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 Jehovah. He copied the evil ways of his father. He made Israel sin so much that they provoked Jehovah to anger with their idols. 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. 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. When he became king, he sent destruction on all the offspring of Jeroboam. He killed every person of the family of Jeroboam according to the word of Jehovah as stated by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite. This happened because Jeroboam aroused the anger of Jehovah, the God of Israel, by the sins he committed and that he caused Israel to commit. Everything else that Nadab did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel.

Then the army of Israel was divided into two factions. Half of the army followed Tibni, son of Ginath, and wanted to make him king. The other half followed Omri. But the half that followed Omri was stronger than the half that followed Tibni, Ginath's son. Tibni died and Omri became king.

You have heard what my ancestors and I have done to other nations. Were the gods of those nations able to defend their land against us? None of those gods kept their people safe from the kings of Assyria. Do you really think your God can do any better? Do not be fooled by Hezekiah! No god of any nation has been able to stand up to Assyria. Believe me, your God cannot keep you safe!'read more.
Sennacherib's officers said more against Jehovah God and his servant Hezekiah. Sennacherib wrote letters cursing Jehovah the God of Israel. These letters said: The gods of the nations in other countries could not rescue their people from me. Hezekiah's God cannot rescue his people from me. Sennacherib's officers shouted loudly in the Judean language to the troops who were on the wall of Jerusalem. They tried to frighten and terrify the troops so that they could capture the city. They spoke against the God of Jerusalem as if he were one of the gods of the peoples of the earth, the work of the hands of man. King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz, prayed about this and called to heaven. Jehovah sent an angel who exterminated all the soldiers, officials, and commanders in the Assyrian king's camp. Sennacherib was humiliated and returned to his own country. When he went into the temple of his god, some of his own sons killed him with a sword. So Jehovah saved Hezekiah and the people living in Jerusalem from King Sennacherib of Assyria and from everyone else. Jehovah gave them peace with all their neighbors.

Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: 'Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you. He says to you: Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries. He destroyed them completely. And will you be delivered? Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them? And what about the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar?read more.
Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?'

Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. He went to the temple of Jehovah and spread it out before Jehovah. Hezekiah prayed to Jehovah: O Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.read more.
Give ear, O Jehovah, and hear! Open your eyes, O Jehovah, and see! Listen to all the words Sennacherib said to insult the living God. It is true, Jehovah, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them. But they were not gods! They were only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, O Jehovah our God, deliver us from his hand. That way all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Jehovah, are God. Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah: This is what Jehovah, the God of Israel, says: 'Because you have prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, this is the word Jehovah spoke against him: The Virgin Daughter of Zion despises and mocks you. The Daughter of Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee. Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? It is against the Holy One of Israel! By your messengers you have heaped insults on Jehovah. You said: With my many chariots I have ascended the heights of the mountains, the utmost heights of Lebanon. I cut down its tallest cedars, the choicest of its pines. I reach its remotest heights, the finest of its forests. I dug wells and drank the water there. With the bottom of my feet I dried up all the streams of Egypt. Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it. In days of old I planned it! And now I have brought it to pass, that you have turned fortified cities into piles of stone. Their people are drained of power. They are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, parched before it grows. I know where you stay and when you come and go and how you rage against me. For the reason that you rage against me and because your insolence (arrogance) has reached my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth. I will make you return by the way you came. This will be the sign for you, O Hezekiah: 'This year you will eat what grows by itself. The second year you will eat what springs from that. But in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat their fruit. Again a remnant of the house of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. Out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord Jehovah will accomplish this. Therefore this is what Jehovah says concerning the king of Assyria: He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield, or build a siege ramp against it. He will return by the way that he came. He will not enter this city, declares Jehovah. I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!' The angel of Jehovah put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. The people got up the next morning and saw all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword. They escaped to the land of Ararat. Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.

One day while Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from hunting. He was hungry. He said to Jacob: I am starving! Give me some of that red stuff. (That is why he was named Edom.) Jacob answered: I will give it to you if you give me your birthright as the firstborn son.read more.
Esau said: All right! I am about to die. What good are rights as firstborn to me? Jacob answered: First make a vow that you will give me your birthright. Esau made the vow and gave his rights as firstborn to Jacob. Jacob gave him some bread and some of the soup. He ate and drank and then got up and left. Esau did not care about his birthright.

So Esau bore a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him. Esau said to himself: The days of mourning for my father are near. Then I will kill my brother Jacob.

The other wife did everything possible to make her unhappy. This is because Jehovah had not given her children. Year after year when Peninnah went to the Temple of Jehovah, she kept on provoking Hannah. It bothered Hannah so much she wept and did not eat.

The women who celebrated sang: Saul has defeated thousands but David tens of thousands! Saul became very angry because he considered this saying to be insulting. He said: To David they credit tens of thousands but to me they credit only a few thousand. The only thing left for David is my kingdom. He was jealous and suspicious of David from that day on.

