42 Bible Verses about Warfare, Examples Of

"When Yahweh your God brings you into the land that you [are] about to enter {into it} to take possession of it, and he drives out many nations {before you}, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations mightier and more numerous than you, and Yahweh your God will give them {over to you} and you defeat them, you must {utterly destroy them}; you shall not make a covenant with them, and you shall not show mercy [to them].

" 'I will release my terror before you, and I will throw into confusion all the people against whom you come, and I will {make all your enemies turn their back to you}. And I will send the hornet before you, and it will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become a desolation and {the wild animals} multiply against you.read more.
Little by little I will drive them out from before you until you are fruitful and take possession of the land. " 'And I will set your boundary from the {Red Sea} and up to the sea of the Philistines and from [the] desert up to the river, because I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out from before you.

"Hear, Israel, you [are] about to cross the Jordan today to go to dispossess nations larger and more numerous than you, great cities fortified {with high walls}, a great and tall people, the sons of [the] Anakites, whom you know and [of whom you] have heard [it said], 'Who could stand before the sons of Anak?' You should know {today} that Yahweh your God is the one crossing {ahead of you} [as] a devouring fire; he will destroy them, and he will subdue them before you; so you will dispossess them, and you will destroy them quickly, {just as} Yahweh {promised} you.read more.
"You shall not say {to yourself} {when Yahweh your God is driving them out} {before you}, {saying}, 'Because of my righteousness Yahweh brought me to take possession of this land'; but because of the wickedness of these nations Yahweh [is] driving them out {before you}. [It is] not because of your righteousness and because of the uprightness of your heart [that] you [are] coming to take possession of their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations Yahweh your God [is] driving them {before you}, and in order to confirm the {promise} that Yahweh swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

But from the cities of these peoples that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you as an inheritance, you shall not let anything live that breathes. Rather, you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, [just] as Yahweh your God has commanded you, so that they may not teach you to do like all their detestable things that they do for their gods and [thereby] you sin against Yahweh your God.

Joshua took all the land according to all that Yahweh had spoken to Moses; and Joshua gave it as an inheritance to Israel, according to their tribal divisions, and the land rested from war.

And Yahweh said to Joshua, "Look, I am giving Jericho into your hand, its king and the soldiers of the army.

Then Yahweh said to Joshua, "Do not fear or be dismayed. Take {all the fighting men} with you {and go up immediately to Ai}. Look, I am giving into your hand the king of Ai, his city, and his land. You will do to Ai and its king that which you did to Jericho and its king; you may take only its spoils and livestock as booty for yourself. Set for yourself an ambush against the city [from] behind [it]."

So Joshua struck all the land--the hill country, the Negev, the Shephelah, and the slopes--and all their kings; he left behind no survivor, and {all that breathed} he utterly destroyed as Yahweh the God of Israel commanded. Joshua struck them from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza, and all the land of Goshen up to Gibeon; all of these kings and their land Joshua captured at one time, because Yahweh the God of Israel fought for Israel.

So the children went in and took possession of the land. You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites; you gave them into their hand, and their kings and the nations of the land to do with them according to their pleasure.

O God, we have heard with our ears; our ancestors have told us of work you worked in their days, in days of old. You [with] your hand drove out the nations, but them you planted. You harmed [the] peoples, but them you let spread out. For not with their sword did they possess [the] land, and their arm did not give them victory. Rather [it was] your right hand and your arm and the light of your presence, because you delighted in them.

And Yahweh was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they [had] chariots of iron.

And it happened, when Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they never totally drove them out.

And the angel of Yahweh went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up from Egypt, and I brought you to the land that I had promised to your ancestors. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you. And [as for] you, do not {make a covenant} with the inhabitants of this land; break down their altars.' But you did not listen to my voice. {Why would you do such a thing}? Now I say, I will not drive them out from before you; they will {become as thorns} for you, and their gods will be a trap for you."

And again the {Israelites} did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. So Yahweh strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. He gathered to himself the {Ammonites and Amalekites}, and he went and defeated Israel, and they took possession of the city of palms. And the {Israelites} served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.

