25 Bible Verses about Rivalry

Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, became king over Israel in the second year that Asa was king of Judah; and he was king of Israel for two years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, copying the evil ways of his father, and the sin which he did and made Israel do. And Baasha, the son of Ahijah, of the family of Issachar, made a secret design against him, attacking him at Gibbethon, a town of the Philistines; for Nadab and the armies of Israel were making war on Gibbethon.read more.
In the third year of the rule of Asa, king of Judah, Baasha put him to death, and became king in his place. And straight away when he became king, he sent destruction on all the offspring of Jeroboam; there was not one living person of all the family of Jeroboam whom he did not put to death, so the word of the Lord, which he said by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite, came about; Because of the sins which Jeroboam did and made Israel do, moving the Lord, the God of Israel, to wrath. Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all he did, are they not recorded in the book of the history of the kings of Israel?

Then there was a division among the people of Israel; half the people were for making Tibni, son of Ginath, king, and half were supporting Omri. But the supporters of Omri overcame those who were on the side of Tibni, the son of Ginath; and death came to Tibni and to his brother Joram at that time: and Omri became king in the place of Tibni.

Have you no knowledge of what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of every land? were the gods of the nations of those lands able to keep their land from falling into my hands? Who was there among all the gods of those nations, which my fathers put to destruction, who was able to keep his people safe from my hands? and is it possible that your God will keep you safe from my hands? So do not be tricked by Hezekiah or let him get you to do this, and do not put any faith in what he says: for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to keep his people safe from my hands, or the hands of my fathers: how much less will your God keep you safe from my hands!read more.
And his servants said even more against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah. And he sent letters, in addition, to put shame on the Lord, the God of Israel, and to say evil against him, saying, As the gods of the nations of other lands have not been able to keep their people safe from my hands, no more will the God of Hezekiah keep his people safe from my hands. These things they said, crying out with a loud voice in the Jews' language, to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, with the purpose of troubling them and putting fear into them, so that they might take the town; Talking of the God of Jerusalem as if he was like the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of men's hands. And Hezekiah the king, and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, made prayer because of this, crying out to heaven. And the Lord sent an angel who put to death all the men of war and the chiefs and the captains in the army of the king of Assyria. So he went back to his country in shame. And when he came into the house of his god, his sons, the offspring of his body, put him to death there with the sword. So the Lord gave Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem salvation from the power of Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, and from all others, giving them rest on every side.

This is what you are to say to Hezekiah, king of Judah: Let not your God, in whom is your faith, give you a false hope, saying, Jerusalem will not be given into the hands of the king of Assyria. No doubt the story has come to your ears of what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, putting them to the curse: and will you be kept safe from their fate? Did the gods of the nations keep safe those on whom my fathers sent destruction, Gozan and Haran and Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Telassar?read more.
Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the town of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivva?

