40 Bible Verses about Afflictions Of The Wicked

I will harden (make stubborn, defiant) Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will be glorified and honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians shall know [without any doubt] and acknowledge that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

With pestilence and with bloodshed I will enter into judgment with Gog; and I will rain on him torrents of rain with [great] hailstones, fire and brimstone on his hordes and on the many nations that are with him. Thus I shall magnify Myself and demonstrate My greatness and sanctify Myself, and I will be recognized and will make Myself known in the sight of many nations; they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.”’

The Lord laughs at him [the wicked one—the one who oppresses the righteous],
For He sees that his day [of defeat] is coming.

I also will laugh at your disaster;
I will mock when your dread and panic come,

When your dread and panic come like a storm,
And your disaster comes like a whirlwind,
When anxiety and distress come upon you [as retribution].

Then My anger will be kindled and burn against them in that day, and I will abandon (turn away from) them and hide My face from them. They will be devoured, and many evils and troubles will come on them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have come on us?’

“Though evil and wickedness are sweet in his mouth
And he hides it under his tongue,

Though he desires it and will not let it go
But holds it in his mouth,

Yet his food turns [to poison] in his stomach;
It is the venom of vipers within him.
read more.

“He swallows [his ill-gotten] riches,
But will vomit them up;
God will drive them out of his belly.

“He sucks the poison of vipers [which ill-gotten wealth contains];
The viper’s tongue slays him.

“He does not look at the rivers,
The flowing streams of honey and butter [to enjoy his wealth].

“He gives back what he has labored for and attained
And cannot swallow it [down to enjoy it];
As to the riches of his labor,
He cannot even enjoy them.

Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
But he who trusts in and relies on the Lord shall be surrounded with compassion and lovingkindness.

“The wicked man writhes with pain all his days,
And numbered are the years stored up for him, the ruthless one.

In little more than a year
You will tremble [with anxiety], you unsuspecting and complacent women;
For the vintage has ended,
And the harvest will not come.

How they are destroyed in a moment!
They are completely swept away by sudden terrors!

Therefore [the crushing weight of] his disaster will come suddenly upon him;
Instantly he will be broken, and there will be no healing or remedy [because he has no heart for God].

Therefore this wickedness [this sin, this injustice, this wrongdoing] will be to you
Like a crack [in a wall] about to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant,

standing a long way off, in fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, the strong city, Babylon! In a single hour your judgment has come.’

“How often [then] is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out,
And that their disaster falls on them?
Does God distribute pain and destruction and sorrow [to them] in His anger?

Fools, because of their rebellious way,
And because of their sins, were afflicted.

‘Why do you cry out over your injury [since it is the natural result of your sin]?
Your pain is incurable (deadly).
Because your guilt is great
And your sins are glaring and innumerable,
I have done these things to you.

But God will shoot them with an [unexpected] arrow;
Suddenly they will be wounded.

So they will be caused to stumble;
Their own tongue is against them;
All who gaze at them will shake the head [in scorn].

Then all men will fear [God’s judgment];
They will declare the work of God,
And they will consider and wisely acknowledge what He has done.

“I [the Lord] have cut off and destroyed nations [as a warning to Judah];
Their corner towers (battlements) are in ruins.
I have made their streets desolate
So that no one passes by;
Their cities are destroyed
So that there is no man, there is no inhabitant.

“I said, ‘Most certainly you will [reverently] fear Me;
Accept correction.’
So Jerusalem’s dwelling will not be cut off
In accordance with all that I have appointed concerning her [punishment],
But they were eager [even rising early] to make all their deeds corrupt.

Nevertheless, God was not well-pleased with most of them, for they were scattered along the ground in the wilderness [because their lack of self-control led to disobedience which led to death]. Now these things [the warnings and admonitions] took place as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did. Do not be worshipers of handmade gods, as some of them were; just as it is written [in Scripture], “The people sat down to eat and drink [after sacrificing to the golden calf at Horeb], and stood up to play [indulging in immoral activities].” read more.
We must not indulge in [nor tolerate] sexual immorality, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand [suddenly] fell [dead] in a single day! We must not tempt the Lord [that is, test His patience, question His purpose or exploit His goodness], as some of them did—and they were killed by serpents. And do not murmur [in unwarranted discontent], as some of them did—and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example and warning [to us]; they were written for our instruction [to admonish and equip us], upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter;

But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the Lord God.”

