'Cruel' in the Bible

For man certainly does not know his time: like fish caught in a cruel net or like birds caught in a trap, so people are trapped in an evil time as it suddenly falls on them.

Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.

Take pleasure in well-doing; let your ways be upright, keep down the cruel, give a right decision for the child who has no father, see to the cause of the widow.

For by your hand the yoke on his neck and the rod on his back, even the rod of his cruel master, have been broken, as in the day of Midian.

Cursed are those who make evil decisions, and the writers who make the records of their cruel acts:

But he will do right in the cause of the poor, and give wise decisions for those in the land who are in need; and the rod of his mouth will come down on the cruel, and with the breath of his lips he will put an end to the evil-doer.

Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

And I will send punishment on the world for its evil, and on the sinners for their wrongdoing; and I will put an end to all pride, and will make low the power of the cruel.

In their hands are bows and spears; they are cruel, violently putting the young men to death, and crushing the young women; they have no pity for children, and no mercy for the fruit of the body.

At the time, when the LORD gives you rest from your suffering, turmoil, and the cruel bondage which they forced you to serve,

That you will take up this bitter song against the king of Babylon, and say, How has the cruel overseer come to an end! He who was lifted up in pride is cut off;

Let those who have been forced out of Moab have a resting-place with you; be a cover to them from him who is making waste their land: till the cruel ones are cut off, and wasting has come to an end, and those who take pleasure in crushing the poor are gone from the land.

And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.

And it will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of armies in the land of Egypt: when they are crying out to the Lord because of their cruel masters, then he will send them a saviour and a strong one to make them free.

For this cause will the strong people give glory to you, the town of the cruel ones will be in fear of you.

For you have been a strong place for the poor and the crushed in their trouble, a safe place from the storm, a shade from the heat, when the wrath of the cruel ones is like a winter storm.

As heat by the shade of a cloud, the noise of the men of pride has been made quiet by you; as heat by the shade of a cloud, the song of the cruel ones has been stopped.

On that day, Yahweh will punish with his cruel, great and strong sword Leviathan, [the] fleeing serpent, and Leviathan, [the] twisting serpent, and he will kill the sea monster that [is] in the sea.

See, the Lord has a strong and cruel one; like a rain of ice, a storm of destruction, like the overflowing of a strong river, he will violently overcome them.

And the army of your attackers will be like small dust, and all the cruel ones like dry stems gone before the wind; suddenly it will come about.

For the cruel one has come to nothing; and those who make sport of the Lord are gone; and those who are watching to do evil are cut off:

Never again will you see the cruel people, a people whose tongue has no sense for you; whose language is strange to you.

No lion will be there, or any cruel beast; they will not be seen there; but those for whom the Lord has given a price,

I was angry with my people, I put shame on my heritage, and gave them into your hands: you had no mercy on them; you put a cruel yoke on those who were old;

Will the goods of war be taken from the strong man, or the prisoners of the cruel one be let go?

But the Lord says, Even the prisoners of the strong will be taken from him, and the cruel made to let go his goods: for I will take up your cause against your haters, and I will keep your children safe.

And you have given no thought to the Lord your Maker, by whom the heavens were stretched out, and the earth placed on its base; and you went all day in fear of the wrath of the cruel one, when he was making ready for your destruction. And where is the wrath of the cruel one?

And I will put it into the hand of your cruel masters, and of those whose yoke has been hard on you; who have said to your soul, Down on your face! so that we may go over you: and you have given your backs like the earth, even like the street, for them to go over.

For the Lord God says, My people went down at first into Egypt, to get a place for themselves there: and the Assyrian put a cruel yoke on them without cause.

Men were cruel to him, but he was gentle and quiet; as a lamb taken to its death, and as a sheep before those who take her wool makes no sound, so he said not a word.

Yes, faith is gone; and he whose heart is turned from evil comes into the power of the cruel: and the Lord saw it, and he was angry that there was no one to take up their cause.

