18 Bible Verses about Strictness

A soft answer will turn away wrath, but a word of trouble will stir {anger}.

The poor may speak entreaties, but the rich will answer roughly.

It deals cruelly with its young ones, as [if] [they were] not its [own], as [if] without fear [that] its labor [were] in vain,

Even the jackal bears the beast and nurses their cubs; [but] the daughter of my people has become ruthless, like ostriches in the wilderness.

But he said to him, "My lord knows that the children [are] frail, and the flocks and the cattle [which are] nursing [are a concern] to me. Now [if] they drove them hard for a day all the flocks would die.

And at the end of their kingdom, when the transgressions are completed, a king will arise, fierce in countenance and skilled in riddles.

And that slave who knew the will of his master and did not prepare or do according to his will {will be given a severe beating}.

having known me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that in accordance with the strictest party of our religion I lived [as] a Pharisee.

Because of this, I am writing these [things] [although I] am absent, in order that [when I] am present I may not have to act severely according to the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.

Fathers, do not provoke your children, so that they will not become discouraged.

See, then, the kindness and severity of God: severity upon those who have fallen, but upon you the kindness of God--if you continue in his kindness, for otherwise you also will be cut off.

And the one who had received the one talent came up also [and] said, 'Master, [because I] knew you, that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering from where you did not scatter [seed].

For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man--you withdraw what you did not deposit, and you reap what you did not sow!'

He said to him, '{By your own words} I will judge you, wicked slave! You knew that I am a severe man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow.

And you should know with your heart that as a man disciplines his son, [so] Yahweh your God [is] disciplining you.

And Cain said to Yahweh, "My punishment [is] greater than [I can] bear.

Now the hand of Yahweh was heavy against the Ashdodites and he destroyed them and struck them with tumors, both in Ashdod and its territories. The men of Ashdod saw [that] it [was] so, and they said, "The ark of the God of Israel should not remain with us, because his hand [is] harsh on us and on Dagon our god!" So they sent and gathered all the rulers of [the] Philistines to them, and they asked, "What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?" And they said, "Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around toward Gath." So they moved the ark of the God of Israel [to Gath].read more.
After they moved it, the hand of Yahweh was against the city, causing a very great confusion, and he struck the men of the city {from the youngest to the oldest}, causing tumors to break out on them. So they sent the ark of God [to] Ekron. But when the ark of God came [to] Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, "They have brought around the ark of the God of Israel to kill us and our people!" So they sent and gathered all the rulers of [the] Philistines, and they said, "Send away the ark of the God of Israel and let it return to its place, so that it will not kill us and our people." For a {deadly confusion} was throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. The men who did not die were struck with [the] tumors, so that the cry of the city for help went up [to] heaven.

You have turned cruel to me; you persecute me with your hand's might.