'Against' in the Bible

“The sound [of Egypt fleeing from the enemy] is like [the rustling of] an escaping serpent,For her foes advance with a mighty armyAnd come against her like woodcutters with axes.

The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says, “Behold, I am going to punish Amon [chief god of the sacred city] of Thebes [the capital of Upper Egypt], and Pharaoh, and Egypt along with her gods and her kings—even Pharaoh and those who put their trust in him [as a shield against Babylon].

“How can His sword be quietWhen the Lord has given it an order?Against Ashkelon and against the [whole Philistine] seashoreThere He has assigned it.”

“The glory of Moab is no more;In Heshbon they planned evil against her,Saying, ‘Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!’You also, O [city of] Madmen, shall be silenced;The sword will pursue you.

“Come down from your glory,O Daughter living in Dibon,And sit on the parched ground [among the thirsty]!For the destroyer of Moab has advanced against you;He has destroyed your strongholds.

“Make him drunk, for he has become arrogant and magnified himself against the Lord [by denying Reuben’s occupation of the land the Lord had assigned him]. Moab also will wallow in his vomit, and he too shall become a laughingstock.

For thus says the Lord:“Behold, one (Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon) will fly swiftly like an eagleAnd spread out his wings against Moab.

“Moab will be destroyed from being a nation (people)Because he has become arrogant and magnified himself against the Lord.

Concerning the sons (descendants) of Ammon.Thus says the Lord:“Does Israel have no sons [to reclaim Gad from the Ammonites]?Has he no heir?Why then has Malcam taken possession of GadAnd [why do] his people live in the cities [of Gad]?

“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,“When I will cause an alarm of war to be heardAgainst Rabbah of the Ammonites;And it [along with the high ground on which it stands] will become a desolate heap,And its villages will be set on fire.Then will Israel take possession of his possessors,”Says the Lord.

“Why do you boast of your valleys?Your valley is flowing away,[O Ammon] rebellious and faithless daughterWho trusts in her treasures, saying,‘Who will come against me?’

Concerning Edom.Thus says the Lord of hosts,“Is there no longer any wisdom in Teman?Has good counsel vanished from the intelligent and prudent?Has their wisdom decayed?

I have heard a report from the Lord,And a messenger has been sent to the nations, saying,“Gather together and come against her,And rise up for the battle.”

See, one will come like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan against the enduring habitation [of Edom] and its watered pastures; for in an instant I will make him (Edom) run from his land. I will appoint over him the one whom I choose. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me [into court] and prosecute Me [for this]? Who is the [earthly] shepherd who can stand [defiantly] before Me?”

Therefore hear the plan of the Lord which He has devised against Edom, and [hear] what He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: surely they will be dragged away, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their dwelling place desolate because of them.

Behold, He will mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread His wings against [the city of] Bozrah; and in that day the heart of the mighty warriors of Edom will be like the heart of a woman in childbirth.

Concerning Damascus [in Syria].“Hamath and Arpad are perplexed and shamed,For they have heard bad news;They are disheartened;Troubled and anxious like a [storm-tossed] seaWhich cannot be calmed.

Concerning Kedar and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon defeated. Thus says the Lord,“Arise, go up against KedarAnd destroy the men of the east.

“Flee, run far away! Dwell in the depths [of the desert],O inhabitants of Hazor,” says the Lord,“For Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has planned a course of action against youAnd devised a scheme against you.

The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:

The word that the Lord spoke concerning Babylon and concerning the land of the Chaldeans through Jeremiah the prophet:

For out of the north a nation (Media) has come against her which will make her land desolate, and no one will live there. They have fled, they have gone away—both man and animal.

“All who found them have devoured them;And their adversaries have said, ‘We are not guilty,Because they have sinned against the Lord [and are no longer holy to Him], their [true] habitation of righteousness and justice,Even the Lord, the [confident] hope of their fathers.’

“For behold, I will stir up and bring up against BabylonAn assembly of great nations from the north country.They will equip themselves and set up the battle lines against her;From there she will be taken captive.Their arrows will be like an expert warriorWho will not return empty-handed.

“Set yourselves in battle formation against Babylon on every side,All you archers.Shoot at her! Do not spare the arrows,For she has sinned against the Lord.

“Raise the battle cry against her on every side!She has given her hand [in agreement] and has surrendered; her pillars have fallen,Her walls have been torn down.For this is the vengeance of the Lord:Take vengeance on her;As she has done [to others], do to her.

“Go against [Babylon] the land of Merathaim (Double Rebellion),Go up against it and against the people of Pekod (Punishment).Kill and utterly destroy them,” says the Lord,“And do everything that I have commanded you.”

“I set a trap for you and you also were caught, O Babylon,And you did not know it;You have been found and also seizedBecause you have struggled against the Lord.”