" 'But if you do not listen to me and you do not carry out all these commands, and if you reject my statutes and if your inner self abhors my regulations, to not carry out all my commands [by] your breaking my covenant, I {in turn} will do this to you: then I will summon onto you horror, the wasting disease, and the fever that wastes eyes and that drains away life; and you shall sow your seed {in vain}, and your enemies shall eat it.read more.
And I will set my face against you, and you shall be defeated {before} your enemies; and your haters shall rule over you, and you shall flee away, but there shall not be {anybody who is pursuing} you.

"{And then} if you do not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God {by diligently observing} all of his commandments and his statutes that I [am] commanding you {today}, then all of these curses shall come upon you, and they shall overtake you:

The {Israelites} did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. They forgot Yahweh their God, and they served the Baals and the Asheroth. And {the anger of Yahweh was kindled} against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of Aram Naharaim; and the {Israelites} served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years.

The {Israelites} did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and Yahweh gave them into the hand of the Midianites for seven years. The hand of the Midianites prevailed over Israel; because of the presence of the Midianites, the {Israelites} made for themselves hiding places that [were] in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. And whenever Israel sowed seed, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people of [the] east would come up against them.

And when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and when he was strengthened, he forsook the law of Yahweh, and all Israel with him. And it happened [that] in the fifth year of King Rehoboam (for they had acted unfaithfully against Yahweh), Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem with one thousand two hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen. And there was no number to the people who came up with him from Egypt--Libyans, Sukkites, and Cushites.read more.
And he took the fortified cities that belonged to Judah, and he came up to Jerusalem.

And it happened at the turn of the year [that] the army of Aram went up against him, and they came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the commanders of the people from among the people, and all the war booty they sent to the king of Damascus. Though the army of Aram came with few men, Yahweh gave a very large army into their hand, for they had forsaken Yahweh, the God of their ancestors. And they inflicted punishment on Joash.

And they rose up early in the morning and went out to the desert of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in Yahweh your God, and you shall be established! Believe in his prophets, and you shall succeed!"

"And it will happen [that] if you indeed listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, {to diligently observe} all his commandments that I [am] commanding you {today}, then Yahweh your God will set you above all the nations of the earth.

[Now] when [the] Philistines heard that the {Israelites} had gathered at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the {Israelites} heard [of it], {they were afraid of the Philistines}. Then the {Israelites} said to Samuel, "{You must not cease} from crying out to Yahweh our God, so that he will deliver us from the hand of [the] Philistines." So Samuel took a single {nursing lamb} and sacrificed [it] as a whole burnt offering to Yahweh. Then Samuel cried out to Yahweh on behalf of Israel, and Yahweh answered him.read more.
{While} Samuel [was] sacrificing the burnt offering, [the] Philistines drew near for the battle against Israel. But Yahweh thundered against [the] Philistines with a great noise on that day and threw them into confusion so that they were defeated before Israel. Then the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued [the] Philistines and they struck them down as far as below Beth Car. So Samuel took a single stone and put [it] between Mizpah and Shen, and he named it Ebenezer and said, "Up to here Yahweh has helped us." So the Philistines were subdued and they did not come into the territory of Israel again, and the hand of Yahweh was against [the] Philistines all the days of Samuel. The towns which [the] Philistines had taken from Israel [were] returned to Israel from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territories from the hand of [the] Philistines. Then there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