As long as Jesse's son lives on earth, neither you nor your right to be king is secure. Send some men to bring him to me. He is a dead man!

Absalom provided a chariot and horses for himself. He had an escort of fifty men to run ahead of him. He would rise early in the morning and stand by the road at the city gate. When someone came there with a dispute that he wanted the king to settle, Absalom would call him over and ask him where he was from. After the man told him what tribe he was from, Absalom would say: My friend, the law is on your side. However, there is no representative of the king to hear your case.read more.
He added: How I wish I were a judge! Then anyone who had a dispute or a claim could come to me. I would give him justice. The man would approach Absalom and bow down before him. Then Absalom would reach out and hug and kiss him. Absalom did this with every Israelite who came to the king for judgment. That way he won their loyalty. After four years Absalom said to King David: My lord let me go to Hebron and keep a promise I made to Jehovah. When I lived at Geshur in Syria (Aram), I promised Jehovah that if he would take me back to Jerusalem, I would worship him in Hebron. Go in peace, the king said. So Absalom went to Hebron. He sent messengers to all the tribes of Israel. He told them: When you hear the sound of trumpets, shout: 'Absalom is king in Hebron!' Absalom had two hundred men who at his invitation traveled from Jerusalem with him. They knew nothing of the plot and went in good faith. Absalom was offering sacrifices. He sent for Ahithophel, David's adviser, to come from his home in Giloh. Meanwhile, the conspiracy grew stronger. The number of people siding with Absalom kept getting larger. A messenger told David: Absalom has the hearts of the people of Israel.

He thought to himself: The way things are my people will go to Jerusalem and offer sacrifices to Jehovah at the Temple there. They will transfer their allegiance to King Rehoboam of Judah and will kill me.

While your wife is living, never marry her sister as a rival wife and have sexual intercourse with her.

They reasoned among themselves which of them was the greatest. When Jesus detected the reasoning of their heart, he took a little child, and set him by his side. Then he said to them: Whoever receives this little child in my name receives me. Whoever receives me receives him who sent me. He who is least among you will be the greatest!

In that hour the disciples came to Jesus. They asked: Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? He took a little child and put him in the middle of them. He said: Truly I tell 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.
He who humbles himself to become like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

They said nothing because they had had an argument between themselves about who was the greatest. He sat down and the twelve came to him. He said: If any man has the desire to be first, he would be last of all and servant of all. He put a little child in the middle of them and taking him in his arms he said to them:read more.
Whoever receives a little child in my name, receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.

The mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons. She bowed down and requested a favor of him. What is your desire? he asked. She said to him: Let my two sons be seated, the one at your right hand, and the other at your left, in your kingdom. Jesus told her: You have no idea what you are requesting. Are you able to take of the cup I am about to take? read more.
They said: We are able. Truly, you will take of my cup, he said. But to be seated at my right hand and at my left is not for me to give. It is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father. When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers.

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him saying: Teacher, we want you to do for us what we ask of you. He asked: What do you want me to do for you? They said to him: Allow us to sit next to you in your glory. One could sit on your right hand, and one on your left hand.read more.
You do not know what you ask, Jesus replied. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They said: We are able. Jesus replied: The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism that I am baptized you will be baptized. But to sit on my right hand or on my left hand is not mine to give. It is for them for whom it has been prepared. When the ten heard it they were indignant with James and John.

Do not be called Rabbi (master) (teacher) (leader), for only one is your teacher. You are all brothers. Call no man your father on the earth, for only one is your Father in heaven. Do not be called master (teacher) (leader), for only one is your master, and he is Christ.read more.
The greatest among you will be your servant.

You are still fleshly! There is envy, strife, and divisions among you. Do you not walk as ordinary men? While one said, I belong to Paul; and another, I belong to Apollos; are you not fleshly human beings?

Concerning that I say, that each one of you said, I follow Paul; and I follow Apollos; and I follow Cephas; and I follow Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul impaled for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you who were baptized into Christ put on (clothed yourselves with) Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one (united) in Christ Jesus. (John 17:21) (Ephesians 4:4-6)

Jesus called them together and said: You know that those who rule over the nations lord it over them. Their great ones exercise authority over them. It is not so among you. Whoever would become great among you, shall be your minister (servant) (attendant). Whoever would be first among you, shall be servant of all.read more.
For the Son of man also came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Jesus called them to himself and said: You know that the rulers of the nations exercise absolute dominion over them. They lord it over them and behave like tyrants. But it will not be so among you. He who will be great among you must be your servant. And he who will be first among you will be your attendant (servant) (minister).read more.
The Son of man came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom in payment for many.

Some preach Christ from envy and strife and some from good will. The latter ones do it out of love, knowing that I am set (appointed) (placed here) for the defense of the good news. But the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition without pure motives, thinking to cause me great suffering and distress in my imprisonment.read more.
What then? That in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed! For that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice!