18 Bible Verses about Riots

Before they lie down, the men of the city -- men of Sodom -- have come round about against the house, from young even unto aged, all the people from the extremity; and they call unto Lot and say to him, 'Where are the men who have come in unto thee to-night? bring them out unto us, and we know them.' And Lot goeth out unto them, to the opening, and the door hath shut behind him,read more.
and saith, 'Do not, I pray you, my brethren, do evil; lo, I pray you, I have two daughters, who have not known any one; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do to them as is good in your eyes; only to these men do not anything, for therefore have they come in within the shadow of my roof.' And they say, 'Come nigh hither;' they say also, 'This one hath come in to sojourn, and he certainly judgeth! now, we do evil to thee more than to them;' and they press against the man, against Lot greatly, and come nigh to break the door. And the men put forth their hand, and bring in Lot unto them, into the house, and have shut the door; and the men who are at the opening of the house they have smitten with blindness, from small even unto great, and they weary themselves to find the opening.

And the men of the city say unto Joash, 'Bring out thy son, and he dieth, because he hath broken down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the shrine which is by it.' And Joash saith to all who have stood against him, 'Ye, do ye plead for Baal? ye -- do ye save him? he who pleadeth for him is put to death during the morning; if he is a god he himself doth plead against him, because he hath broken down his altar.'

And it cometh to pass, at the completion of Jeremiah's speaking all that Jehovah hath commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests, and the prophets, and all the people catch him, saying, Thou dost surely die, Wherefore hast thou prophesied in the name of Jehovah, saying, 'As Shiloh this house shall be, and this city is wasted, without inhabitant?' and all the people are assembled unto Jeremiah in the house of Jehovah. And the heads of Judah hear these things, and they go up from the house of the king to the house of Jehovah, and sit in the opening of the new gate of Jehovah.read more.
And the priests and the prophets speak unto the heads, and unto all the people, saying, 'Judgment of death is for this man, for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have heard with your ears.'

And all in the synagogue were filled with wrath, hearing these things, and having risen, they put him forth without the city, and brought him unto the brow of the hill on which their city had been built -- to cast him down headlong, and he, having gone through the midst of them, went away.

And there came, at that time, not a little stir about the way, for a certain one, Demetrius by name, a worker in silver, making silver sanctuaries of Artemis, was bringing to the artificers gain not a little, whom, having brought in a crowd together, and those who did work about such things, he said, 'Men, ye know that by this work we have our wealth;read more.
and ye see and hear, that not only at Ephesus, but almost in all Asia, this Paul, having persuaded, did turn away a great multitude, saying, that they are not gods who are made by hands; and not only is this department in danger for us of coming into disregard, but also, that of the great goddess Artemis the temple is to be reckoned for nothing, and also her greatness is about to be brought down, whom all Asia and the world doth worship.' And they having heard, and having become full of wrath, were crying out, saying, 'Great is the Artemis of the Ephesians!' and the whole city was filled with confusion, they rushed also with one accord into the theatre, having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul's fellow-travellers. And on Paul's purposing to enter in unto the populace, the disciples were not suffering him, and certain also of the chief men of Asia, being his friends, having sent unto him, were entreating him not to venture himself into the theatre. Some indeed, therefore, were calling out one thing, and some another, for the assembly was confused, and the greater part did not know for what they were come together; and out of the multitude they put forward Alexander -- the Jews thrusting him forward -- and Alexander having beckoned with the hand, wished to make defence to the populace, and having known that he is a Jew, one voice came out of all, for about two hours, crying, 'Great is the Artemis of the Ephesians!'

in stripes, in imprisonments, in insurrections, in labours, in watchings, in fastings,

And the chief priests and the elders did persuade the multitudes that they might ask for themselves Barabbas, and might destroy Jesus; and the governor answering said to them, 'Which of the two will ye that I shall release to you?' And they said, 'Barabbas.' Pilate saith to them, 'What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?' They all say to him, 'Let be crucified!'read more.
And the governor said, 'Why, what evil did he?' and they were crying out the more, saying, 'Let be crucified.' And Pilate having seen that it profiteth nothing, but rather a tumult is made, having taken water, he did wash the hands before the multitude, saying, 'I am innocent from the blood of this righteous one; ye -- ye shall see;'

And at every feast he was releasing to them one prisoner, whomsoever they were asking; and there was one named Barabbas, bound with those making insurrection with him, who had in the insurrection committed murder. And the multitude having cried out, began to ask for themselves as he was always doing to them,read more.
and Pilate answered them, saying, 'Will ye that I shall release to you the king of the Jews?' for he knew that because of envy the chief priests had delivered him up; and the chief priests did move the multitude, that he might rather release Barabbas to them. And Pilate answering, again said to them, 'What, then, will ye that I shall do to him whom ye call king of the Jews?' and they again cried out, 'Crucify him.' And Pilate said to them, 'Why -- what evil did he?' and they cried out the more vehemently, 'Crucify him;' and Pilate, wishing to content the multitude, released to them Barabbas, and delivered up Jesus -- having scourged him -- that he might be crucified.