Now Nahash the Ammonite went up and encamped against Jabesh Gilead. All the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, "{Make a treaty with us} and we will serve you." But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, "On this [condition] {I will make a treaty} with you, by gouging out the right eye of each of you, so that I can make it a disgrace for all Israel." So the elders of Jabesh said to him, "Leave us alone for seven days so that we may send messengers in all the territory of Israel, and if there [is] no deliverer for us, then we will come out to you."read more.
When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, {they reported these things to} the people. Then all the people lifted up their voices and wept. {Just then}, Saul was coming from the field behind the cattle. Saul said, "What [is the matter] with the people, that they [are] weeping?" So they recounted to him the words of the men of Jabesh. Then the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and {he became very angry}. So he took a yoke of oxen and cut them into pieces and sent [them] throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, "Whoever [is] not going out after Saul and after Samuel, so will it be done to his oxen." Then the fear of Yahweh fell on the people and they went out as one man. He mustered them at Bezek; the {Israelites} [were] three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah [were] thirty thousand. They said to the messengers who had come, "Thus you will say to the men of Jabesh Gilead: 'Tomorrow deliverance for you will come {when the sun is hot}.'" When the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh, they rejoiced. The men of Jabesh said, "Tomorrow we will come out to you and you may do to us {whatever seems good to you}." {And the} next day Saul placed the people [in] three divisions. Then they came into the middle of the camp {at the early morning watch} and struck down {the Ammonites} until the heat of the day. It happened that the remainder were scattered {so that no two among them remained together}.

And he said, "Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat, thus says Yahweh to you: 'Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed before this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they are coming up the ascent of Ziz. And you will find them at the end of the valley facing the desert of Jeruel. [There will be] no [need] for you to fight in this [battle]. Take your stand! Stand and see the deliverance of Yahweh among you, O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out before them and Yahweh [will be] with you.'"read more.
Then Jehoshaphat bowed his face down to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before Yahweh to worship Yahweh. Then the Levites, from the {Kohathites} and from the {Korahites} stood up to praise Yahweh the God of Israel with an exceedingly loud voice. And they rose up early in the morning and went out to the desert of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, O Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in Yahweh your God, and you shall be established! Believe in his prophets, and you shall succeed!" And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed singers to Yahweh [who were] giving praise to the splendor of [his] holiness when they went out before the army. And they said, "Give thanks to Yahweh, for his loyal love [is] everlasting!" And {when} they began with singing and praise, Yahweh set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who were coming against Judah. And they were defeated when the people of Ammon and Moab rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to destroy and demolish [them]. And when the inhabitants of Seir had made an end of them, each helped to destroy his comrade. And Judah came against the watchtower of the wilderness. And they looked at the crowd, and behold, corpses were lying on the ground. There was none [who had] escaped.

The battle [was] prolonged between the house of Saul and the house of David, but David {[was] growing stronger and stronger} while the house of Saul {[was] becoming weaker and weaker}.

When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all of the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and eighty thousand {choice troops} to fight with the house of Israel, to restore the kingship to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

But Abner the son of Ner, the commander of Saul's army, had taken Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over [to] Mahanaim. He made him king over Gilead, over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over Israel, all of it. Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul [was] forty years old when he became king over Israel and he reigned two years; however, the house of Judah {followed} David.read more.
The number of days that David was king over Hebron, over the house of Judah, [was] seven years and six months. Abner the son of Ner and the servants of Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon. Then Joab the son of Zeruiah and the servants of David went out, and they met at the pool of Gibeon. The one group sat on one side of the pool, and the other sat on the other side. Abner said to Joab, "Let the young men come up and fight in our presence." And Joab said, "Let them come up." So they came forward and passed by in number: twelve for Benjamin and for Ish-Bosheth the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David. Then each seized his {opponent} by the head and [each thrust] his sword in the side of his opponent, so they fell together. So they called the name of that place Helkath Hazzurim, which [is] in Gibeon. Then the battle {became increasingly fierce} on that day, and Abner and the men of Israel [were] defeated before the servants of David.

Then David said to all his servants who [were] with him in Jerusalem, "Get up and let us flee, for there will be no escape for us from Absalom! Hurry to go, otherwise he will come quickly and overtake us! And he will bring disaster on us and evil! He will attack the city with the edge of the sword!"

There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. The remainder of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah? There was also war between Abijam and Jeroboam.

The remainder of the acts of Joash and all that he did, his powerful [deeds], and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, [are] they not written in the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?