Yet the people do not turn back [in repentance] to Him who struck them,
Nor do they seek the Lord of hosts [as their most essential need].

“In vain I have punished your people [with the consequences of their disobedience];
They received no insight from correction [and refused to change].
Your [own] sword has devoured your prophets
Like a destroying lion.

I struck you and the work of your hands with scorching wind, mildew, and hail; yet you did not come back to Me,’ declares the Lord.

The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who have persecuted you.

God will hear and humble them,
Even He who sits enthroned from old— Selah.
Because in them there has been no change [of heart],
And they do not fear God [at all].

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.

For after all it is only just for God to repay with distress those who distress you,

They would not accept my counsel,
And they spurned all my rebuke.

“Therefore they shall eat of the fruit of their own [wicked] way
And be satiated with [the penalty of] their own devices.

“In your filthiness are lewdness and outrage.
Therefore I would have cleansed you,
Yet you were not [willing to be] cleansed,
You will not be cleansed from your filthiness again
Until I have satisfied My wrath against you.

“I also gave you cleanness of teeth [because of the famine] in all your cities
And lack of bread in all your places,
Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.

“Furthermore, I withheld the rain from you
When there were still three months until the harvest.
Then I would send rain on one city,
And on another city I would not send rain;
One piece of ground was rained on,
While the part not rained on would dry up.

“So [the people of] two or three cities would stagger into one city to drink water,
But would not be satisfied;
Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.
read more.

“I wounded you with blight [from the hot, blasting east wind] and with mildew;
And the caterpillar devoured
Your many gardens and vineyards, your fig trees and your olive trees;
Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.

“I sent a plague among you like [those of] Egypt;
I killed your young men with the sword and I captured your horses,
I made the stench of your camp rise up into your nostrils;
Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.

“I overthrew and destroyed [some among] you, as [I, your] God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,
And you were [rescued] like a log pulled out of the flame;
Yet you have not returned to Me [in repentance],” says the Lord.

“Therefore this is what I shall do to you, O Israel;
Because I will do this to you,
Prepare to meet your God [in judgment], O Israel!”

But they refused to listen and pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder [stiffening themselves in resistance] and stopped up their ears. They made their hearts [hard] like flint, so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.

I gave her time to repent [to change her inner self and her sinful way of thinking], but she has no desire to repent of her immorality and refuses to do so. Listen carefully, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her [I will bring] into great anguish, unless they repent of her deeds.

Now when Ahab heard these words [of Elijah], he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly (mourning).

“But as soon as they had rest, they again did evil before You;
Therefore You abandoned them into the hand of their enemies, so that they ruled over them.
Yet when they turned and cried out again to You, You heard them from heaven,
And You rescued them many times in accordance with Your compassion,

And You admonished them and warned them to turn them back to Your law.
Yet they acted presumptuously and arrogantly and did not heed Your commandments, but sinned against Your ordinances,
Which by keeping, a man will live.
But they turned a stubborn shoulder, stiffened their neck, and would not listen.

O Lord, do not Your eyes look for truth?
You [have seen their faithless heart and] have stricken them,
But they did not weaken;
You have consumed them,
But they refused to take correction or instruction.
They have made their faces harder than rock;
They have refused to repent and return to You.

“Distress and anxiety terrify him,
They overpower him like a king ready for battle.

“Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai [in Ammon] has been destroyed!
Cry out, O daughters of Rabbah!
Wrap yourselves with sackcloth and lament (cry out in grief),
And rush back and forth inside the enclosures;
For Malcam [your powerless god] will go into exile
Together with his priests and his princes.

Do not be afraid of sudden fear
Nor of the storm of the wicked when it comes [since you will be blameless];

For the Lord will be your confidence, firm and strong,
And will keep your foot from being caught [in a trap].