'Plunder' in the Bible

Then Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them [alive].” They said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” Then the priest said, “Let us approach God here.”

Why did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but [instead] swooped down on the plunder [with shouts of victory] and did evil in the sight of the Lord?”

They attacked and destroyed all the cities around Gerar, for the dread of the Lord had fallen on them. They plundered all the cities, for there was a large amount of spoil in them.

And the sons of Israel led away captive 200,000 of their kinsmen [of Judah]—women, sons, and daughters—and they also took a great quantity of spoil from them and brought it to Samaria.

Let the creditor seize all that he has,And let strangers plunder the product of his labor.

We will find and take all kinds of precious possessions,We will fill our houses with spoil;

So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain;Greed takes away the lives of its possessors.

So as to deprive the needy of justiceAnd rob the poor of My people of rightful claims,So that widows may be their spoilAnd that they may plunder the fatherless.

“Lift up your eyes to the barren heights and see;Where have you not been violated?You sat by the road waiting [eagerly] for them [those man-made gods]Like an Arab [tribesman who waits to attack] in the desert,And you have desecrated the landWith your [vile] prostitution and your wickedness (disobedience to God).

Moreover, I will hand over all the riches of this city, all the result of its labor, all its precious things; even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will hand over to their enemies, and they will plunder them, and take them away and carry them to Babylon.

“Chaldea will become plunder;All who plunder her will be satisfied,” says the Lord.

“Though you are glad, though you rejoice,O you who plunder My heritage,Though you are wanton and skip about like a heifer in the grassAnd neigh like stallions,

I will give it into the hands of strangers (Babylonians) as plunder and to the wicked of the earth as spoil, and they shall profane it.

“And they will be desolateIn the midst of countries that are desolated;And her cities will beAmong cities that are devastated [by plunder and slavery].

They will not take any wood from the field or cut down and gather [any] firewood from the forests, because they will make their fires using the weapons. And they will take the spoil from those who despoiled them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them,” says the Lord God.

In a time of tranquility, [without warning] he will enter the most productive and richest parts of the kingdom [of Egypt], and he will accomplish that which his fathers never did, nor his fathers’ fathers; he will distribute plunder, spoil and goods among them. He will devise plans against strongholds, but only for a time [decreed by God].

They who are wise and have spiritual insight among the people will instruct many and help them understand; yet for many days some [of them and their followers] will fall by the sword and by flame, by captivity and by plunder.

For though he flourishes among the reeds (his fellow tribes),An east wind (Assyria) will come,The breath of the Lord rising from the desert;And Ephraim’s spring will become dryAnd his fountain will be dried up.Assyria will plunder his treasury of every precious object.

Woe (judgment is coming) to the city of blood [guilty of murder and mayhem], completely full of lies and pillage;Her prey never departs [alive].

“Because you [king of Babylon] have looted many nations,All peoples who are left will loot you—Because of human bloodshed and for the violence done to the land,To the city and all its inhabitants.

“Furthermore, their wealth will become plunderAnd their houses a desolation.Yes, they will build houses but not live in them,And plant vineyards but not drink their wine.”

Behold, I will wave my hand over them and they shall become plunder for their own slaves. Then you shall know (recognize, understand fully) that the Lord of hosts has sent Me.

Or how can anyone go into a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first overpowers and ties up the strong man? Then he will ransack and rob his house.

“Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and robbery and self-indulgence (unrestrained greed).

But no one can go into a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first overpowers and ties up the strong man, and then he will ransack and rob his house.

But when someone stronger than he attacks and overpowers him, he robs him of all his armor on which he had relied and divides his [goods as] spoil.