Come against her from the farthest border.Open her storehouses;Pile it up like heaps of rubbish.Burn and destroy her completely;Let nothing be left of her.

“Call together many [archers] against Babylon,All those who bend the bow.Encamp against her on every side;Let no one from there escape.Repay her according to her actions;Just as she has done, do to her.For she has been proudly defiant and presumptuous against the Lord,Against the Holy One of Israel.

“Behold, I am against you, [O Babylon, you] arrogant one, [you who are pride and presumption personified],”Says the Lord God of hosts,“For your day has come,The time when I will punish you.

“They seize their bow and spear;They are cruel and have no compassion.They sound like the roaring of the sea;They ride on horses,Every man equipped like a man [ready] for the battleAgainst you, O Daughter of Babylon.

“See, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan against the enduring habitation [of Babylon] and its watered pastures; for in an instant I will make Babylon run from his land. I will appoint over Babylon the one whom I choose. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me [into court] and prosecute Me [for this]? Who is the [earthly] shepherd who can stand [defiantly] before Me?”

Therefore hear the plan of the Lord which He has devised against Babylon, and hear what He has purposed against [the inhabitants of the land of] the Chaldeans: surely they will be dragged away, [even] the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their habitation desolate because of them.

Thus says the Lord:“Behold, I am going to stir up and put into action [a fury] against BabylonAnd against the [rebellious] people of Leb-kamai (Chaldea)A destroying wind and hostile spirit;

“And I will send foreigners to Babylon that they may winnow herAnd may devastate and empty her land;For in the day of destructionThey will be against her on every side.

“Do not let him (the Chaldean defender) who bends his bow bend it,Nor let him rise up in his coat of armor.So do not spare her young men;Devote her entire army to destruction.

For neither Israel nor Judah has been abandonedBy his God, the Lord of hosts,Though their land is full of sin and guiltBefore the Holy One of Israel.

We would have healed Babylon, but she was not to be healed.Abandon her and let each [captive] return to his own country,For her guilt and judgment have reached to heavenAnd are lifted up to the very skies.

Set up a signal on the walls of Babylon [to spread the news];Post a strong blockade,Station the guards,Prepare the men for ambush!For the Lord has both purposed and doneThat which He spoke against the people of Babylon.

“Behold, I am against you,O destroying mountain [conqueror of nations],Who destroys the whole earth,” declares the Lord,“I will stretch out My hand against you,And roll you down from the [rugged] cliffs,And will make you a burnt mountain (extinct volcano).

Lift up a signal in the land [to spread the news]!Blow the trumpet among the nations!Dedicate the nations [for war] against her;Call against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz.Appoint a marshal against her;Cause the horses to come up like bristly locusts [with their wings not yet released from their cases].

Prepare and dedicate the nations for war against her—The kings of Media,With their governors and commanders,And every land of their dominion.

The land trembles and writhes [in pain and sorrow],For the purposes of the Lord against Babylon stand,To make the land of BabylonA desolation without inhabitants.

“Now beware so that you do not lose heart,And so that you are not afraid at the rumor that will be heard in the land—For the rumor shall come one year,And after that another rumor in another year,And violence shall be in the land,Ruler against ruler—

“Then heaven and earth and all that is in themWill shout and sing for joy over Babylon,For the destroyers will come against her from the north,”Says the Lord.

So Jeremiah wrote in a single scroll all the disaster which would come on Babylon, [that is] all these words which have been written concerning Babylon.

For all this came about in Jerusalem and Judah because of the anger of the Lord, and [in the end] He cast them from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.

Now it came about in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth day, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem; and they camped against it and built moveable towers and siege mounds all around it.

“From on high He sent fire into my bones,And it prevailed over them.He has spread a net for my feet;He has turned me back.He has made me desolate and hopelessly miserable,Faint all the day long.

“The Lord has rejected all the strong menIn my midst;He has proclaimed an established time against meTo crush my young men.The Lord has trampled down as in a wine pressThe Virgin Daughter of Judah.

Zion stretches out her hands,But there is no comforter for her.The Lord has commanded concerning JacobThat his neighbors should be his enemies;Jerusalem has become a filthy thing [an object of contempt] among them.

“The Lord is righteous and just;For I have rebelled against His commandment (His word).Hear now, all you peoples,And look at my pain;My virgins and my young menHave gone into captivity.

All your enemiesHave opened their mouths wide against you;They [scornfully] hiss and gnash their teeth.They say, “We have swallowed her up!Certainly this is the day for which we waited;We have reached it, we have seen it!”

Surely He has turned His hand against meRepeatedly all the day.

He has besieged and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

All our enemies have gaped at us.

You have seen all their vengeance,All their schemes against me.