And Hezekiah took the letter from the hands of those who had come with it; and after reading it, Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord, opening the letter there before the Lord, And he made prayer to the Lord, saying, O Lord of armies, the God of Israel, seated between the winged ones, you only are the God of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.read more.
Let your ear be turned to us, O Lord; let your eyes be open, O Lord, and see: take note of all the words of Sennacherib who has sent men to say evil against the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have made waste all the nations and their lands, And have given their gods to the fire: for they were no gods, but wood and stone, the work of men's hands; so they have given them to destruction. But now, O Lord our God, give us salvation from his hand, so that it may be clear to all the kingdoms of the earth that you, and you only, are the Lord. Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying, The Lord, the God of Israel, says, The prayer you have made to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, has come to my ears. This is the word which the Lord has said about him: In the eyes of the virgin daughter of Zion you are shamed and laughed at; the daughter of Jerusalem has made sport of you. Against whom have you said evil and bitter things? and against whom has your voice been loud and your eyes lifted up? even against the Holy One of Israel. You have sent your servants with evil words against the Lord, and have said, With all my war-carriages I have come up to the top of the mountains, to the inmost parts of Lebanon; and its tall cedars will be cut down, and the best trees of its woods: I will come up into his highest places, into his thick woods. I have made water-holes and taken their waters, and with my foot I have made all the rivers of Egypt dry. Has it not come to your ears how I did it long before, purposing it in times long past? Now I have given effect to my design, so that by you strong towns might be turned into masses of broken walls. This is why their townsmen had no power, they were broken and put to shame; they were like the grass of the field, or a green plant; like the grass on the house-tops, which a cold wind makes waste. But I have knowledge of your getting up and your resting, of your going out and your coming in. Because your wrath against me and your pride have come to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my cord in your lips, and I will make you go back by the way you came. And this will be the sign to you: you will get your food this year from what comes up of itself, and in the second year from the produce of the same; and in the third year you will put in your seed, and get in the grain, and make vine-gardens, and take of their fruit. And those of Judah who are still living will again take root in the earth, and give fruit. For from Jerusalem those who have been kept safe will go out, and those who are still living will go out of Mount Zion: by the fixed purpose of the Lord of armies this will be done. For this cause the Lord says about the king of Assyria, He will not come into this town, or send an arrow against it; he will not come before it with arms, or put up an earthwork against it. By the way he came he will go back, and he will not get into this town. For I will keep this town safe, for my honour, and for the honour of my servant David. And the angel of the Lord went out and put to death in the army of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand men: and when the people got up early in the morning, there was nothing to be seen but dead bodies. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, went back to his place at Nineveh. And it came about, when he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer put him to death with the sword, and they went in flight into the land of Ararat. And Esar-haddon, his son, became king in his place.

And one day Jacob was cooking some soup when Esau came in from the fields in great need of food; And Esau said to Jacob, Give me a full meal of that red soup, for I am overcome with need for food: for this reason he was named Edom. And Jacob said, First of all give me your birthright.read more.
And Esau said, Truly, I am at the point of death: what profit is the birthright to me? And Jacob said, First of all give me your oath; and he gave him his oath, handing over his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave him bread and soup; and he took food and drink and went away, caring little for his birthright.

So Esau was full of hate for Jacob because of his father's blessing; and he said in his heart, The days of weeping for my father are near; then I will put my brother Jacob to death.

And the other wife did everything possible to make her unhappy, because the Lord had not let her have children; And year by year, whenever she went up to the house of the Lord, she kept on attacking her, so that Hannah gave herself up to weeping and would take no food.

And the women, answering one another in their song, said, Saul has put to death his thousands and David his tens of thousands. And Saul was very angry and this saying was unpleasing to him; and he said, They have given David credit for tens of thousands, and to me for only thousands: what more is there for him but the kingdom? And from that day Saul was looking with envy on David.

For while the son of Jesse is living on the earth, your position is unsafe and your kingdom is in danger. So make him come here to me, for it is certainly right for him to be put to death.

Now after this, Absalom got for himself a carriage and horses, and fifty runners to go before him. And Absalom got up early, morning after morning, and took his place at the side of the public meeting-place: and when any man had a cause which had to come to the king to be judged, then Absalom, crying out to him, said, What is your town? and he would say, Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. And Absalom would say to him, See, your cause is true and right; but no man has been named by the king to give you a hearing.read more.
And more than this, Absalom said, If only I was made judge in the land, so that every man who has any cause or question might come to me, and I would give a right decision for him! And if any man came near to give him honour, he took him by the hand and gave him a kiss. And this Absalom did to everyone in Israel who came to the king to have his cause judged: so Absalom, like a thief, took away the hearts of the men of Israel. Now at the end of four years, Absalom said to the king, Let me go to Hebron and give effect to the oath which I made to the Lord: For while I was living in Geshur in Aram, your servant made an oath, saying, If ever the Lord lets me come back to Jerusalem, I will give him worship in Hebron. And the king said to him, Go in peace. So he got up and went to Hebron. But Absalom at the same time sent watchers through all the tribes of Israel to say, At the sound of the horn you are to say, Absalom is king in Hebron. And with Absalom, at his request, went two hundred men from Jerusalem, who were completely unconscious of his designs. And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, one of David's helpers, from Giloh his town, while he was making the offerings. And the design against David became strong, for more and more people were joined to Absalom. And one came to David and said, The hearts of the men of Israel have gone after Absalom.

