60 Bible Verses about Attacking

When Abram heard that his {relative} was taken captive, he summoned his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen [of them], and he went in pursuit up to Dan. And he divided [his trained men] against them at night, he and his servants. And he defeated them and pursued them to Hobah, which [is] north of Damascus. And he brought back all the possessions. And he also brought back Lot, his {relative}, and his possessions, and the women and the people as well.

So Gideon and the hundred men who [were] with him came to the edge of the camp [at] the beginning of the middle night-watch, when they had just finished setting up the guards, and they blew on the trumpets and smashed the jars that [were] in their hands. When three companies blew on the trumpets and broke the jars, they held in their left hand the torches and in their right hand the trumpets for blowing, and they cried, "A sword for Yahweh and for Gideon!" And each stood {in his place} all around the camp, and all the camp ran, and they cried out as they fled.

So Jonathan went up on his hands and his feet, with {his armor bearer} after him. They fell before Jonathan and then {his armor bearer} would kill them after him. So was the first attack [in] which Jonathan and {his armor bearer} killed about twenty men within about half of a furrow in an acre of [an] open field.

The king and his men went to Jerusalem, to the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land. They said to David, "You will not come here, for even the blind and the lame can turn you back, saying, 'David cannot come here.'" David captured the fortress of Zion, the city of David.

And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem (that [is] Jebus). And the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, [were] there. And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David, "You will not enter here." But David captured the stronghold of Zion; that [is,] the city of David.

"If you go out to war against your enemies and you see a horse and a chariot, {an army} larger that you, you shall not be afraid because of them; for Yahweh your God [is] with you, the one who brought you from the land of Egypt. {And then} when you approach the battle, then the priest shall come near and speak to the troops. And he shall say to them, 'Hear, Israel, you are near {today} to the battle against your enemies; {do not lose heart}; you shall not be afraid, and you shall not panic, and you shall not be terrified {because of them},read more.
for Yahweh your God [is] going with you to fight for you against your enemies to help you.' And the officials shall speak to the troops, {saying}, 'Who [is] the man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to this house, so that he does not die in battle and {another man} dedicates it. And who [is] the man that has planted a vineyard and has not enjoyed it? Let him go and let him return to his house, so that he does not die in battle and {another man} enjoys it. And who [is] the man who got engaged to a woman and [has] not married her? Let him go and let him return to his house, so that he does not die in battle and {another man} marries her.' And the officials shall continue to speak to the troops, and they shall say, '{What man} is afraid {and disheartened}? Let him go, and let him return to his house, and let him not cause the heart of his brothers to melt like his.' And {when the officials have finished speaking} to the army troops, then they shall appoint commanders of divisions at the head of the troops. "When you approach a city to fight against it, {you must offer it peace}. {And then} if {they accept your terms of peace} and {they surrender to you}, {and then} all the people {inhabiting it} shall be forced labor for you, and they shall serve you. But if they {do not accept your terms of peace} and they want to make war with you, then you shall lay siege against it. And Yahweh your God will give it into your hand, and you shall kill all its males with the {edge} of [the] sword. Only the women and the little children and the domestic animals and all that shall be in the city, all of its spoil you may loot for yourselves, and you may enjoy the spoil of your enemies that Yahweh you God has given to you. Thus you shall do to all the far cities from you, which [are] not from the cities of these nations located {nearby}. But from the cities of these peoples that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you as an inheritance, you shall not let anything live that breathes. Rather, you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, [just] as Yahweh your God has commanded you, so that they may not teach you to do like all their detestable things that they do for their gods and [thereby] you sin against Yahweh your God. "If you besiege a town [for] many days to make war against it [in order to] seize it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them, for you may eat from them, and [so] you must not cut them down. Are the trees of the field humans that they should come in siege {against you}? Only the trees that you know {are not fruit trees} you may destroy and you may cut down, and you may build siege works against that city that is making war with you {until it falls}."

And Yahweh said to Joshua, "Look, I am giving Jericho into your hand, its king and the soldiers of the army.