And the sons of those who were cruel to you will come before you with bent heads; and those who made sport of you will go down on their faces at your feet; and you will be named, The Town of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

For this is what the Lord of armies has said: Let trees be cut down and an earthwork be placed against Jerusalem: sorrow on the false town! inside her there is nothing but cruel ways.

As the spring keeps its waters cold, so she keeps her evil in her: the sound of cruel and violent behaviour is in her; before me at all times are disease and wounds.

They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they are cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.

If you are not cruel to the man from a strange country, and to the child without a father, and to the widow, and do not put the upright to death in this place, or go after other gods, causing damage to yourselves:

Sorrow is mine for I am wounded! my wound may not be made well; and I said, Cruel is my disease, I may not be free from it.

My heritage is like a brightly coloured bird to me; the cruel birds are attacking her on every side: go, get together all the beasts of the field, make them come for destruction.

I will keep you safe from the hands of the evil-doers, and I will give you salvation from the hands of the cruel ones.

I will make them take the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters for food, they will be making a meal of one another, because of their bitter need and the cruel grip of their haters and those who have made designs against their life.

O family of David, this is what the Lord has said: Do what is right in the morning, and make free from the hands of the cruel one him whose goods have been violently taken away, or my wrath will go out like fire, burning so that no one may put it out, because of the evil of your doings.

This is what the Lord has said: Do what is right, judging uprightly, and make free from the hands of the cruel one him whose goods have been violently taken away: do no wrong and be not violent to the man from a strange country and the child without a father and the widow, and let not those who have done no wrong be put to death in this place.

But your eyes and your heart are fixed only on profit for yourself, on causing the death of him who has done no wrong, and on violent and cruel acts.

The lion has come out of his secret place, for the land has become a waste because of the cruel sword, and because of the heat of his wrath.

All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased.

And their children will be as they were in the old days, and the meeting of the people will have its place before me, and I will send punishment on all who are cruel to them.

... are stopped in their going, they are falling; and they say one to another, Let us get up and go back to our people, to the land of our birth, away from the cruel sword.

Let the planter of seed be cut off from Babylon, and everyone using the curved blade at the time of the grain-cutting: for fear of the cruel sword, everyone will be turned to his people, everyone will go in flight to his land.

They shall hold the bow and the lance: they are cruel, and will not shew mercy: their voice shall roar like the sea, and they shall ride upon horses, every one put in array, like a man to the battle, against thee, O daughter of Babylon.

Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.

As for his father, because he was cruel, took goods by force, and did what is not good among his people, truly, death will overtake him in his evil-doing.

In you they have had no respect for father and mother; in you they have been cruel to the man from a strange land; in you they have done wrong to the child without a father and to the widow.

And a sword will come on Egypt, and cruel pain will be in Ethiopia, when they are falling by the sword in Egypt; and they will take away her wealth and her bases will be broken down.

On the mountains of Israel you will come down, you and all your forces and the peoples who are with you: I will give you to cruel birds of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be their food.

And this will be his heritage in Israel: and my rulers will no longer be cruel masters to my people; but they will give the land as a heritage to the children of Israel by their tribes.

He made answer and said to Arioch, O captain of the king, why is the king's order so cruel? Then Arioch gave Daniel an account of the business.

So I will be like a lion to them; as a cruel beast I will keep watch by the road;

Give out the news in the great houses of Assyria and in the land of Egypt, and say, Come together on the mountains of Samaria, and see what great outcries are there, and what cruel acts are done in it.

Because you were the cause of violent death and because of your cruel behaviour to your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame and will be cut off for ever.

They have a desire for fields and take them by force; and for houses and take them away: they are cruel to a man and his family, even to a man and his heritage.

For its men of wealth are cruel, and its people have said what is not true, and their tongue is false in their mouth.

Watch out! For I am bringing in the Chaldeans, that cruel and impetuous people, who sweep across the earth dispossessing people from homes not their own.