You have heard their reproach, O Lord,And all their schemes against me.

The lips and whispering of my assailantsAre against me all day long.

For the [punishment of the] wickedness of the daughter of my people [Jerusalem]Is greater than the [punishment for the] sin of Sodom,Which was overthrown in a moment,And no hands were turned toward her [to offer help].

And He said to me, “I am sending you, son of man, to the children of Israel, to a rebellious people [in both the north and the south] that have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have sinned and revolted against Me to this very day.

Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.

Then lay siege against it, build a siege wall, raise a ramp against it; set up [enemy] camps and place battering rams all around it.

Further, take an iron plate and place it as an iron wall between you and the city, and set your face toward it so that it is under siege, and besiege it. This is a sign to the house of Israel.

Then you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem with your arm bared and prophesy against it.

And she has rebelled against My ordinances more wickedly than the [pagan] nations and against My statutes more than the countries that are around her; for Israel has rejected My ordinances and has not walked in My statutes.’

Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Because you have more turmoil than the nations which surround you and have not walked in My statutes, nor kept My ordinances, nor observed the ordinances of the nations which surround you,’

therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I, I Myself, am against you, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations.

When I send against them the deadly arrows of hunger which were for the destruction of those whom I will send to destroy you, then I will increase the famine upon you and break your staff of bread.

“Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them,

An end is coming; the end has come! It has awakened against you. Look, it has come!

Now I will soon pour out My wrath on you and spend My anger against you, and I will judge you in accordance with your ways and will repay you [with punishment] for all your outrageous acts.

Therefore, prophesy against them; prophesy, son of man!”

“Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy from their own inspiration, ‘Hear the word of the Lord!

Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “Because you have spoken empty and delusive words and have seen lies, therefore behold, I am against you,” says the Lord God.

“So My hand will be against the [counterfeit] prophets who see (make up) empty and delusive visions and who give lying prophecies. They will have no place in the [secret] council of My people, nor will they be recorded in the register of the house of Israel, nor will they enter into the land of Israel, that you may know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord God.

“Now you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are prophesying out of [the wishful thinking of] their own mind (inspiration). Prophesy against them

Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against your magic bands [and veils] by which you hunt [human] lives as birds and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the lives you hunt go free, even those lives whom you hunt as birds.

I will set My face against that man [that hypocrite] and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from among My people; and you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.

“But if the prophet [who speaks without My authority] is enticed to speak a word [of his own], it is I the Lord who have caused that prophet [to speak falsely to please the inquirer, thus allowing himself to be a party to the inquirer’s sin], and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel.

“Son of man, if a land sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it and destroy its source of bread and send famine on it and cut off from it both man and animal,

and I set My face against them. Though they have come out of the fire, yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them.

Behold now [listen very carefully], I have stretched out My hand against you, reduced your portion, and handed you over to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your infamous behavior.

therefore, listen, I will gather all your lovers (pagan allies) with whom you took pleasure, and all those whom you loved with all those whom you hated; I will even gather them against you from every direction and will expose your nakedness to them that they may see all your nakedness [making you, Israel, an object of loathing and of mockery, a spectacle among the nations].

They will also incite a crowd against you and they will stone you and slaughter you with their swords.

“Behold, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb against you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’

But Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar by sending his ambassadors to Egypt so that they might give him horses and many troops. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Can he indeed break the covenant [with Babylon] and [still] escape?

I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare; and I will bring him to Babylon and will enter into judgment with him there for his treason which he has committed against Me.

All of his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced [for his moral and spiritual integrity in every area and relationship], he will live.

Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed [against Me], and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why should you die, O house of Israel?

‘Then the nations set against him (the king)On every side from the provinces,And they spread their net over him;He was captured in their pit.

But they rebelled against Me and were not willing to listen to Me; they did not throw away the detestable things on which they feasted their eyes, nor did they give up the idols of Egypt.“Then I decided to pour out My wrath on them and finish My anger against them in the land of Egypt.

But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not walk in My statutes and they despised and rejected My ordinances, which, if a man keeps, he will live; and they greatly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I decided to pour out My wrath on them in the wilderness, to annihilate them.

Yet the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to observe My ordinances, which, if a man keeps, he will live; they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I decided to pour out My wrath on them and finish My anger against them in the wilderness.

“Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Again in this your fathers have blasphemed Me, in that they acted faithlessly and treacherously against Me.

And I will separate from you the rebels and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the land where they temporarily live, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Thus you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.

“Son of man, set your face toward Teman, and speak out against the south and prophesy against the forest land of the Negev (the South),

“Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and direct your [prophetic] word against the sanctuaries; prophesy against the land of Israel

and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am against you and will draw My sword out of its sheath and I will cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked.