8 Bible Verses about Ambition, Example Of

And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top [reaches to] the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

They were assembled in front of Moses and Aaron, and they said to them, "{You take too much upon yourselves}! All of the community is holy, every one of them, and Yahweh [is] in their midst, so why do you raise yourselves over the assembly of Yahweh?" When Moses heard [this], he fell on his face. And he said to Korah and to his entire company, saying, "[Tomorrow] morning Yahweh will make known who [is] his and [who] is holy, and he will bring him near to him, whomever he chooses he will bring near to him.read more.
Do this: take for yourselves censers, Korah and all of your company; tomorrow put fire in them and place incense on them {before} Yahweh; the man whom Yahweh chooses [will be] the holy [one]. You take too much upon yourselves, sons of Levi!" And Moses said to Korah, "Please listen, sons of Levi! [Is it] too little for you that the God of Israel set you apart from the community of Israel {to allow you to approach him} to do the work of the tabernacle of Yahweh, to stand {before} the community to serve them? {He has allowed you to approach him}, you with all your brothers, the descendants of Levi, but yet you also seek the priesthood. Therefore you and your company that has banded together against Yahweh. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?" Moses sent to call [for] Dathan and Abiram son of Eliab, but they said, "We will not come! Is it too little that you have brought us from a land that flows with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, and that you also appoint yourself as a ruler over us? Surely, you have not brought us to a land that flows with milk and honey, and you have not given us the inheritance of fields and a vineyard. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? We will not come!" Then Moses became angry, and he said to Yahweh, "Do not notice their grain offering. I have not offered one donkey from them, and I have not mistreated one of them." And Moses said to Korah, "You and your entire company will be {before} Yahweh tomorrow, you and they and Aaron. Each one take his censer, and put incense on it and you will present it {before} Yahweh, and each of you bring his censer, two hundred and fifty censers, you and Aaron, each his censer." So each of them took his censer, and they put fire on them, and they placed incense on them; they stood [at the] doorway of the tent of the assembly of Moses and Aaron. And Korah summoned them, the entire community, by the doorway of the tent of assembly, and the glory of Yahweh appeared to all the community. And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, "Separate yourselves from the midst of this community, that I can destroy them in a moment." And they fell on their faces, and they said, "God, God of the spirits of all flesh, will one man sin and you become angry toward the entire community?" Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the community, saying, 'Move away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'" So Moses stood up and went to Dathan and Abiram; the elders of Israel followed after him. He said to the community, saying, "Please turn away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything {that belongs to them}, or you will be destroyed with all their sins." And so they moved away from around the dwellings of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out standing [at] the doorway of their tents, with their wives, sons, and little children. And Moses said, "In this you will know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works; [it is] not from my heart. {If they die a natural death} or {if a natural fate is visited upon them}, Yahweh has not sent me. But if Yahweh creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up and {all that belongs to them}, and they go down alive [to] Sheol, and you will know that these men have despised Yahweh." And it happened, as soon as he finished {speaking} all these words, the ground that [was] under them split open. The land opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their houses and every person {that belonged to Korah} and all the property. They went down alive [to] Sheol, they and all that belonged to them, and the land covered over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. All Israel who [were] around them fled at their cry, because they said, "Lest the land swallow us up!" And fire went out from Yahweh, and it consumed the two hundred and fifty men presenting the incense.

And Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal went to Shechem, to the relatives of his mother, and he said to them and to the house of his mother's father, "{Speak to} the lords of Shechem, 'What [is] better for you, that seventy men all from the sons of Jerub-Baal rule over you, or that one man rules over you?' Remember that I [am] your bone and your flesh." And his mother's relatives spoke all these words concerning him {to} all the lords of Shechem; and {they supported Abimelech}, for they said, "He is our relative."read more.
And they gave to him seventy [pieces of] silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelech hired with them worthless and reckless men, and {they followed him}. And he went to his father's house at Ophrah, and he killed his brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerub-Baal survived, because he hid himself. All the lords of Shechem and Beth-Millo gathered, and they went and made Abimelech as king, near [the] oak of [the] pillar that [is] at Shechem.

