57 Bible Verses about Suffering, Hardship

The wealth of the rich is his strong city, The ruin of the poor is their poverty.

because the needy one doth not cease out of the land, therefore I am commanding thee, saying, Thou dost certainly open thy hand to thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy one, in thy land.

Lo, wild asses in a wilderness, They have gone out about their work, Seeking early for prey, A mixture for himself -- food for young ones. In a field his provender they reap, And the vineyard of the wicked they glean. The naked they cause to lodge Without clothing. And there is no covering in the cold.read more.
From the inundation of hills they are wet, And without a refuge -- have embraced a rock. They take violently away From the breast the orphan, And on the poor they lay a pledge. Naked, they have gone without clothing, And hungry -- have taken away a sheaf. Between their walls they make oil, Wine-presses they have trodden, and thirst.

for the poor always ye have with you, and me ye have not always;

for the poor always ye have with you, and whenever ye may will ye are able to do them good, but me ye have not always;

for the poor ye have always with yourselves, and me ye have not always.'

They wandered in a wilderness, in a desert by the way, A city of habitation they have not found. Hungry -- yea -- thirsty, Their soul in them becometh feeble,

And the seven years of plenty are completed which have been in the land of Egypt, and the seven years of famine begin to come, as Joseph said, and famine is in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt hath been bread; and all the land of Egypt is famished, and the people crieth unto Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh saith to all the Egyptians, 'Go unto Joseph; that which he saith to you -- do.'read more.
And the famine has been over all the face of the land, and Joseph openeth all places which have corn in them, and selleth to the Egyptians; and the famine is severe in the land of Egypt, and all the earth hath come to Egypt, to buy, unto Joseph, for the famine was severe in all the earth.

And Moses causeth Israel to journey from the Red Sea, and they go out unto the wilderness of Shur, and they go three days in the wilderness, and have not found water, and they come in to Marah, and have not been able to drink the waters of Marah, for they are bitter; therefore hath one called its name Marah. And the people murmur against Moses, saying, 'What do we drink?'

And all the company of the sons of Israel murmur against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness; and the sons of Israel say unto them, 'Oh that we had died by the hand of Jehovah in the land of Egypt, in our sitting by the flesh-pot, in our eating bread to satiety -- for ye have brought us out unto this wilderness to put all this assembly to death with hunger.'

And all the company of the sons of Israel journey from the wilderness of Sin, on their journeyings, by the command of Jehovah, and encamp in Rephidim, and there is no water for the people to drink; and the people strive with Moses, and say, 'Give us water, and we drink.' And Moses saith to them, 'What? -- ye strive with me, what? -- ye try Jehovah?' and the people thirst there for water, and the people murmur against Moses, and say, 'Why is this? -- thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to put us to death, also our sons and our cattle, with thirst.'

And the rabble who are in its midst have lusted greatly, and the sons of Israel also turn back and weep, and say, 'Who doth give us flesh? We have remembered the fish which we do eat in Egypt for nought, the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick; and now our soul is dry, there is not anything, save the manna, before our eyes.'

And it cometh to pass, at the end of days, that the brook drieth up, for there hath been no rain in the land, and the word of Jehovah is unto him, saying, Rise, go to Zarephath, that is to Zidon, and thou hast dwelt there; lo, I have commanded there a widow woman to sustain thee.'read more.
And he riseth, and goeth to Zarephath, and cometh in unto the opening of the city, and lo there, a widow woman gathering sticks, and he calleth unto her, and saith, 'Bring, I pray thee, to me, a little water in a vessel, and I drink.' And she goeth to bring it, and he calleth unto her and saith, 'Bring, I pray thee, to me a morsel of bread in thy hand.' And she saith, 'Jehovah thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but the fulness of the hand of meal in a pitcher, and a little oil in a dish; and lo, I am gathering two sticks, and have gone in and prepared it for myself, and for my son, and we have eaten it -- and died.'

And there is a great cry of the people and their wives, concerning their brethren the Jews, yea, there are who are saying, 'Our sons, and our daughters, we -- are many, and we receive corn, and eat, and live.' And there are who are saying, 'Our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses, we are pledging, and we receive corn for the famine.'read more.
And there are who are saying, 'We have borrowed money for the tribute of the king, on our fields, and our vineyards; and now, as the flesh of our brethren is our flesh, as their sons are our sons, and lo, we are subduing our sons and our daughters for servants, and there are of our daughters subdued, and our hand hath no might, and our fields and our vineyards are to others.'

and having fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he did hunger.

forty days being tempted by the Devil, and he did not eat anything in those days, and they having been ended, he afterward hungered,

And to the man He said, 'Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and dost eat of the tree concerning which I have charged thee, saying, Thou dost not eat of it, cursed is the ground on thine account; in sorrow thou dost eat of it all days of thy life, and thorn and bramble it doth bring forth to thee, and thou hast eaten the herb of the field; by the sweat of thy face thou dost eat bread till thy return unto the ground, for out of it hast thou been taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust thou turnest back.'

These twenty years I am with thee: thy ewes and thy she-goats have not miscarried, and the rams of thy flock I have not eaten; the torn I have not brought in unto thee -- I, I repay it -- from my hand thou dost seek it; I have been deceived by day, and I have been deceived by night; I have been thus: in the day consumed me hath drought, and frost by night, and wander doth my sleep from mine eyes.read more.
This is to me twenty years in thy house: I have served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy flock; and thou changest my hire ten times; unless the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the Fear of Isaac, had been for me, surely now empty thou hadst sent me away; mine affliction and the labour of my hands hath God seen, and reproveth yesternight.'

and they send and call for him, and Jeroboam cometh in, and all Israel, and speak unto Rehoboam, saying, Thy father made our yoke sharp, and now, make light somewhat of the sharp service of thy father, and of his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we serve thee.'

for ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail, for, night and day working not to be a burden upon any of you, we did preach to you the good news of God;

Because of the multitude of oppressions They cause to cry out, They cry because of the arm of the mighty.

And they set over it princes of tribute, so as to afflict it with their burdens, and it buildeth store-cities for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses;

And it cometh to pass during these many days, that the king of Egypt dieth, and the sons of Israel sigh because of the service, and cry, and their cry goeth up unto God, because of the service;

and the proper quantity of the bricks which they are making heretofore ye do put on them, ye do not diminish from it, for they are remiss, therefore they are crying, saying, Let us go, let us sacrifice to our God; let the service be heavy on the men, and let them work at it, and not be dazzled by lying words.'

And a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets hath cried unto Elisha, saying, 'Thy servant, my husband, is dead, and thou hast known that thy servant was fearing Jehovah, and the lender hath come to take my two children to him for servants.'

Because of the spoiling of the poor, Because of the groaning of the needy, Now do I arise, saith Jehovah, I set in safety him who doth breathe for it.

Favour me, O Jehovah, for distress is to me, Mine eye, my soul, and my body Have become old by provocation. For my life hath been consumed in sorrow And my years in sighing. Feeble because of mine iniquity hath been my strength, And my bones have become old. Among all mine adversaries I have been a reproach, And to my neighbours exceedingly, And a fear to mine acquaintances, Those seeing me without -- fled from me.read more.
I have been forgotten as dead out of mind, I have been as a perishing vessel. For I have heard an evil account of many, Fear is round about. In their being united against me, To take my life they have devised,

For thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Cut down her wood, And pour out against Jerusalem a mount, She is the city to be inspected, Wholly -- she is oppression in her midst.

Sound ye unto palaces in Ashdod, And to palaces in the land of Egypt, and say: Be ye gathered on mountains of Samaria, And see many troubles within her, And oppressed ones in her midst.

lo, the reward of the workmen, of those who in-gathered your fields, which hath been fraudulently kept back by you -- doth cry out, and the exclamations of those who did reap into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth have entered;

And we are working in the business, and half of them are keeping hold of the spears, from the going up of the dawn till the coming forth of the stars. Also, at that time I said to the people, 'Let each with his servant lodge in the midst of Jerusalem, and they have been to us by night a guard, and by day for the work:' and there are none -- I and my brethren and my servants, the men of the guard who are after me -- there are none of us putting off our garments, each hath his vessel of water.

and Moses recounteth to his father-in-law all that Jehovah hath done to Pharaoh, and to the Egyptians, on account of Israel, all the travail which hath found them in the way, and Jehovah doth deliver them.

And to Abiathar the priest said the king, 'To Anathoth go, unto thy fields; for a man of death thou art, but in this day I do not put thee to death, because thou hast borne the ark of the Lord Jehovah before David my father, and because thou wast afflicted in all that my father was afflicted in.'

And three of the thirty heads go down on the rock unto David, unto the cave of Adullam, and the host of the Philistines is encamping in the valley of Rephaim, and David is then in the fortress, and the station of the Philistines is then in Beth-Lehem, and David longeth, and saith, 'Who doth give me to drink water from the well of Beth-Lehem, that is at the gate!'read more.
And the three break through the camp of the Philistines, and draw water from the well of Beth-Lehem, that is at the gate, and bear and bring in unto David, and David hath not been willing to drink it, and poureth it out to Jehovah, and saith, 'Far be it from me, by my God, to do this; the blood of these men do I drink with their lives? for with their lives they have brought it;' and he was not willing to drink it; these things did the three mighty ones.

And when the fourteenth night came -- we being borne up and down in the Adria -- toward the middle of the night the sailors were supposing that some country drew nigh to them; and having sounded they found twenty fathoms, and having gone a little farther, and again having sounded, they found fifteen fathoms, and fearing lest on rough places we may fall, out of the stern having cast four anchors, they were wishing day to come.read more.
And the sailors seeking to flee out of the ship, and having let down the boat to the sea, in pretence as if out of the foreship they are about to cast anchors, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, 'If these do not remain in the ship -- ye are not able to be saved;' then the soldiers did cut off the ropes of the boat, and suffered it to fall off. And till the day was about to be, Paul was calling upon all to partake of nourishment, saying, 'Fourteen days to-day, waiting, ye continue fasting, having taken nothing, wherefore I call upon you to take nourishment, for this is for your safety, for of not one of you shall a hair from the head fall;' and having said these things, and having taken bread, he gave thanks to God before all, and having broken it, he began to eat; and all having become of good cheer, themselves also took food, (and we were -- all the souls in the ship -- two hundred, seventy and six), and having eaten sufficient nourishment, they were lightening the ship, casting forth the wheat into the sea. And when the day came, they were not discerning the land, but a certain creek were perceiving having a beach, into which they took counsel, if possible, to thrust forward the ship, and the anchors having taken up, they were committing it to the sea, at the same time -- having loosed the bands of the rudders, and having hoisted up the mainsail to the wind -- they were making for the shore, and having fallen into a place of two seas, they ran the ship aground, and the fore-part, indeed, having stuck fast, did remain immoveable, but the hinder-part was broken by the violence of the waves. And the soldiers' counsel was that they should kill the prisoners, lest any one having swam out should escape, but the centurion, wishing to save Paul, hindered them from the counsel, and did command those able to swim, having cast themselves out first -- to get unto the land, and the rest, some indeed upon boards, and some upon certain things of the ship; and thus it came to pass that all came safe unto the land.

Because that thou hast not served Jehovah thy God with joy, and with gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things -- thou hast served thine enemies, whom Jehovah sendeth against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in lack of all things; and he hath put a yoke of iron on thy neck, till He hath destroyed thee.

who is causing thee to go in the great and the terrible wilderness -- burning serpent, and scorpion, and thirst -- where there is no water; who is bringing out to thee waters from the flinty rock;

and the Egyptians do us evil, and afflict us, and put on us hard service; and we cry unto Jehovah, God of our fathers, and Jehovah heareth our voice, and seeth our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression;

A Song of the Ascents. Remember, Jehovah, for David, all his afflictions.

but in everything recommending ourselves as God's ministrants; in much patience, in tribulations, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in insurrections, in labours, in watchings, in fastings,

for ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that because of you he became poor -- being rich, that ye by that poverty may become rich.

Having proclaimed good news also to that city, and having discipled many, they turned back to Lystra, and Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting to remain in the faith, and that through many tribulations it behoveth us to enter into the reign of God,

unto the present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and wander about, and labour, working with our own hands; being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer; being spoken evil of, we entreat; as filth of the world we did become -- of all things an offscouring -- till now.

For we do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, of our tribulation that happened to us in Asia, that we were exceedingly burdened above our power, so that we despaired even of life; but we ourselves in ourselves the sentence of the death have had, that we may not be trusting on ourselves, but on God, who is raising the dead,

ministrants of Christ are they? -- as beside myself I speak -- I more; in labours more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths many times; from Jews five times forty stripes save one I did receive; thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice was I shipwrecked, a night and a day in the deep I have passed;read more.
journeyings many times, perils of rivers, perils of robbers, perils from kindred, perils from nations, perils in city, perils in wilderness, perils in sea, perils among false brethren; in labouriousness and painfulness, in watchings many times, in hunger and thirst, in fastings many times, in cold and nakedness; apart from the things without -- the crowding upon me that is daily -- the care of all the assemblies. Who is infirm, and I am not infirm? who is stumbled, and I am not fired;

not that in respect of want I say it, for I did learn in the things in which I am -- to be content; I have known both to be abased, and I have known to abound; in everything and in all things I have been initiated, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want. For all things I have strength, in Christ's strengthening me;read more.
but ye did well, having communicated with my tribulation;

thou, therefore, suffer evil as a good soldier of Jesus Christ;

for also with my bonds ye sympathised, and the robbery of your goods with joy ye did receive, knowing that ye have in yourselves a better substance in the heavens, and an enduring one.

they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tried; in the killing of the sword they died; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins -- being destitute, afflicted, injuriously treated, of whom the world was not worthy; in deserts wandering, and in mountains, and in caves, and in the holes of the earth;

if chastening ye endure, as to sons God beareth Himself to you, for who is a son whom a father doth not chasten?

and thou didst bear, and hast endurance, and because of my name hast toiled, and hast not been weary.

but we ourselves in ourselves the sentence of the death have had, that we may not be trusting on ourselves, but on God, who is raising the dead,

and ye shall be hated by all because of my name, but he who hath endured to the end, he shall be saved.

and ye shall be hated by all because of my name, but he who hath endured to the end -- he shall be saved.

Happy the man who doth endure temptation, because, becoming approved, he shall receive the crown of the life, which the Lord did promise to those loving Him.

lo, we call happy those who are enduring; the endurance of Job ye heard of, and the end of the Lord ye have seen, that very compassionate is the Lord, and pitying.

for this is gracious, if because of conscience toward God any one doth endure sorrows, suffering unrighteously;