56 Bible Verses about Woe

"How terrible it will be for you, destroyer, you who have not been destroyed yourself! And how terrible it will be for you, traitor, one whom people have not betrayed! When you have sunk so low in destroying others, you will be destroyed; and when you have finished betraying, they will betray you."

To Moab: This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, the God of Israel, says: "How terrible for Nebo, for it's laid waste. Kiriathaim is put to shame, it's captured. The fortress is put to shame, it's shattered. The pride of Moab is no more. In Heshbon they plotted evil against her: "Come and let's eliminate her as a nation.' Madmen will also be silenced, and the sword will pursue you.

Woe to this city, contaminated with shed blood, all full of lies and robberies it is never without victims! The crack of whips and the clamor of wheels! The galloping horses and the bounding chariots! The cavalry attacks the flashing sword and the glittering spear! Many are the slain so many casualties! No end to bodies, and the soldiers trip over the corpses.read more.
Innumerable are the harlotries of this well-favored whore, this mistress of witchcraft, who enslaves nations through her fornication and families through her sorcery. "Look, I am against you," declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, "so I will pull up your dress over your face. I will show your nakedness to the nations, and your disgrace to the kingdoms. I will hurl abominable filth upon you, making you look foolish, and making an example of you. It will be that everyone who looks at you will run away, saying, "Nineveh has been violently overthrown! Who will mourn for her? Where will I find anyone to comfort you?'"

"Will not all of these ridicule him with mocking scorn? They will say, "Woe to the one who hordes for himself what isn't his. How long will you enrich yourself by extortion?' Won't your creditors revolt unexpectedly? Won't those who make you tremble wake up? As a result, you'll become their prey! Because you plundered many nations, all of their remnants will plunder you. Human blood has been shed, and violence has been done to the land, to the city, and to all who live in it."read more.
"Woe to the one who amasses profit upon unjust profit in order to establish his household, so he can establish a secure place on the heights and escape from the power of evil. You have brought shame to yourself by killing many people you are forfeiting your own life. Indeed, the stone will cry out from the wall and the rafter will respond from the woodwork." "Woe to the one who founds a city upon bloodshed, and constructs a city by lawlessness. Is it not because of the LORD of the Heavenly Armies that people grow tired putting out fires, and nations weary themselves over nothing? Indeed, the earth will be filled with knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as water fills the sea." "Woe to the one who supplies his neighbor with a drink! You are forcing your bottle on him, making him drunk so you can see them naked. You are filled with dishonor instead of glory. So go ahead, drink and be naked! The LORD will turn against you, and utter disgrace will debase your reputation. Indeed, the violence done to Lebanon will overtake you, and the destruction of the beasts will terrorize you because you shed human blood and did violence to the land, to the city, and to all who live in it." "Where is the benefit in owning a carved image, that motivates its maker to carve it? It is only a cast image a teacher that lies because the engraver entrusts himself to his carving, crafting speechless idols. "Woe to the one who says to a tree, "Wake up!' or "Arise!' to a speechless stone. Idols like this can't teach, can they? Look, even though it is overlaid with gold and silver, there's no breath in it at all." "The LORD is in his holy Temple. All the earth be quiet in his presence."

Woe to those who live along the coast, the people of Philistia! This message from the LORD is being spoken against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines: "I'll destroy you until no one lives there!'

Woe to them because they have run away from me. Ruin to them because they have sinned against me. Even though I redeemed them, they spread lies against me. They will not cry to me from their heart instead, they wail on their beds. They gather together to eat and drink, turning away from me. "Though I have taught them and strengthened their arms, nevertheless they plot evil against me.read more.
They return but not to the Most High. They are like a defective weapon. Their princes will fall by the sword because of their raging tongue, and they will be a laughingstock in the land of Egypt."

"Oh, you stubborn children," declares the LORD, "who carry out plans but they are not mine, and who make alliances but not by my Spirit, piling sin upon sin. They set out to go down to Egypt, without asking my advice; taking refuge in Pharaoh's protection, and seeking shelter in Egypt's shadow.

"Woe to the one who quarrels with his makers, a mere potsherd with the potsherds of the earth! Woe to the one who says to the one forming him, "What are you making?' or "Your work has no human hands?'! Woe to the one who says to his father, "What are you begetting?' or to a woman, "To what are you giving birth?'!"

