yourselves, that you have chosen to serve the LORD." They replied, "We are witnesses!" Joshua said, "Therefore abandon the foreign gods that are among you, and turn your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel."

But King Solomon married many foreign women besides the daughter of Pharaoh: women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidonia, along with Hittite women, too, all of them from nations that the LORD had ordered the Israelis, "You are not to associate with them and they are not to associate with you, because they will most certainly turn your affections away to follow their gods." Solomon became deeply attached to them by falling in love. He had 700 princess wives and 300 mistresses who turned his heart away from the LORD, read more.
because as Solomon grew older, his wives turned his affections away after other gods, and his heart was not fully as devoted to the LORD his God as his father David's heart had been. Solomon pursued Astarte, the Sidonian goddess, and Milcom, that detestable Ammonite idol. Solomon practiced what the LORD considered to be evil by not fully following the LORD, as had his father David.

So Obadiah went out to meet Ahab and reported to him. Then Ahab went to meet Elijah. When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab asked him, "Is it really you, you destroyer of Israel?" But Elijah replied, "I'm no destroyer of Israel. But you and your ancestor's household have been doing that, because you have abandoned the LORD's commandments and have followed the Baals. read more.
So go gather all of Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. Bring along 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah who are funded at Jezebel's expense." Ahab sent for the Israelis and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel, where Elijah approached all the people and asked them, "How long will you keep hesitating between both sides? If the LORD is God, go after him. If Baal, go after him." But the people didn't say a word. So Elijah told the people, "I'm the only one left over as a prophet of the LORD, am I? But Baal's prophets number 450 men? So let them provide two oxen. They can choose one ox for themselves. Cut it up, lay it on top of some wood, but don't set fire to it. I will prepare the other ox and lay it on top of some wood, and I won't set fire to it. Then you can call on the name of your god, and I'll call on the name of the LORD. Let the God who answers by fire be our God!" "That's a good idea!" all the people shouted. So Elijah told the prophets of Baal, "Choose an ox for yourselves and you prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but don't set fire to the offering." So they took the ox that was given to them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from early morning until noon. "Baal! Answer us!" they cried. But there was no response. Nobody answered. So they kept on dancing around the altar that they had made. Starting about noon, Elijah began to tease them: "Shout louder! "He's a god, so maybe he's busy. "Maybe he's relieving himself. "Maybe he's busy someplace. "Maybe he's taking a nap and somebody needs to wake him up." So the prophets of Baal cried even louder and slashed themselves with swords and lances until their blood gushed out all over them, as was their custom. They kept on raving right through midday and until it was time to offer the evening sacrifice, but there was still no response. Nobody answered, and nobody paid attention. Eventually, Elijah told everybody, "Come here!" So everybody approached him, and he repaired the LORD's altar that had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Jacob's descendants, to whom the message from the LORD had come that "Israel is to be your name." So Elijah used the stones to build an altar to the name of the LORD. But then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold two measures of seed. Then he laid the wood in order, cut the bull into pieces, and laid them on top of the wood. "Fill four pitchers with water," he ordered. "Then pour them out on the burnt offering and the wood." "Do it a second time," he ordered. So they did it a second time. "Do it a third time," he said. So they did it a third time. The water ran down around the altar and completely filled the trench. As the time for the evening offering arrived, Elijah the prophet approached and said, "LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I, your servant, have done all of this in obedience to your word. Answer me, LORD! Answer me so that this people may know that you, LORD, are God, and that you are turning back their hearts again." Right then the LORD's fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, the dust, and even the water that was in the trench! When all the people saw what had happened, they fell flat on their faces and cried out "The LORD is God! The LORD is God!" But Elijah said, "Arrest the prophets of Baal. Don't let even one of them get away." So the people seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon and executed them there.

After these things occurred, certain officials approached me and said "The people of Israel, the priests, and the descendants of Levi have not separated themselves from the people of the lands or from the detestable behavior of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites, because they and their sons have married foreign women. As a result, the holy people have mingled themselves among the nations of these lands. As a matter of fact, the senior officials and the rulers have been foremost in this sin."

For you have rejected your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with practices learned from the East and they are fortune-tellers like the Philistines. They cut deals with foreigners. Their land is filled with silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures; their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Their land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their own fingers have made.

