'Woe to You' in the Bible

“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, Moab!You are destroyed, O people of [the god] Chemosh!Moab has given his sons as fugitives [that is, survivors of battle],And his daughters into captivityTo Sihon king of the Amorites.

Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child and when your [incompetent] officials and princes feast in the morning.

Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O destroyer,You who were not destroyed,And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him.As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed;As soon as you stop dealing treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.

“I have seen your vile and detestable acts,Even your adulteries and your lustful neighings [after idols],And the lewdness of your prostitutionOn the hills in the fields.Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O Jerusalem!How long will you remain unclean [by ignoring My precepts]?”

“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O Moab!The people of [the pagan god called] Chemosh have perished;For your sons have been taken away captiveAnd your daughters into captivity.

“Then it came about after all your wickedness (‘Woe, woe to you!’ says the Lord God),

"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!

Woe (judgment is coming) to you who desire the day of the Lord [expecting rescue from the Gentiles]!Why would you want the day of the Lord?It is darkness (judgment) and not light [and rescue and prosperity];

“Woe to you who make your neighbors drink,Who mix in your venom even to make them drunkSo as to look on their nakedness!

“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon [cities of the Gentiles], they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes [their hearts would have been changed and they would have expressed sorrow for their sin and rebellion against God].

'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye shut up the reign of the heavens before men, for ye do not go in, nor those going in do ye suffer to enter.

'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye eat up the houses of the widows, and for a pretence make long prayers, because of this ye shall receive more abundant judgment.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye compass the sea and the dry land to make one proselyte, and when he is become such, ye make him twofold more the son of hell than yourselves.

Woe to you, blind guides, who say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye pay tithes of mint and anise and cummin, and ye have left aside the weightier matters of the law, judgment and mercy and faith: these ye ought to have done and not have left those aside.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but within they are full of rapine and intemperance.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye are like whited sepulchres, which appear beautiful outwardly, but within are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets and adorn the tombs of the just,

But woe to you rich, for ye have received your consolation.

Woe to you that are filled, for ye shall hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for ye shall mourn and weep.

Woe to you when all men shall speak well of you -- for according to these things were their fathers doing to false prophets.

“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented and changed their minds long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes [to show deep regret for sin].

'But woe to you, the Pharisees, because ye tithe the mint, and the rue, and every herb, and ye pass by the judgment, and the love of God; these things it behoveth to do, and those not to be neglecting.

'Woe to you, the Pharisees, because ye love the first seats in the synagogues, and the salutations in the market-places.

'Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because ye are as the unseen tombs, and the men walking above have not known.'

But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well, because you weigh men down with burdens [man-made rules, unreasonable requirements] which are hard to bear, and you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers [to lighten the load].

'Woe to you, because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

'Woe to you, the lawyers, because ye took away the key of the knowledge; yourselves ye did not enter; and those coming in, ye did hinder.'

Therefore rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them [in the presence of God]. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you in great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time [remaining]!”