25 Bible Verses about Rivalry

Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. He did evil in the eyes of Yahweh, and he walked in the way of his father and in his sin that he caused Israel to commit. Baasha son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar conspired against him, and Baasha struck him down at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. Now Nadab and all of Israel [were] laying siege to Gibbethon,read more.
and Baasha killed him in the third year of Asa the king of Judah, and he reigned in his place. It happened that as soon as he became king, he killed all of the house of Jeroboam. There was no one left of Jeroboam who breathed, until he had destroyed him according to the word of Yahweh that he had spoken by the hand of his servant, Ahijah the Shilonite, because of the sins of Jeroboam that he had committed and that he had caused Israel to commit [and] because of his anger [with] which he had provoked Yahweh the God of Israel. Now the remainder of the acts of Nadab and all that he did, [are] they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?

At that time, the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people went after Tibni the son of Ginath to make him king, and the other half went after Omri. The people who went after Omri overcame the people who went after Tibni the son of Ginath, so that he died and Omri became king.

Do you not know what I have done, I and my ancestors, to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of all the lands at all able to save their land from my hand? Who among all the gods of those nations whom my ancestors utterly destroyed was able to save his people from my hand, that your God will be able to save you from my hand? So now, do not let Hezekiah deceive you. Do not let him urge you according to this. Do not put trust in him, for no god of any nation and kingdom has been able to save his people from my hand and from the hand of my ancestors. Surely then your God will not save you from my hand!'"read more.
And still more his servants said against Yahweh God and against Hezekiah his servant. And he wrote letters to treat Yahweh the God of Israel with contempt and spoke against him, saying, "As the gods of the nations of the earth who did not save their people from my hand, so likewise the God of Hezekiah will not save his people from my hand." Then they called with a great voice in Judean to the people of Jerusalem who [were] upon the wall to frighten them and terrify them, so that they could take the city captive. And they spoke about the God of Jerusalem as about the gods of the peoples of the earth, the works of the hands of humankind. Then King Hezekiah and Isaiah the son of Amoz, the prophet, prayed concerning this. And they cried to the heavens. Then Yahweh sent an angel, and he destroyed every mighty warrior of strength, commander, and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria. And he returned with shamed face to his land and went into the house of his god. And some of the offspring of his loins fell upon him there with the sword. So Yahweh saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, and from the all [their enemies], and gave them rest all around.

"You shall say this to Hezekiah, king of Judah: '[Do] not let your God in whom you trust in him deceive you by saying, "Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria." Look! you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands to destroy them, and you--shall you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations that my {predecessors} destroyed deliver them--Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the sons of Eden who [were] in Telassar?read more.
Where [is] the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, or Ivvah?'"

And Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and he read it. Then he went up [to] the temple of Yahweh, and Hezekiah spread it out before the {presence} of Yahweh. And Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh, saying, "Yahweh of hosts, God of Israel {who is enthroned on} the cherubim, you [are] the one, God by yourself, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you are the one who made the heavens and the earth.read more.
Yahweh, extend your ear and hear! Yahweh, open your eyes and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib that he has sent to taunt the living God! Truly, Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the lands and their land, to {set} their gods in the fire, for they [were] not gods, but [the] work of human hands, wood and stone, and they destroyed them. So now, Yahweh, our God, save us from his hand so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you [are] Yahweh, you alone!" And Isaiah son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: 'Because you have prayed to me {concerning} Sennacherib, king of Assyria, this [is] the word that Yahweh has spoken concerning him: She shows contempt for you; she derides you, virgin daughter of Zion; she shakes [her] head behind you, daughter of Jerusalem. Whom have you taunted and blasphemed, and against whom have you raised up [your] voice and lifted your eyes upward? To the holy one of Israel! By the hand of your servants you have taunted the Lord, and you have said, "With my many chariots, I myself have gone up [the] height of [the] mountains, [to] the remote areas of Lebanon. And I cut off {its tall cedars}, the choicest of its junipers. And I came [to] the height of its limit, the forest of its orchard. I myself dug and drank waters, and I caused all the streams of Egypt to dry up by the sole of my feet." Have you not heard from {a long time ago}? I have made it from days of primeval time, and I formed it. Now I have brought it [about], and it is for fortified cities to collapse into heaps of destroyed stones. And their inhabitants [are] {weak}; they are dismayed, and they are ashamed; they have become [like] plants of [the] field, and [like] greens of grass, [like] grass on [the] roofs and a cultivated field {before} the standing grain. And I know your sitting down and your going out, and your coming in, and your raging {against} me. Because you were enraged {against} me, and your noise has come up to my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bridle on your lips, and I will turn you back on the way [by] which you came. And this [shall be] the sign for you: the eating of volunteer plants this year, and in the second year self-seeded plants, and in the third year sow, reap, plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. And the remnant of the house of Judah that remain shall {grow} roots downwards and make fruit upwards. For a remnant shall go out from Jerusalem and survivors from mountain Zion. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this.' Therefore thus says Yahweh concerning the king of Assyria: 'He shall not come to this city, and he shall not shoot an arrow there, and he shall not meet it [with] a shield, and he shall not heap a siege ramp up against her. He shall return by the way that he came, and he shall not come to this city,' {declares} Yahweh. 'And I will defend this city, to save it for my sake and for the sake of David, my servant.'" And the angel of Yahweh set out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. When they rose in the morning, look! All of them [were] dead corpses. Then Sennacherib king of Assyria left, went, and returned and lived at Nineveh. And this happened: he [was] bowing in worship [in] the house of Nisroch his god, and Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him with the sword. And they themselves escaped [to] the land of Ararat, and Esar-haddon his son reigned as king in his place.