And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now the kingdom will go back to the family of David: If the people go up to make offerings in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, their heart will be turned again to their lord, to Rehoboam, king of Judah; and they will put me to death and go back to Rehoboam, king of Judah.

And you may not take as wife a woman and at the same time her sister, to be in competition with her in her life-time.

Now there was a discussion among them about which of them would be the greatest. But when Jesus saw the reasoning of their hearts, he took a small child and put him by his side, And said to them, Whoever gives honour to this child in my name, gives honour to me: and whoever gives honour to me, gives honour to him who sent me: for whoever is least among you all, that man is great.

In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And he took a little child, and put him in the middle of them, And said, Truly, I say to you, If you do not have a change of heart and become like little children, you will not go into the kingdom of heaven.read more.
Whoever, then, will make himself as low as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

But they said nothing: because they had had an argument between themselves on the way, about who was the greatest. And seating himself, he made the twelve come to him; and he said to them, If any man has the desire to be first, he will be last of all and servant of all. And he took a little child, and put him in the middle of them; and taking him in his arms, he said to them,read more.
Whoever will give honour to one such little child in my name, gives honour to me: and whoever gives honour to me, gives honour not to me, but to him who sent me.

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, giving him worship and making a request of him. And he said to her, What is your desire? She says to him, Let my two sons be seated, the one at your right hand, and the other at your left, in your kingdom. But Jesus made answer and said, You have no idea what you are requesting. Are you able to take of the cup which I am about to take?read more.
They say to him, We are able. He says to them, Truly, you will take of my cup: but to be seated at my right hand and at my left is not for me to give, but it is for those for whom my Father has made it ready. And when it came to the ears of the ten, they were angry with the two brothers.

And there came to him James and John, the sons of Zebedee, saying to him, Master, will you give us whatever may be our request? And he said to them, What would you have me do for you? And they said to him, Let us be seated, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.read more.
But Jesus said to them, You have no knowledge of what you are saying. Are you able to take of my cup? or to undergo the baptism which I am to undergo? And they said to him, We are able. And Jesus said to them, You will take of the cup from which I take; and the baptism which I am about to undergo you will undergo: But to be seated at my right hand or at my left is not for me to give: but it is for those for whom it has been made ready. And hearing this, the ten became very angry with James and John.

But you may not be named Teacher: for one is your teacher, and you are all brothers. And give no man the name of father on earth: because one is your Father, who is in heaven. And you may not be named guides: because one is your Guide, even Christ.read more.
But let the greatest among you be your servant.

Because you are still in the flesh: for when there is envy and division among you, are you not still walking after the way of the flesh, even as natural men? For when one says, I am of Paul; and another says, I am of Apollos; are you not talking like natural men?

That is, that some of you say, I am of Paul; some say, I am of Apollos; some say, I am of Cephas; and some say, I am Christ's. Is there a division in Christ? was Paul nailed to the cross for you? or were you given baptism in the name of Paul?

Because you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all those of you who were given baptism into Christ did put on Christ. There is no Jew or Greek, servant or free, male or female: because you are all one in Jesus Christ.

And Jesus made them come to him, and said to them, You see that those who are made rulers over the Gentiles are lords over them, and their great ones have authority over them. But it is not so among you: but whoever has a desire to become great among you, let him be your servant: And whoever has a desire to be first among you, let him be servant of all.read more.
For truly the Son of man did not come to have servants, but to be a servant, and to give his life for the salvation of men.

But Jesus said to them, You see that the rulers of the Gentiles are lords over them, and their great ones have authority over them. Let it not be so among you: but if anyone has a desire to become great among you, let him be your servant; And whoever has a desire to be first among you, let him take the lowest place:read more.
Even as the Son of man did not come to have servants, but to be a servant, and to give his life for the salvation of men.

Though some are preaching Christ out of envy and competition, others do it out of a good heart: These do it from love, conscious that I am responsible for the cause of the good news: But those are preaching Christ in a spirit of competition, not from their hearts, but with the purpose of giving me pain in my prison.read more.
What then? only that in every way, falsely or truly, the preaching of Christ goes on; and in this I am glad, and will be glad.