Some time later, king Nebuchadnezzar built a golden statue, making it 60 cubits high and six cubits wide. He set it up in the Dura Valley within the province of Babylon. Then King Nebuchadnezzar summoned the regional authorities, governors, deputy governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all of the other administrators of the provinces, ordering them to come to the dedication of the statue that he had erected. So the regional authorities, governors, deputy governors, advisors, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all of the other administrators of the provinces assembled to dedicate the statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had erected. They took their places in front of the statue that he had erected. read more.
Then a herald proclaimed aloud: "People of all nations, and languages are commanded: Whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet, the flute, the lyre, the four-stringed lyre, and the harp, playing together along with various instruments, you are to fall down and worship the golden statue that was set up by King Nebuchadnezzar. Anyone who does not fall down and worship is immediately to be thrown into the blazing fire furnace." Therefore, when all of the people "heard the sound of the trumpet, the flute, the lyre, the four-stringed lyre, and the harp, playing together along with various other instruments," all the "people, nations, and languages" began to fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Just then, certain influential Chaldeans took this opportunity to come forward and denounce the Jews. They told King Nebuchadnezzar, "Your majesty, live forever. You, your majesty, issued this decree: "Every man who hears the sound of the trumpet, the flute, the lyre, the four-stringed lyre, and the harp, playing together along with various other instruments is to fall down and worship the golden statue. Whoever does not fall down and worship is to be thrown into a blazing fire furnace.' "Certain influential Jewish men whom you appointed to manage the city of Babylon Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego have neither paid attention to you, your majesty, nor served your gods. And they won't worship the golden statue that you set up."

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was deeply disturbed to see the city full of idols. So he began holding discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and other worshipers, as well as every day in the public square with anyone who happened to be there. Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some asked, "What is this blabbermouth trying to say?" while others said, "He seems to be preaching about foreign gods." This was because Paul was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.read more.
Then they took him, brought him before the Areopagus, and asked, "May we know what this new teaching of yours is? It sounds rather strange to our ears, and we would like to know what it means." Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there used to spend their time doing nothing else other than listening to the latest ideas or repeating them. So Paul stood up in front of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in every way. For as I was walking around and looking closely at the objects you worship, I even found an altar with this written on it: "To an unknown god.' So I am telling you about the unknown object you worship.

Now concerning eating food offered to idols: We know that no idol is real in this world and that there is only one God. For even if there are "gods" in heaven and on earth (as indeed there are many so-called "gods" and "lords"), yet for us there is only one God, the Father, from whom everything came into being and for whom we live. And there is only one Lord, Jesus the Messiah, through whom everything came into being and through whom we live.

For the time will come when people will not tolerate healthy doctrine, but with itching ears will surround themselves with teachers who cater to their people's own desires. They will refuse to listen to the truth and will turn to myths.

Little children, keep yourselves away from idols.

There is one God. There is also one mediator between God and human beings a human, the Messiah Jesus.

"You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and trust me and understand that I am the One. Before me no God was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, yes I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.

Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

There is no salvation by anyone else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved."

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. Instead, their thoughts turned to worthless things, and their senseless hearts were darkened.

For God's wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and wickedness of those who in their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God himself has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible attributes his eternal power and divine nature have been understood and observed by what he made, so that people are without excuse. read more.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. Instead, their thoughts turned to worthless things, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Though claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images that looked like mortal human beings, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. For this reason, God delivered them to sexual impurity as they followed the lusts of their hearts and dishonored their bodies with one another. They exchanged God's truth for a lie and worshipped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God delivered them to degrading passions as their females exchanged their natural sexual function for one that is unnatural. In the same way, their males also abandoned their natural sexual function toward females and burned with lust toward one another. Males committed indecent acts with males, and received within themselves the appropriate penalty for their perversion. Furthermore, because they did not think it worthwhile to keep knowing God fully, God delivered them to degraded minds to perform acts that should not be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, quarreling, deceit, and viciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, haughty, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to their parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. Although they know God's just requirement that those who practice such things deserve to die they not only do these things but even applaud others who practice them.