So Jehoash the king of Israel sent to Amaziah, saying, "The thornbush which is in Lebanon sent to the cedar which is in Lebanon, saying, 'Give your daughter to my son as wife,' but an animal of the field which [is] in Lebanon passed by and trampled the thornbush. You have indeed defeated Edom and your heart is lifted up; enjoy the honor and stay home. Why should you provoke trouble so that you fall and Judah with you?" But Amaziah would not listen, so Jehoash king of Israel went up and they met face-to-face, he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Beth-Shemesh which belongs to Judah.read more.
Judah was defeated before Israel and they fled, each to this tent. Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-Shemesh. Then they came [to] Jerusalem, and he broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim up to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits! He also took all of the gold and silver and all the vessels found [in] the temple of Yahweh and in the treasury rooms of the palace of the king, as well as the {hostages}; then he returned to Samaria. Now the remainder of the acts of Jehoash which he did, and his powerful [deeds], and how he fought with Amaziah king of Judah, [are] they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?

But they transgressed against the God of their ancestors and prostituted themselves after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tiglath-Pilneser, king of Assyria, and he took them [into exile], namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. And he brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, until this day.

So the king of Assyria went up in all the land, then he went up [to] Samaria and besieged it [for] three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported Israel to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, in Habor, [in] the river [regions] of Gozan, and [in] the cities of the Medes. Now [this] happened because the {Israelites} had sinned against Yahweh their God when he brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh the king of Egypt and they feared other gods.read more.
They walked in the statutes of the nations whom Yahweh had driven out from before the {Israelites}, which the kings of Israel had introduced.

But they were mocking the messengers of God and despising his words and scoffing at his prophets until the wrath of Yahweh rose against his people until there was no remedy. Therefore he brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, and he killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary. He showed no mercy on a young man, a virgin, [the] elderly, or decrepit. He delivered all into his hand.

It happened that in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came, he and his army, against Jerusalem. He encamped against it and built siege works against it all around.

{And then} in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth [day] of the month, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came against Jerusalem, he and all his army. And they laid siege to it, and built siege works against it all around. So the city came {under siege} until [the] eleventh year of King Zedekiah.

In the fifth month, on the seventh of the month, that is, the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan, a commander of the imperial guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came [to] Jerusalem. He burned the temple of Yahweh, the palace of the king, and all of the houses of Jerusalem; every large house he burned with fire. He and all the army of [the] Chaldeans who [were with] the imperial guard tore down the wall of Jerusalem all around.read more.
The remainder of the people left in the city, the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the remainder of the multitude, Nebuzaradan the commander of the imperial guard deported.

Now in the fifth month, on the tenth [day] of the month, which [was the] nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan [the] captain of [the] guard, who stood {before} the king of Babylon, entered into Jerusalem. And he burned the {temple} of Yahweh, and the palace of the king, and all the houses of Jerusalem, even every great house he burned with fire. And all the army of [the] Chaldeans who [were] with [the] captain of [the] guard broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around.read more.
And Nebuzaradan [the] captain of [the] guard deported [some] of the poor of the people, and the rest of the people who were left in the city, and the deserters who deserted to the king of Babylon, along with the rest of the craftsmen.

Then the king of Babylon struck them down and killed them at Riblah in the land of Hamath; thus Judah was removed from its land.

And the king of Babylon struck them down and killed them at Riblah in the land of Hamath. So Judah left from its land.

And the word of Yahweh came to me a second [time], {saying}, "What [are] you seeing?" And I said, "I [am] seeing a {boiling} pot, and its face [is] from [the] face of [the] north." Then Yahweh said to me, "From [the] north disaster will be unleashed on all the inhabitants of the land. For, look, I [am] calling to all [the] clans of [the] kingdoms of [the] north," {declares} Yahweh, "and they will come and set each one his throne [at] the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its surrounding walls, and against all the cities of Judah.read more.
And I will pass my judgments on them because of all their wickedness [in] that they have forsaken me, and they made sacrifices to other gods, and they bowed in worship to the works of their hands.