Look, he comes up like clouds, and his chariots are like a whirlwind. His horses are as swift as eagles. Woe to us we're destroyed! Jerusalem, wash your evil from your heart so that you may be delivered. How long will you harbor evil schemes within you? For a voice announces from Dan and declares disaster from Mount Ephraim.read more.
"Tell the nations, "Here they come!' Proclaim to Jerusalem, "The besieging forces are coming from a distant land. They cry out against the cities of Judah. They have surrounded her like those guarding a field because they have rebelled against me,'" declares the LORD. "Your lifestyles and your actions have brought these things on you. This is your calamity it is indeed bitter, for it has reached your heart!"

"How terrible! How terrible it will be for all of your wickedness!" declares the Lord GOD. "You built raised mounds and high places for yourself on every plaza. At every street corner you made your beauty abhorrent when you made yourself available for sex to anyone who was passing by. By doing this, you kept on committing more and more immorality. read more.
Then you committed immorality with your neighbors, the Egyptians, with perverted lust, and by doing so you fornicated even more, provoking me to anger. "Therefore, look out! I've reached out to oppose you. I withdrew your rations and delivered you to those Philistine women who hate you. Even they were embarrassed at your wicked ways!

"How terrible for the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!" declares the LORD. Therefore, this is what the LORD God of Israel says about the shepherds who are shepherding my people, "You have scattered my flock and driven them away. You haven't taken care of them, and now I'm about to take care of you because of your evil deeds," declares the LORD.

This message came to me from the LORD: "Son of Man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who even now are prophesying, and tell those prophets that keep on prophesying according to what they wish would happen, "Listen to what the LORD says.'" "This is what the Lord GOD says, "How terrible it will be for the false prophets who walk according to their own wrong inclinations and see nothing. read more.
Israel, your prophets have become like foxes among ruins. You didn't go up to repair the breaches in the walls and you didn't build the walls so Israel's house would be able to endure battle on the Day of the LORD. Instead, they crafted false prophecies and divination. ""They say, ""declares the LORD," even though the LORD didn't send them. And they hope for the fulfillment of their message. You've crafted a false prophesy and spoken deceptive divination, haven't you? But then you say, ""declares the LORD," although I haven't spoken a single word. ""Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says, "Because you've spoken falsehood and deceptions, I am therefore opposing you," declares the Lord GOD. My hand will oppose the prophets who see false visions and speak deceptive divinations. They won't be included with the council of my people, nor will they be entered into the registry of Israel's house or enter Israel's land. Then you'll know that I am the Lord GOD,

A message came from the LORD for me, and it had this to say: "Son of Man, prophesy against Israel's shepherds. Tell those shepherds, "This is what the Lord GOD says: "Woe to you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves and not the sheep. Shouldn't shepherds feed the sheep? You're eating the best parts, clothing yourselves with the wool, and slaughtering the home-grown sheep without having fed the sheep! read more.
You haven't strengthened the weak, treated the sick, set broken bones, regathered the scattered, or looked for the lost. Instead, you've dominated them with brutal force and ruthlessness. "Since they have no shepherd, they have been scattered around and have become prey for all sorts of wild animals. How scattered they are! My sheep have gone wandering on all of the mountains, on all of the hills, and throughout every high place in the whole world, with no one to look for them or go out in search of them. "Therefore listen to what the LORD says, you shepherds: "As certainly as I'm alive and living, my sheep have truly become victims, food for all of the wild animals because there are no shepherds. My shepherds did not go searching for my flock. Instead, the shepherds fed themselves, and my flock they would not feed!' "Therefore, you shepherds, listen to what the LORD says: "This is what the Lord GOD says: "Watch out, I'm coming after you shepherds! I'm going to demand my sheep back from them and fire them as shepherds. The shepherds won't be shepherds anymore when I snatch my flock right out of their mouths so they can't be eaten by them anymore."'"

Woe to this filthy, polluted, and oppressive city! It won't obey anyone. It won't accept discipline. It does not trust in the LORD. It does not approach God. Its national officials are roaring lions; its judges are like wolves of the night that don't leave the bones for the morning.read more.
Its prophets are arrogant and treacherous. Its priests have contaminated the sanctuary. They give perverse interpretations of the Law.

The LORD told me, "Pick up the tools of a worthless shepherd again, for I am now raising up a shepherd in the land who will neither search for the lost, nor care for the young, nor fix the broken, nor sustain the healthy. Instead, he will devour the meat of the best of the sheep, tearing off their hoofs." "Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye. May his arm wither and his right eye be completely blind."

"Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, to those who rest on the mountain of Samaria the famous men of the nations to whom the house of Israel came! Cross over to Calneh and look around, then go on to that great city of Hamath, and from there go down to Gath of the Philistines. Are you better than these kingdoms? Or is their territory more extensive than yours? "Disbelieving that a day of evil will come, embracing opportunities to commit violence,read more.
lying on ivory beds, stretching out on your couches, eating lambs from the flock, and fattened calves from the stall, chanting to the sound of stringed instruments as if they were David, composing songs to themselves as if they were musicians, drinking wine from bowls, anointing themselves with the choicest of oils, but not grieving on the occasion of Joseph's ruin therefore you will be the first to go into exile, and the celebrations of those who are lounging will end."

"Woe to those who are craving the Day of the LORD! How is it to your benefit, this Day of the LORD? It's a day of darkness to you, and not light. It will be like a man who runs from a lion, only to encounter a bear; or who comes home, leans his hand against a wall, and a serpent bites him! Will not the Day of the LORD be darkness, and not light pitch black at that, without a ray of sunshine?"read more.
"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. "But let justice roll on like many waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing river.

"How terrible it will be for the one who enacts unjust decrees, for those who write oppressive laws that they have prescribed to deprive the needy of justice and to rob the poor of my people of their rights, so that widows may become their spoil and so that they may plunder orphans! What will you do on the day of Judgment, in the calamity that will come from far away? To whom will you run for help, and where will you leave your wealth,read more.
so you won't have to crouch among those in chains or fall among the slain? "Yet for all this, his anger has not turned away, and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike."

"How terrible it will be for you who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room, and you have settled yourselves alone in the middle of the land!" The LORD of the Heavenly Armies has declared this so I could hear it: "Surely many houses will become desolate, great and beautiful houses, without occupants. For ten acres of vineyard will produce only one bath, and one omer of seed will produce only one ephah."read more.
"How terrible it will be for those who rise at dawn in order to grab a stiff drink, for those who stay up late at night as wine inflames them! They have the lyre and harp, the tambourine and flute, as well as wine at their festivals, but they don't respect what the LORD is doing, nor do they consider his actions. Therefore my people go into exile because they lack understanding; my honored men go hungry, and the crowd is parched with thirst. Therefore Sheol's appetite has grown; it has opened its mouth beyond limit. Jerusalem's nobility and her multitudes will go there, along with her brawlers and whoever is reveling within her. Humanity is brought low, and each one is humbled, while the eyes of the self-exalting are brought low. But the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is exalted in justice, and the Holy God proves himself to be righteously holy. Then the lambs will graze in their pasture; fatlings and foreigners will eat among the waste places of the rich." "How terrible it will be for those who parade iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin along as with a cart rope; who say: "Let God be quick, let him speed up his work so we may see it! Let it happen! let the plan of the Holy One of Israel draw near, so we may recognize it!'" "How terrible it will be for those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute what is bitter for what is sweet and what is sweet for what is bitter!" "How terrible it will be for those who are wise in their own opinion, and clever in their own reckoning! "How terrible it will be for those who are heroes at drinking wine, and champions in mixing strong drink, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of justice!"

"How terrible for him who builds his house without righteousness, and its upper rooms without justice, who makes his neighbor work for nothing, and does not pay him his wage. How terrible for him who says, "I'll build a large house for myself with spacious upper rooms, who cuts out windows for it, paneling it with cedar and painting it red.' Are you a king because you try to outdo everyone with cedar? Your father ate and drank and upheld justice and righteousness, did he not? And then it went well for him.read more.
He judged the case of the poor and needy. And then it went well for him. Isn't this what it means to know me? But your eyes and heart are on nothing but your dishonest gain, shedding the blood of innocent people, and practicing oppression and extortion." Therefore, this is what the LORD says about Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah, "They won't lament for him with these words: "How terrible, my brother, How terrible, my sister!' They won't lament for him with these words: "How terrible, lord, How terrible, your majesty!' He will receive a donkey's burial, dragged out and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem."

"Woe to those who are crafting iniquity, planning evil well into the night! When morning's light comes, they carry out their plans because they have the power to do so. They covet fields and seize them; they covet houses, and grab them, too. They harass the valiant man, along with his household, an individual and his estate. "Therefore this is what the LORD says, "I'm crafting evil against this family, from which you can't escape. You won't strut around arrogantly, because the times are evil.'

Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying overhead say in a loud voice, "How terrible, how terrible, how terrible for those living on the earth, because of the blasts of the remaining trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!"

So be glad, heavens, and those who live in them! How terrible it is for the earth and the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, filled with rage, knowing that his time is short!"

Frightened by the torture that she experiences, they will stand far away and cry out, "How terrible, how terrible it is for that great city, the powerful city Babylon, because your judgment arrived in a single hour!"

Woe is me because of my injury. My wound is severe. I said, "Truly this is my sickness, and I must bear it.

When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they asked, "What is this noise coming from shouting in the camp of the Hebrews?" Then they realized that the Ark of the LORD had come into the camp, and the Philistines were terrified. "God has come into the camp," they said. "How terrible for us, because nothing like this has ever happened before! How terrible for us! Who will deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the desert.

How terrible for me, that I am an alien in Meshech, that I reside among the tents of Kedar! I have resided too long with those who hate peace. I am in favor of peace; but when I speak, they are in favor of war. A Song of Ascents

Look, he comes up like clouds, and his chariots are like a whirlwind. His horses are as swift as eagles. Woe to us we're destroyed!

The crown has fallen from our head woe to us, because we have sinned!

"For Jerusalem has stumbled, and Judah has fallen, because what they say and do opposes the LORD; they keep defying him. "The expressions on their faces give them away. They parade their sin around like Sodom; they don't even try to hide it. How horrible it will be for them, because they have brought disaster on themselves!"

"How terrible it will be for me!" I cried, "because I am ruined! I'm a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips! And my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies!"

For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about, for this obligation has been entrusted to me. How terrible it would be for me if I didn't preach the gospel!

This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet spoke to Neriah's son Baruch, when in the fourth year of the reign of Josiah's son King Jehoiakim of Judah had, at Jeremiah's dictation, written these words in a scroll: "This is what the LORD God of Israel says to you, Baruch: "You have said, "How terrible for me, for the LORD has added sorrow to my pain. I'm weary with my groaning, and I haven't found rest."' read more.
Say this to him: "This is what the LORD says: "Look! What I've built I'm about to tear down, and what I've planted I'm about to pull up and this will involve the entire land." Are you seeking great things for yourself? Don't seek them. Indeed, I'm about to bring disaster on all flesh,' declares the LORD, "but your life will be spared wherever you go.'"

"But how terrible it will be for you who are rich, because you have had your comfort! How terrible it will be for you who are full now, because you will be hungry! How terrible it will be for you who are laughing now, because you will mourn and cry! "How terrible it will be for you when everyone says nice things about you, because that's the way their ancestors used to treat the false prophets!"

How terrible it will be for you experts in the Law! You have taken away the key to knowledge. You didn't go in yourselves, and you kept out those who were trying to go in."

"How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door to the kingdom from heaven in people's faces. You don't go in yourselves, and you don't allow those who are trying to enter to go in. "How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You devour widows' houses and say long prayers to cover it up. Therefore, you will receive greater condemnation! "How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make a single convert, and when this happens you make him twice as fit for hell as you are.read more.
"How terrible it will be for you, blind guides! You say, "Whoever swears an oath by the sanctuary is excused, but whoever swears an oath by the gold of the sanctuary must keep his oath.' You blind fools! What is more important, the gold or the sanctuary that made the gold holy? Again you say, "Whoever swears an oath by the altar is excused, but whoever swears by the gift that is on it must keep his oath.' You blind men! Which is more important, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy? Therefore, the one who swears an oath by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. The one who swears an oath by the sanctuary swears by it and by the one who lives there. And the one who swears an oath by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it. "How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your mint, dill, and cummin, but have neglected the more important matters of the Law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These are the things you should have practiced, without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You filter out a gnat, yet swallow a camel! "How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but on the inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that its outside may also be clean. "How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead people's bones and every kind of impurity. In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. "How terrible it will be for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous. Then you say, "If we had been living in the days of our ancestors, we would have had no part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' Therefore, you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Then finish what your ancestors started! You snakes, you children of serpents! How can you escape being condemned to hell?