And Stephen, full of faith and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people, and there arose certain of those of the synagogue, called of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia, and Asia, disputing with Stephen, and they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit with which he was speaking;read more.
then they suborned men, saying -- 'We have heard him speaking evil sayings in regard to Moses and God.' They did stir up also the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and having come upon him, they caught him, and brought him to the sanhedrim; they set up also false witnesses, saying, 'This one doth not cease to speak evil sayings against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him saying, That this Jesus the Nazarean shall overthrow this place, and shall change the customs that Moses delivered to us;'

And the unbelieving Jews, having been moved with envy, and having taken to them of the loungers certain evil men, and having made a crowd, were setting the city in an uproar; having assailed also the house of Jason, they were seeking them to bring them to the populace, and not having found them, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the city rulers, calling aloud -- 'These, having put the world in commotion, are also here present, whom Jason hath received; and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying another to be king -- Jesus.'read more.
And they troubled the multitude and the city rulers, hearing these things, and having taking security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

And, as the seven days were about to be fully ended, the Jews from Asia having beheld him in the temple, were stirring up all the multitude, and they laid hands upon him, crying out, 'Men, Israelites, help! this is the man who, against the people, and the law, and this place, all everywhere is teaching; and further, also, Greeks he brought into the temple, and hath defiled this holy place;' for they had seen before Trophimus, the Ephesian, in the city with him, whom they were supposing that Paul brought into the temple.read more.
All the city also was moved and there was a running together of the people, and having laid hold on Paul, they were drawing him out of the temple, and immediately were the doors shut, and they seeking to kill him, a rumour came to the chief captain of the band that all Jerusalem hath been thrown into confusion, who, at once, having taken soldiers and centurions, ran down upon them, and they having seen the chief captain and the soldiers, did leave off beating Paul. Then the chief captain, having come nigh, took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains, and was inquiring who he may be, and what it is he hath been doing, and some were crying out one thing, and some another, among the multitude, and not being able to know the certainty because of the tumult, he commanded him to be carried to the castle, and when he came upon the steps, it happened he was borne by the soldiers, because of the violence of the multitude,

Then were gathered together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, to the court of the chief priest who was called Caiaphas; and they consulted together that they might take Jesus by guile, and kill him, and they said, 'Not in the feast, that there may not be a tumult among the people.'

And the passover and the unleavened food were after two days, and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how, by guile, having taken hold of him, they might kill him; and they said, 'Not in the feast, lest there shall be a tumult of the people.'

And the public clerk having quieted the multitude, saith, 'Men, Ephesians, why, who is the man that doth not know that the city of the Ephesians is a devotee of the great goddess Artemis, and of that which fell down from Zeus? these things, then, not being to be gainsaid, it is necessary for you to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly. 'For ye brought these men, who are neither temple-robbers nor speaking evil of your goddess;read more.
if indeed, therefore, Demetrius and the artificers with him with any one have a matter, court days are held, and there are proconsuls; let them accuse one another. 'And if ye seek after anything concerning other matters, in the legal assembly it shall be determined; for we are also in peril of being accused of insurrection in regard to this day, there being no occasion by which we shall be able to give an account of this concourse;' and these things having said, he dismissed the assembly.

for having found this man a pestilence, and moving a dissension to all the Jews through the world -- a ringleader also of the sect of the Nazarenes -- who also the temple did try to profane, whom also we took, and according to our law did wish to judge, and Lysias the chief captain having come near, with much violence, out of our hands did take away,read more.
having commanded his accusers to come to thee, from whom thou mayest be able, thyself having examined, to know concerning all these things of which we accuse him;' and the Jews also agreed, professing these things to be so. And Paul answered -- the governor having beckoned to him to speak -- 'Knowing that for many years thou hast been a judge to this nation, the more cheerfully the things concerning myself I do answer; thou being able to know that it is not more than twelve days to me since I went up to worship in Jerusalem, and neither in the temple did they find me reasoning with any one, or making a dissension of the multitude, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city;

as in day-time, let us walk becomingly; not in revellings and drunkennesses, not in chamberings and lasciviousnesses, not in strife and emulation;

the night did advance, and the day came nigh; let us lay aside, therefore, the works of the darkness, and let us put on the armour of the light;

about to receive a reward of unrighteousness, pleasures counting the luxury in the day, spots and blemishes, luxuriating in their deceits, feasting with you,