And their horses are quicker than leopards and their horsemen more cruel than evening wolves; they come from far away, like an eagle in flight rushing on its food.

A curse on the cruel and false one! the man full of pride, who never has enough; who makes his desires wide as the underworld! he is like death; he is never full, but he makes all nations come to him, getting all peoples together to himself.

Sorrow to her who is uncontrolled and unclean, the cruel town!

And I will put my forces in position round my house, so that there may be no coming and going: and no cruel master will again go through them: for now I have seen his trouble.

Happy are you when men give you a bad name, and are cruel to you, and say all evil things against you falsely, because of me.

But I say to you, Have love for those who are against you, and make prayer for those who are cruel to you;

Be on the watch for false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inside they are cruel wolves.

But when they are cruel to you in one town, go in flight to another: for truly, I say to you, You will not have gone through the towns of Israel before the Son of man comes.

They say to him, He will put those cruel men to a cruel death, and will let out the vine-garden to other workmen, who will give him the fruit when it is ready.

Then they will be cruel to you, and will put you to death: and you will be hated by all nations because of my name.

And is cruel to the other servants, taking his pleasure with those who are overcome with wine;

Then they put shame on him, and were cruel to him: and some gave him blows, saying,

And crying out with a loud voice he said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God's name, do not be cruel to me.

And they will make sport of him, and put shame on him, and give him cruel blows, and will put him to death; and after three days he will come back from the dead.

And again he sent to them another servant; and they gave him wounds on the head, and were very cruel to him.

Give blessing to those who give you curses, say prayers for those who are cruel to you.

And when he saw Jesus, he gave a loud cry and went down on the earth before him and in a loud voice said, What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Do not be cruel to me.

And Jesus, answering him, said, A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he got into the hands of thieves, who took his clothing and gave him cruel blows, and when they went away, he was half dead.

For this reason the wisdom of God has said, I will send them prophets and teachers, and to some of them they will give death and cruel pains;

And he will be given cruel blows and put to death, and on the third day he will come back to life.

But before all this, they will take you and be very cruel to you, giving you up to the Synagogues and to prisons, taking you before kings and rulers, because of my name.

Meanwhile the men who held Jesus in custody repeatedly beat Him in cruel sport,

Keep in mind the words I said to you, A servant is not greater than his lord. If they were cruel to me, they will be cruel to you; if they kept my words, they will keep yours.

And now, Lord, take note of their cruel words, and give your servants power to be preachers of your word without fear,

And God said that his seed would be living in a strange land, and that they would make them servants, and be cruel to them for four hundred years.

This was the one who exploited our people and was cruel to our ancestors, forcing them to abandon their infants so they would die.

Now, about that time, Herod the king made cruel attacks on the Christians.

I know that, when I am gone, cruel wolves will come among you and will not spare the flock;

until they were filled (permeated, saturated) with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice and mean-spiritedness. They are gossips [spreading rumors],

Who will come between us and the love of Christ? Will trouble, or pain, or cruel acts, or the need of food or of clothing, or danger, or the sword?

Bless those who persecute you [who cause you harm or hardship]; bless and do not curse [them].

For I am the least of the Apostles, having no right to be named an Apostle, because of my cruel attacks on the church of God.

So I take pleasure in being feeble, in unkind words, in needs, in cruel attacks, in troubles, on account of Christ: for when I am feeble, then am I strong.

For news has come to you of my way of life in the past in the Jews' religion, how I was cruel without measure to the church of God, and did great damage to it:

Only it came to their ears that he who at one time was cruel to us is now preaching the faith which before had been attacked by him;

But as in those days he who had birth after the flesh was cruel to him who had birth after the Spirit, even so it is now.

In bitter hate I was cruel to the church; I kept all the righteousness of the law to the last detail.

These things seem to have a sort of wisdom in self-ordered worship and making little of oneself, and being cruel to the body, not honouring it by giving it its natural use.