Once Jacob cooked a thick stew, and Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said to Jacob, "Give me {some of that red stuff} to gulp down, for I am exhausted!" (Therefore his name was called Edom). Then Jacob said, "Sell me your birthright {first}."read more.
And Esau said, "Look, I am going to die; now what [is] this birthright to me?" Then Jacob said, "Swear to me {first}." And he swore to him, and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread, and thick lentil stew, and he ate and drank. Then he got up and went away. So Esau despised his birthright.

Then Esau held a grudge against Jacob on account of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, "The days of mourning for my father are coming, then I will kill Jacob my brother."

(Now her rival wife would provoke her severely in order to upset her because Yahweh had closed her womb.) And so he used to do year after year; {whenever} she went up to the house of Yahweh, she would provoke her so that she would weep and would not eat.

And the women sang as they danced, and they said, "Saul has struck down his thousands, but David his ten thousands!" {Saul became very angry}, and {this saying displeased him}, and he thought, "They have attributed to David ten thousands, but to me they have attributed thousands! {What more can he have but the kingdom}?" So Saul was watching David [with suspicion] from that day onward.

For {as long as} the son of Jesse [is] alive on the earth, you and your kingdom will not be established! So then, send and bring him to me, for {he will surely die}!"

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."

Then Jeroboam {said to himself}, "Now the kingdom will return to the house of David if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem. The heart of this people will return to their master Rehoboam the king of Judah, and they shall kill me and {return to him}."

And you must not take [as wife] a woman with her sister, to be a rival-wife, to expose her nakedness before her {during} her life.

And an argument developed among them as to who of them might be greatest. But Jesus, [because he] knew the thoughts of their hearts, took hold of a child and had him stand beside him and said to them, "Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For the one who is least among you all--this one is great."

At that time the disciples came up to Jesus, saying, "Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And calling a child [to himself], he had him stand in their midst and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you turn around and become like young children, you will never enter into the kingdom of heaven!read more.
Therefore whoever humbles himself like this child, this person is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven,

But they were silent, because they had argued with one another on the way [about] who [was] greatest. And he sat down [and] called the twelve and said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he will be last of all and servant of all." And he took a young child [and] had him stand {among them}. And taking him in his arms, he said to them,read more.
"Whoever welcomes one of the young children such as these in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but the one who sent me."

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, [and] kneeling down [she] asked something from him. And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Say that these two sons of mine may sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your kingdom." But Jesus answered [and] said, "You do not know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?" They said to him, "We are able."read more.
He said to them, "You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but [is] for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." And [when] the ten heard [this], they were indignant concerning the two brothers.

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."read more.
But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking! Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" And they said to him, "We are able." So Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup that I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, but to sit at my right hand or at [my] left is not mine to grant, but [is] for those for whom it has been prepared." And [when they] heard [this], the ten began to be indignant about James and John.

But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' because one is your teacher, and you are all brothers, And do not call [anyone] your father on earth, for one is your heavenly Father. And do not be called teachers, because one is your teacher, the Christ.read more.
And the greatest among you will be your servant.

for you are still fleshly. For where [there is] jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and do you not live like [unregenerate] people? For whenever anyone says, "I am with Paul," and another, "I [am] with Apollos," are you not [merely] human?

But I say this, that each of you is saying, "I am with Paul," and "I [am] with Apollos," and "I [am] with Cephas," and "I [am] with Christ." Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for as many [of you] as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

And Jesus called them to himself [and] said to them, "You know that those who are considered to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their [people] in high positions exercise authority over them. But it is not like this among you! But whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be most prominent among you must be the slave of all.read more.
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life [as] a ransom for many."

But Jesus called them to himself [and] said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions exercise authority over them. It will not be like this among you! But whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be most prominent among you must be your slave--read more.
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life [as] a ransom for many."

Some even because of envy and strife preach Christ, but some also because of good will. The latter [do so] from love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, thinking to raise up affliction in my imprisonment.read more.
{What is the result?} Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. But also I will rejoice,