It happened afterward that Absalom made himself a chariot with horses and fifty men running before him. Absalom used to rise early in the morning, and he stood {beside} the road [at] the gate; {anyone} who had a legal dispute to bring to the king for judgment Absalom would call to him and say, "{Where are you from?}" And he would say, "Your servant [is] from one of the tribes of Israel." Then Absalom would say to him, "Look, your case [is] good and right, but for you there is no hearing with the king."read more.
Then Absalom would say, "{Oh, that someone would} appoint me as judge in the land, that {anyone} might come to me who had a legal dispute or a case, and I would give him justice." It happened whenever anyone drew near to do obeisance to him, that he would stretch his hand and take hold of him and kiss him. Absalom did like this to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment; so Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel. It happened at the end of four years [that] Absalom said to the king, "Please let me go and pay my vow which I have made to Yahweh in Hebron, for your servant made a vow while I [was] staying in Geshur in Aram, saying, '{If Yahweh will indeed let me return} to Jerusalem, then I will worship Yahweh.'" Then the king said to him, "Go in peace." So he got up and went to Hebron. Then Absalom sent scouts throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, "When you hear the sound of the trumpet, you shall shout 'Absalom has become king in Hebron!'" Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom as invited guests, going in their innocence as they did not know anything. Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, the advisor of David, from his city Giloh, while he offered the sacrifices. The conspiracy {grew in strength}, and the people [were] going and {increasing} with Absalom. Then the messenger came to David, saying, "The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom."

And Haman went out on that day rejoicing and {feeling good}. But when Haman saw Mordecai at the gate of the king, and he did not rise or tremble before him, Haman was filled {with rage toward} Mordecai. But Haman controlled himself and went to his house, and he sent [for] and brought his friends and Zeresh his wife. And Haman recounted to them the splendor of his wealth and the number of his sons and all [the ways] that the king had honored him and promoted him above the officials and king's servants.read more.
{And Haman added}, "Esther the Queen did not let [just anyone] come to the banquet that she prepared with the king except me, and I am also invited tomorrow to her [banquet] with the king. But all this {fails to satisfy me} {when} I see Mordecai the Jew setting at the gate of the king." And Zeresh his wife and all of his friends said to him, "Let them make a gallows fifty cubits high, and in the morning tell the king, "Let them hang Mordecai on it; then go with the king to the banquet happily." The advice pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.

Nebuchadnezzar the king made a statue of gold. Its height [was] sixty cubits [and] its width [was] six cubits; he set it up in the valley of Dura in the province of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent [directions] to assemble the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates and all of the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the statue that Nebuchadnezzar the king [had] set up. Then the satraps, the prefects, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the province [were] assembled for the dedication of the statue that Nebuchadnezzar the king [had] set up, and [were] standing {before} the statue that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.read more.
Then the herald proclaimed {aloud}, "To you {it is commanded}, O peoples, {nations and people of all languages}, [that] at the time that you hear the sound of the horn, the flute, [the] lyre, [the] trigon, [the] harp, [the] drum and all kinds of music, you must fall down and you must worship the statue of gold that Nebuchadnezzar the king [has] set up. And {whoever} does not fall down and worship will be thrown {immediately} into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire." {Therefore}, {at that time}, {as soon as} all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, the flute, [the] lyre, [the] trigon, [the] harp and all kinds of music, all the peoples, {the nations and people of all languages} [were] falling down [and] were worshiping the statue of gold that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.

And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him [and] said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask you." And he said to them, "What do you want that I do for you?" So they said to him, "Grant to us that we may sit one at your right hand and one at [your] left in your glory."

Do not let anyone deceive you in any way, for [that day will not come] unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,