57 Bible Verses about Suffering, Hardship

The rich man's wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty.

For the poor shall never cease from the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thy hand wide to thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

Behold, as wild asses in the desert, they go forth to their work; rising betimes for a prey: the wilderness yieldeth food for them and for their children. They reap every one his corn in the field: and they gather the vintage of the wicked. They cause the naked to lodge without clothing, that they have no covering in the cold.read more.
They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter. They pluck the fatherless from the breast, and take a pledge of the poor. They cause him to go naked without clothing, and they take away the sheaf from the hungry; Who make oil within their walls, and tread their wine-presses, and suffer thirst.

For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always.

For ye have the poor with you always, and whenever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always.

For the poor ye have always with you; but me ye have not always.

They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.

And the seven years of plenteousness that was in the land of Egypt, were ended. And the seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said: and the dearth was in all lands; but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread: and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, Go to Joseph; what he saith to you, do.read more.
And the famine was over all the face of the earth; and Joseph opened all the store-houses, and sold to the Egyptians; and the famine became severe in the land of Egypt. And all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy corn; because the famine was distressing in all lands.

So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah; for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?

And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, O that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, and when we did eat bread to the full: for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and encamped in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink. Wherefore the people contended with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said to them, Why chide you with me? why do ye tempt the LORD? And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Why is this that thou hast brought us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

And the mixed multitude that was among them fell to lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish which we ate in Egypt freely: the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic: But now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all, besides this manna, before our eyes.

And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. And the word of the LORD came to him, saying, Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.read more.
So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering sticks: and he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And as she was going to bring it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand. And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

And there was a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews. For there were that said, We, our sons, and our daughters, are many: therefore we take up corn for them, that we may eat, and live. Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth.read more.
There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute, and that upon our lands and vineyards. Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought to bondage already: neither is it in our power to redeem them; for other men have our lands and vineyards.

And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward hungry.

Being forty days tempted by the devil. And in those days he ate nothing; and when they were ended, he was afterward hungry.

And to Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou shalt return to the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou return.

These twenty years have I been with thee: thy ewes and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten. That which was torn by beasts, I brought not to thee; I bore the loss of it; of my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night. Thus I was; in the day the drouth consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from my eyes.read more.
Thus have I been twenty years in thy house: I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times. Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac had been with me, surely thou hadst now sent me away empty. God hath seen my affliction, and the labor of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.

And they sent and called him. So Jeroboam and all Israel came and spoke to Rehoboam, saying, Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee.

For ye remember, brethren, our labor and toil: for laboring night and day, because we would not be chargeable to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.

By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty.

Therefore they set over them task-masters, to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure-cities, Pithom, and Raamses.

And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried; and their cry ascended to God, by reason of the bondage.

And the number of the bricks which they made heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish aught thereof; for they are idle: therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. Let more work be laid upon the men, that they may labor therein: and let them not regard vain words.

Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets to Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant feared the LORD: and the creditor hath come to take to him my two sons to be bond-men.

For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him.

Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: my eye is consumed with grief, yes, my soul and my belly. For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength faileth because of my iniquity, and my bones are consumed. I was a reproach among all my enemies, but especially among my neighbors, and a fear to my acquaintance: they that saw me without fled from me.read more.
I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel. For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.

For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her.

Publish in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst of it, and the oppressed in the midst of it.

Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped your fields, which is by you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them who have reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

So we labored in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning till the stars appeared. Likewise at the same time said I to the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labor in the day. So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing.

And Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh, and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, and all the travail that had come upon them by the way, and how the LORD delivered them.

And to Abiathar the priest said the king, Depart to Anathoth, to thy own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou didst bear the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all in which my father was afflicted.

Now three of the thirty captains went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines encamped in the valley of Rephaim. And David was then in the hold, and the Philistines' garrison was then at Beth-lehem. And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Beth-lehem, that is at the gate!read more.
And the three broke through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: but David would not drink of it, but poured it out to the LORD, And said, My God forbid it me, that I should do this thing: shall I drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy? for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it. Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mightiest.

When the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen suspected that they drew near to some country: And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms. Then fearing lest we should fall upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day.read more.
And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under color as though they would cast anchors out of the foreship, Paul said to the centurion, and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off. And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take food, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried, and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Wherefore I pray you to take some food; for this is for your health: for there shall not a hair fall from the head of any of you. And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all; and when he had broken it, he began to eat. Then they were all of good cheer, and they also took food. And we were in all in the ship two hundred and seventy six souls. And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast the wheat into the sea. And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they discovered a certain creek with a shore, into which they purposed, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship. And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves to the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoisted the mainsail to the wind, and made towards the shore. And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained immovable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves. And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape. But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that they who could swim, should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land: And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship: And so it came to pass, that they all escaped safe to land.

Because thou didst not serve the LORD thy God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things: Therefore shalt thou serve thy enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he hath destroyed thee.

Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drouth, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;

And the Egyptians ill-treated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: And when we cried to the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labor, and our oppression:

A Song of degrees. LORD, remember David and all his afflictions;

But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings;

For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and to Antioch, Confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

Even to this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place; And labor, working with our own hands. Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; Being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things to this day.

For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life: But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead:

Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once I was stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;read more.
In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is made to fall into sin, and I burn not?

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatever state I am, with that to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.read more.
Notwithstanding ye have done well, that ye did communicate with my affliction.

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the seizing of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.

They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheep-skins, and goat-skins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons: for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted.

But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead:

And ye will be hated by all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

And ye will be hated by all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved.

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

Behold, we count them happy who endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

For this is thank-worthy, if a man for conscience towards God endureth grief, suffering wrongfully.