Then Yahweh said to Joshua, "Do not fear or be dismayed. Take {all the fighting men} with you {and go up immediately to Ai}. Look, I am giving into your hand the king of Ai, his city, and his land. You will do to Ai and its king that which you did to Jericho and its king; you may take only its spoils and livestock as booty for yourself. Set for yourself an ambush against the city [from] behind [it]." So Joshua and {all the fighting men} went up immediately to Ai. Joshua chose thirty thousand of the best fighting men and sent them [by] night.

Joshua came upon them suddenly {by marching up} all night from Gilgal. And Yahweh threw them into panic before Israel, who struck them [with] a great blow at Gibeon and pursued them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.

So Joshua, and {all the fighting men} with him, came against them suddenly at the waters of Merom, and {they attacked them}. And Yahweh gave them into the hand of Israel, and they struck them and pursued them up to Great Sidon and Misrephoth Maim, and eastward up to the valley of Mizpeh. And they struck them until they left behind no survivor.

And Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, "Choose men for us, and go out, fight against Amalek tomorrow. I [will be] standing on the top of the hill, and the staff of God [will be] in my hand." And Joshua did as Moses had said to him to fight with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up [to] the top of the hill.read more.
And when Moses raised his hand, Israel would prevail, but when he rested his hand, Amalek would prevail. But the hands of Moses [were] heavy, and they took a stone and placed it under him, and he sat on it; Aaron and Hur supported his hands, {one on each side}, and his hands [were] steady until {sundown}. And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with [the] {edge of the sword}.

The {Israelites} did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and Yahweh gave them into the hand of the Midianites for seven years. The hand of the Midianites prevailed over Israel; because of the presence of the Midianites, the {Israelites} made for themselves hiding places that [were] in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. And whenever Israel sowed seed, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people of [the] east would come up against them.read more.
They would camp against them and destroy the produce of the land {as far as} Gaza; they left no produce in Israel, or sheep, ox, or donkey. For they, their livestock, and their tents would come up like a great number of locusts; they and their camels could not be counted; they came into the land and devoured it. Israel was very poor because of the presence of the Midianites, and the {Israelites} cried out to Yahweh.

The {Ammonites} crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah, Benjamin, and the house of Ephraim; and Israel was very distressed.

After a time the {Ammonites} made war with Israel. When the {Ammonites} made war with Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. And they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our commander, so that we may make war against the {Ammonites}."

The {Ammonites} came out and {drew up a battle formation} at the entrance of the gate, but Aram-Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah [were] alone in the open field.

And the {Ammonites} went out and took up positions for battle at the entrance of the city. And the kings who had come [were] alone in the field.

And it happened [that] afterward, the {Moabites}, the {Ammonites}, and some of the Meunites came against Jehoshaphat for war.

[Now] when [the] Philistines heard that the {Israelites} had gathered at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the {Israelites} heard [of it], {they were afraid of the Philistines}.

When [the] Philistines heard that they had anointed David as king over Israel, all [the] Philistines went up to seek David, but David heard and went down to the stronghold.

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed as king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard and went out from before them.

Then the Philistines {carried out another raid} in the valley.

Be gracious to me, O God, because humankind has trampled me; fighting all the day he oppresses me. My enemies trample all day, because many [are] attacking me proudly.

Ben-Hadad king of Aram gathered all of his army, and thirty-two kings [were] with him, and horses and chariots. He went up and laid siege against Samaria and fought with it.

It happened at the turning of the year that Ben-Hadad mustered Aram and went up to Aphek for the war with Israel.

Now all of Moab had heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, and all {who were fighting age and up} were called up, and they stood at the border. When they arose early in the morning, the sun shone on the waters, and Moab saw the waters from the opposite [side] as red as blood. Then they said, "This [is] blood! Certainly the kings have fought one another, and each has killed his neighbor. Now, to the war booty, O Moab!"read more.
But when they came to the camp of Israel, Israel stood up and killed Moab, so that they fled from before them. They came at her and defeated Moab. The cities they tore down, [on] every good tract of land they threw stones until it was filled up, every spring of water they stopped up, and every good tree they felled. They let the stone walls at Kir Hareseth remain, but the slingers surrounded and attacked it. When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too heavy for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew the sword to break through to the king of Edom, but they were not able. He took his firstborn son who was to become king in his place and offered him [as] a burnt offering on the wall. Great wrath came upon Israel, and they withdrew from him and returned to the land.

When the Arameans went [on] a raid, they brought back a young girl from the land of Israel, and {she came into the service of} the wife of Naaman.

It happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Aram assembled all of his army and marched up and laid siege against Samaria. There was a great famine in Samaria, and behold, a siege [was] against it, until the head of a donkey [went] for eighty shekels of silver, and one fourth of the measure of the dung of doves [went] for five shekels of silver.

At that time, Hazael king of Aram went up and fought against Gath and captured it; then Hazael set his face to go up against Jerusalem.

In the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha the king of Israel went up against Judah. And he built Ramah in order not to allow [anyone] to go out or come in to Asa, king of Judah. Then Asa brought out silver and gold from the storehouses of the house of Yahweh and the house of the king, and he sent [them] to Ben-Hadad, king of Aram, who lived in Damascus, saying, "[There is] a covenant between me and you, [as there was] between my father and your father. Look, I am sending you silver and gold. Go, break your covenant with Baasha, king of Israel, that he might withdraw from me."read more.
And Ben-Hadad listened to King Asa, and he sent commanders of his troops that [were] with him against the cities of Israel. And they struck Ijon, Dan, Abel-Maim, and all the storage cities of Naphtali.

Then Yahweh his God gave him into the hand of the king of Aram who defeated him and captured many captives from him and brought [them to] Damascus. Moreover, he was also given into the hand of the king of Israel, and he defeated him by a great attack.

And when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and when he was strengthened, he forsook the law of Yahweh, and all Israel with him. And it happened [that] in the fifth year of King Rehoboam (for they had acted unfaithfully against Yahweh), Shishak the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem with one thousand two hundred chariots and sixty thousand horsemen. And there was no number to the people who came up with him from Egypt--Libyans, Sukkites, and Cushites.read more.
And he took the fortified cities that belonged to Judah, and he came up to Jerusalem.

Shalmaneser the king of Assyria came up against him, and Hoshea became his vassal and paid tribute to him. But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt, and he did not offer tribute to the king of Assyria as [he had] year after year; so the king of Assyria arrested him, and confined him [in] a house of imprisonment. So the king of Assyria went up in all the land, then he went up [to] Samaria and besieged it [for] three years.read more.
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported Israel to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, in Habor, [in] the river [regions] of Gozan, and [in] the cities of the Medes.

It happened in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, that [is,] the seventh year of Hoshea the son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came against Samaria and laid siege against her. At the end of three years, he captured it in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that [is,] the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel; Samaria was captured. Then the king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Habor, [in] the river [regions] of Gozan, and [in] the cities of the Medes,read more.
because they did not listen to the voice of Yahweh their God, and they transgressed his covenant; all that he had commanded Moses, the servant of Yahweh, they did not listen [to] nor did they obey.

Jehoiakim [was] twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And he did evil in the eyes of Yahweh his God. Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon went up against him, and he bound him with bronze fetters to bring him to Babylon. And Nebuchadnezzar brought to Babylon the objects of the house of Yahweh and put them into the temple in Babylon.

In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up [because] Jehoiakim had become his servant [for] three years; then he turned and rebelled against him.

At that time, the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came [to] Jerusalem, and the city came under the siege. Then Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city [while] his servants were besieging it. Jehoiachin king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his court officials. The king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.read more.
Then he took from there all of the treasures of the temple of Yahweh and the treasures of the palace of the king. He cut up all of the vessels of gold which Solomon the king of Israel had made in the temple of Yahweh, as Yahweh had foretold. He deported all of Jerusalem: all of the commanders, ten thousand of the skilled warriors, and the artisans; no one was left over except the poorest of the people of the land. He deported Jehoiachin to Babylon; the mother of the king, the wives of the king, his court officials, and the citizenry of the land he caused to go into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: of all of the skilled men, seven thousand, and [of] the skilled craftsmen and the artisans, one thousand. All of the mighty warriors {fit for war} the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.

It happened that in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth of the month, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came, he and his army, against Jerusalem. He encamped against it and built siege works against it all around.

And Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, had repeatedly and persistently sent to them by the hand of his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they were mocking the messengers of God and despising his words and scoffing at his prophets until the wrath of Yahweh rose against his people until there was no remedy. Therefore he brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, and he killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary. He showed no mercy on a young man, a virgin, [the] elderly, or decrepit. He delivered all into his hand.read more.
And all the vessels of the house of God, the great and the small, the storehouses of the house of Yahweh, and the storehouses of the king and his princes, these all he brought to Babylon. And they burned the house of God. And they shattered the walls of Jerusalem and burned its citadels with fire and destroyed all the vessels of its treasuries. And he took {those who escaped the sword} to Babylon. And they became servants to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia,

Look, the siege ramps have come up [to] the city to capture it, and the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans who are fighting against it, because of the sword, the famine, and the plague, and what you spoke happened, and look, you [are] seeing [it].

{And then} it was in {the twelfth} year, in the tenth [month], on the fifth [day] of the month of our exile, a survivor from Jerusalem came to me, {saying}, "The city was destroyed!"

Abimelech ruled over Israel three years. And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the lords of Shechem, and the lords of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,

Then the {Israelites} got up and went up [to] Bethel, and they inquired of God, saying, "Who will go up first for the battle against the descendants of Benjamin?" And Yahweh said, "Judah [will go] first." And the {Israelites} got up in the morning, and they encamped against Gibeah. Then the men of Israel marched out for the battle against Benjamin, and the men of Israel took up positions against them [for] battle at Gibeah.read more.
The descendants of Benjamin went out from Gibeah, and they struck down on that day twenty-two thousand men of Israel to the ground. But the troops, the men of Israel, {encouraged themselves}, and again they arranged [their] battle [lines] in the place where they had arranged themselves the first day. The {Israelites} went up and wept before Yahweh until evening and inquired of Yahweh, saying, "Should we again draw near from the battle against the descendants of Benjamin, our relatives?" And Yahweh said, "Go up against them." And the {Israelites} drew near to the descendants of Benjamin on the second day. And Benjamin went out from Gibeah to meet them on the second day, and they struck down the {Israelites} again, eighteen thousand men to the ground; all of these [were] {sword-wielding}. And all the {Israelites} and all the troops went up and came to Bethel and wept; and they sat there before Yahweh and fasted on that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before Yahweh. And the {Israelites} inquired of Yahweh (In those days the ark of the covenant of God [was] there, and Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, [was] standing {before it} [to minister] in those days), saying, "Should we go out once more to battle against the descendants of Benjamin our relatives, or should we stop?" And Yahweh said, "Go up tomorrow; I will give them into your hand." So Israel stationed an ambush all around Gibeah. And the {Israelites} went up against the descendants of Benjamin on the third day, and they took up positions against Gibeah as before. The descendants of Benjamin went out to meet the troops, and they lured [them] away from the city and began to inflict casualties on the troops as before, on the main road, one of which goes up [to] Bethel, the other to Gibeah; [and] in the field [there were] about thirty men of Israel. And the descendants of Benjamin thought, "They [are] being defeated before us {as previously}," and the {Israelites} said, "Let us flee and lure them away from the city to the main roads." And all the men of Israel got up from their places and took up positions in Baal Tamar; and the ambush of Israel charged from their places, from the vicinity of Gibeah. Then ten thousand well-trained men from all Israel came out against Gibeah, and the battle became fierce; they did not know that disaster [was about to] {close in} on them. And Yahweh defeated Benjamin in the presence of Israel, and the {Israelites} destroyed on that day twenty-five thousand one hundred men of Benjamin, all of them {sword-wielding}. The descendants of Benjamin saw that they were defeated, and the men of Israel gave ground to Benjamin because they trusted the ambush that they had set against Gibeah. And the ambush came quickly and advanced against Gibeah, and it {put the whole city to the sword}. Now the appointed time for the men of Israel with the ambush was that they sent up for them a great amount of smoke from the city. And the men of Israel turned in the battle, and Benjamin began to inflict casualties on about thirty men of Israel because they thought, "They will be completely defeated before us as in the first battle." And the cloud of smoke began to go up from the city in a column of smoke, and Benjamin turned backward, and behold, the whole city was going up {in smoke}! And the men of Israel turned, and the men of Benjamin were dismayed because they saw that disaster was {closing in} on them. And they retreated from before the men of Israel to the way of the wilderness, but the battle caught up to them, and [those] who [came] from the cities destroyed them in the midst of them. They surrounded Benjamin; they pursued them without rest [and] trod them down opposite Gibeah to the east. And eighteen thousand men from Benjamin fell, all of them {able men}. And they turned and fled toward the wilderness, to the rock of Rimmon, but they cut down on the main roads five thousand men; and they pursued after them up to Gidom, and they struck down two thousand men. So all of Benjamin who fell on that day were twenty-five thousand {sword-wielding men}; all of these [were] {able men}. But six hundred turned and fled toward the wilderness, to the rock of Rimmon, and they remained at the rock of Rimmon [for] four months. And the men of Israel returned to the descendants of Benjamin, and they put them to {the edge of the sword}, both the inhabitants of city and [the] animals that were found; they also set on fire all the cities that they found.

But Amaziah would not listen, so Jehoash king of Israel went up and they met face-to-face, he and Amaziah king of Judah, at Beth-Shemesh which belongs to Judah. Judah was defeated before Israel and they fled, each to this tent. Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah, the son of Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth-Shemesh. Then they came [to] Jerusalem, and he broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim up to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits!read more.
He also took all of the gold and silver and all the vessels found [in] the temple of Yahweh and in the treasury rooms of the palace of the king, as well as the {hostages}; then he returned to Samaria.

But Amaziah did not listen, for it [was] from God that he might give them into the hand [of enemies], because they sought the gods of Edom. So Joash the king of Israel went up, and he and Amaziah the king of Judah {faced one another} at Beth-Shemesh, which belongs to Judah. And Judah was defeated before Israel, and each [man] fled to his tent.read more.
And Joash the king of Israel captured Amaziah the king of Judah, the son of Joash, the son of Jehoahaz, at Beth-Shemesh. And they brought him [to] Jerusalem and broke down the wall of Jerusalem from the Gate of Ephraim to the Corner Gate, four hundred cubits. Then with all the gold and silver, all the objects found in the house of God with Obed-Edom, the storehouses of the house of the king, and {the hostages}, he returned to Samaria.

In the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam, Abijah reigned over Judah. He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother [was] Micaiah the daughter of Uriel from Gibeah. Now there was war between Abijah and between Jeroboam. And Abijah joined in the battle with an army of four hundred thousand {battle-hardened warriors}, chosen men, and Jeroboam put the battle in order against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men, an army of mighty warriors.

From where [are] conflicts and from where [are] quarrels among you? [Is it] not from this, from your pleasures that wage war among your members? You desire and do not have; you murder and are filled with envy, and are not able to obtain; you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.

Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the mutilation.

See to it that no one pays back evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue good toward one another and toward all [people].

Do not speak evil of one another, brothers. The one who speaks evil of a brother or judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge [of the law]. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

not repaying evil for evil or insult for insult, but on the other hand blessing [others], because for this [reason] you were called, so that you could inherit a blessing.

Then Cain said to his brother Abel, ["Let us go out into the field."] And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

And the crowd joined in attacking them, and the chief magistrates tore off their clothing [and] gave orders to beat [them] with rods.

" '{Whoever strikes someone} and he dies will surely be put to death. But if he did not lie in wait {and it was an accident}, I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. But if a man schemes against his neighbor to kill him by treachery, you will take him from my altar to die.read more.
And {whoever strikes} his father or his mother will surely be put to death. " 'And {whoever kidnaps someone} and sells him, or he is found in his possession, he will surely be put to death. " 'And one who curses his father or his mother will surely be put to death. " 'And if men quarrel and a man strikes his neighbor with a stone or with a fist and he does not die, but {he is confined to bed}, if he stands and walks about in the outside on his staff, the striker will be unpunished; he will only pay for his inactivity {toward his full recovery}." And if a man strikes his male slave or his female slave with the rod and he dies under his hand, he will surely be avenged.

Then the evil spirit from Yahweh came upon Saul while he was sitting in his house [with] his spear in his hand. And David [was] playing a stringed instrument in [his] hand. So Saul tried {to pin David to the wall with the spear}, but {he eluded Saul}, so that he struck the spear into the wall, and David fled and escaped that [same] night.

So David rebuked his men with the words and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave, and he went on his way.

Be sober; be on the alert. Your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. {Resist him}, steadfast in your faith, [because you] know the same [kinds] of sufferings are being accomplished by your community of believers in the world.