"How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! You give a tenth of your mint, spices, and every kind of herb, but you neglect justice and the love of God. These are the things you should have practiced, without neglecting the others. How terrible it will be for you Pharisees! You love to have the places of honor in the synagogues and to be greeted in the marketplaces. How terrible it will be for you! You are like unmarked graves people walk on them without realizing it."read more.
Then one of the experts in the Law told him, "Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us, too." Jesus said, "How terrible it will be for you experts in the Law, too! You load people with burdens that are hard to carry, yet you don't even lift a finger to ease those burdens. How terrible it will be for you! You build monuments for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them! So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors, because they killed those for whom you are building monuments. That is why the Wisdom of God said, "I will send them prophets and apostles. They will kill some of them and persecute others,' so those living today will be charged with the blood of all the prophets that was shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who died between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation!

How terrible it will be for the world due to its temptations to sin! Temptations to sin are bound to happen, but how terrible it will be for that person who causes someone to sin!

Jesus told his disciples, "It is inevitable that temptations to sin will come, but how terrible it will be for the person through whom they come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. "Watch yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.

"How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible it will be for you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that happened in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. It will be easier for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you!

Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had taken place, because they didn't repent. "How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible it will be for you, Bethsaida! Because if the miracles that happened in you had taken place in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Indeed I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on Judgment Day than for you!

The Son of Man is going away, just as it has been written about him. How terrible it will be for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for him if he had never been born."

For the Son of Man is going away, just as it has been written about him, but how terrible it will be for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for him if he had never been born."

The Son of Man is going away, just as it has been determined, but how terrible it will be for that man by whom he is betrayed!"

"How terrible it will be for women who are pregnant or who are nursing babies in those days! Pray that it may not be in winter or on a Sabbath when you flee, because at that time there will be great suffering, the kind that hasn't happened from the beginning of the world until now and certainly won't ever happen again.

"How terrible it will be for women who are pregnant or who are nursing babies in those days! Pray that it may not be in winter, because those days will be a time of suffering, a kind that has not happened from the beginning of God's creation until now, and certainly will never happen again.

"How terrible it will be for those women who are pregnant or who are nursing babies in those days! because there will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people.

"How terrible it will be for me!" I cried, "because I am ruined! I'm a man with unclean lips, and I live among a people with unclean lips! And my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies!" Then one of the seraphim flew to me, carrying a burning coal in his hand that he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth and said, "Look! Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt is taken away, and your sins atoned for."

"How terrible it will be for you, Aruel, Aruel, the city where David encamped! Year after year, let your festivals run their cycle. Then I'll besiege Aruel, and there will be sorrow and mourning; she will become to me like an altar fireplace. Then I'll encamp against you like David, and I'll lay siege to you with towers, raise siege works against you,read more.
and you will be brought down. You will speak from the ground, and your speech will mumble from the dust. Your voice will come ghostlike from the ground, and your speech will whisper from the dust. "But the hordes of your enemies will become like fine dust, and the hordes of tyrants like flying chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant, you will be visited by the LORD of the Heavenly Armies with thunder, an earthquake, and great noise, with a windstorm, a tempest, and flames from a devouring fire. Then the hordes of all the nations that fight against Aruel, all that attack her and her fortification and besiege her, will become like a dream, with its visions in the night as when a hungry man dreams he eats, but wakes up still hungry; or when a thirsty man dreams he drinks, but wakes up faint, with his thirst unquenched. So will it be with the hordes of all the nations that fight against Mount Zion.

"Comfort! Yes, comfort my people," says your God. "Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her heavy service has been completed, that her penalty has been paid, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins."

"This is what the LORD God of Israel says to you, Baruch: "You have said, "How terrible for me, for the LORD has added sorrow to my pain. I'm weary with my groaning, and I haven't found rest."' Say this to him: "This is what the LORD says: "Look! What I've built I'm about to tear down, and what I've planted I'm about to pull up and this will involve the entire land." read more.
Are you seeking great things for yourself? Don't seek them. Indeed, I'm about to bring disaster on all flesh,' declares the LORD, "but your life will be spared wherever you go.'"

He broke my teeth on gravel, covering me with dust. You have removed peace from my life; I have forgotten what prosperity is. So I say, "My strength is gone as is my hope in the LORD."read more.
Remember my affliction and homelessness wormwood and gall! My mind keeps reflecting on it, and I become depressed. This is what comes to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's gracious love we are not consumed, since his compassions never end. They are new every morning great is your faithfulness! "The LORD is all I have," says my soul, "Therefore I will trust in him." The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the person who searches for him. It is good to hope and wait patiently for the LORD's salvation.