You must realize, however, that in the last days difficult times will come. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unfeeling, uncooperative, slanderous, degenerate, brutal, hateful of what is good, read more.
traitors, reckless, conceited, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. They will hold to an outward form of godliness but deny its power. Stay away from such people.

After these things, I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was made bright by his splendor. He cried out in a powerful voice, "Fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen! She has become a home for demons. She is a prison for every unclean spirit, a prison for every unclean bird, and a prison for every unclean and hated beast. For all the nations have drunk from the wine of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her. The world's businesses have become rich from her luxurious excesses."

Yet my people didn't obey my voice; Israel didn't submit to me. So I allowed them to continue in their stubbornness, living by their own advice.

"I said, "How I wanted to treat you like children, and give you a pleasant land, the most beautiful inheritance of the nations.' I said, "You will call me, my father, and won't turn back from following me.' Instead, like an unfaithful wife leaves her husband, so you have been unfaithful to me, house of Israel," declares the LORD. "A voice is heard on the barren heights, the weeping and pleading of the children of Israel because they have perverted their way. They have forgotten the LORD their God."

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as they did when they provoked me during the time of testing in the wilderness. There your ancestors tested me,read more.
even though they had seen my actions for 40 years. That is why I was indignant with that generation and said, "They are always going astray in their hearts, and they have not known my ways.' So in my anger I swore a solemn oath that they would never enter my rest."

"I hate I despise your festival days, and your solemn convocations stink. And if you send up burnt offerings to me as well as your grain offerings, I will not accept them, nor will I consider your peace offerings of fattened cattle. Spare me your noisy singing I will not listen to your musical instruments.read more.
"But let justice roll on like many waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing river.

This is what the LORD says: "For three transgressions of Israel and now for a fourth I will not turn away; because they sold the righteous for money, and the poor for sandals, moving quickly to rub the face of the needy in the dirt. Corrupting the ways of the humble, a man and his father go to the same woman, deliberately defiling my holy name.

"For this is what the LORD says to the house of Israel: "Seek me and live, but don't seek Bethel. Don't go to Gilgal, and don't pass over to Beer-sheba. Because Gilgal will surely go into captivity, and Bethel will come to nothing. "Seek the LORD and live! Otherwise, he may break out like a fire in the house of Joseph and devour Bethel, and there will be no one to extinguish it.read more.
Those of you who are making justice taste bitter, and who have thrown righteousness to the ground: Seek the one who fashions the Pleiades and Orion, who turns the deep darkness into morning, who darkens day into night, who calls out to the waters of the sea, pouring them out onto the surface of the earth the LORD is his name. It is he who is raining sudden destruction upon the strong like lightning, so that ruin comes upon the fortress. They have hated those who are presenting their cases in court, detesting the one who speaks truthfully. "Therefore, since you trample the poor continuously, taxing his grain, building houses of stone in which you won't live and planting fine vineyards from which you won't drink and because I know that your transgressions are many, and your sins are numerous as you oppose the righteous, taking bribes as a ransom, and turning away the poor in court therefore the prudent person remains silent at such a time, for the time is evil. "Pursue good and not evil, so that you may live, and this is what will happen: The LORD God of the Heavenly Armies will be with you, as you have been claiming. Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in court perhaps the LORD, the God of the Heavenly Armies, will be gracious to the survivors of Joseph.'"

"Hear this, you who are swallowing up the needy, who intend to make the poor of the land fail, and who are saying, "When will the New Moon fade so we may sell grain, and the Sabbath conclude so we may market winnowed wheat? shortchanging the measure, raising the price, falsifying the scales by treachery, buying the poor for cash, and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling chaff mixed in with the wheat.'read more.
"The LORD has sworn by the pride of Jacob: I will never forget anything they have done. Surely the land will tremble because of this, won't it? And all who live in it will mourn, won't they? The entire land will swell up like a flooded river. It will be stirred up and then will sink like the river of Egypt. It will come about at that time," declares the Lord GOD, "I will cause the sun to set at noon and the earth to darken in the daylight. I will turn your festivals into mourning, and all of your songs to dirges. I will cause all of you to put on sackcloth and to shave all of your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son, and its conclusion will be like the end of a bitter day."