'Against' in the Bible

“On my right the [rabble] brood rises;They push my feet away, and they build up their ways of destruction against me [like an advancing army].

“If I have despised and rejected the claim of my male or female servantsWhen they filed a complaint against me,

If I have lifted my hand against the orphan,Because I saw [that the judges would be] my help at the [council] gate,

“For if my land has cried out against me,And its furrows weep together;

But Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became indignant. His indignation was kindled and burned and he became upset with Job because he justified himself rather than God [and even expressed doubts about God’s character].

Elihu’s anger burned against Job’s three friends because they had found no answer [and were unable to determine Job’s error], and yet they had condemned Job and declared him to be in the wrong [and responsible for his own afflictions].

“Now Job has not directed his words against me [therefore I have no reason to be offended],Nor will I answer him with arguments like yours. [I speak for truth, not for revenge.]

‘Behold, God finds pretexts against me;He counts me as His enemy.

“Why do you complain against Him?That He does not answer [you with] all His doings.

Although I am right, I am accounted a liar.My wound is incurable, though I am without transgression.’

‘For he adds rebellion [in his unsubmissive, defiant attitude toward God] to his [unacknowledged] sin;He claps his hands among us [in open mockery and contempt of God],And he multiplies his words [of accusation] against God.’”

“Take heed and be careful, do not turn to wickedness,For you have chosen this [the vice of complaining against God] rather than [learning from] affliction.

“Behold, He spreads His lightning around Him [against the dark clouds],And He covers the depths of the sea.

“After it, His voice roars;He thunders with the voice of His majesty,And He does not restrain His lightning [against His adversaries] when His voice is heard.

“She treats her young cruelly, as if they were not hers;Though her labor is in vain because she is unconcerned [for the safety of her brood],

“If a river rages and overflows, he does not tremble;He is confident, though the Jordan [River] swells and rushes against his mouth.

“Who has first given to Me that I should repay him?Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine. [Who can have a claim against Me who made the unmastered beast?]

“He looks on everything that is high [without terror];He is monarch over all the sons of pride. [And now, Job, who are you who does not dare to disturb the beast, yet who dares resist Me, the beast’s creator? Everything under the heavens is Mine; therefore, who can have a claim against God?]”

It came about that after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.

The kings of the earth take their stand;And the rulers take counsel togetherAgainst the Lord and His Anointed (the Davidic King, the Messiah, the Christ), saying,

O Lord, how my enemies have increased!Many are rising up against me.

I will not be intimidated or afraid of the ten thousandsWho have set themselves against me all around.

Hold them guilty, O God;Let them fall by their own designs and councils!Cast them out because of the abundance of their transgressions,For they are mutinous and have rebelled against You.

Arise, O Lord, in Your anger;Lift up Yourself against the rage of my enemies;Rise up for me; You have commanded judgment and vindication.

He does not slander with his tongue,Nor does evil to his neighbor,Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;

He does not put out his money at interest [to a fellow Israelite],And does not take a bribe against the innocent.He who does these things will never be shaken.

Wondrously show Your [marvelous and amazing] lovingkindness,O Savior of those who take refuge at Your right handFrom those who rise up against them.

For You have encircled me with strength for the battle;You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.

He rescues me from my enemies;Yes, You lift me up above those who rise up against me;You deliver me from the man of violence.

For they planned evil against You;They devised a [malevolent] plotAnd they will not succeed.

They open wide their mouths against me,Like a ravening and a roaring lion.

Though an army encamp against me,My heart will not fear;Though war arise against me,Even in this I am confident.

Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,For false witnesses have come against me;They breathe out violence.

For I have heard the slander and whispering of many,Terror is on every side;While they schemed together against me,They plotted to take away my life.

Let the lying lips be mute,Which speak insolently and arrogantly against the [consistently] righteousWith pride and contempt.

The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,To cut off the memory of them from the earth.

Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;Fight against those who fight against me.

But in my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered together [against me];The slanderers whom I did not know gathered against me;They slandered and reviled me without ceasing.

For they do not speak peace,But they devise deceitful words [half-truths and lies] against those who are quiet in the land.

They open their mouths wide against me;They say, “Aha, aha, our eyes have seen it!”

Do not worry because of evildoers,Nor be envious toward wrongdoers;

The wicked plots against the righteousAnd gnashes at him with his teeth.

For I pray, “May they not rejoice over me,Who, when my foot slips, would boast against me.”

As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”

And when one comes to see me, he speaks empty words,While his heart gathers malicious gossip [against me];When he goes away, he tells it [everywhere].

All who hate me whisper together about me;Against me they devise my hurt [imagining the worst for me], saying,

Even my own close friend in whom I trusted,Who ate my bread,Has lifted up his heel against me [betraying me].

Judge and vindicate me, O God; plead my case against an ungodly nation.O rescue me from the deceitful and unjust man!

Through You we will gore our enemies [like a bull];Through Your name we will trample down those who rise up against us.

“Hear, O My people, and I will speak;O Israel, I will testify against you:I am God, your God.

“You sit and speak against your brother;You slander your own mother’s son.

Against You, You only, have I sinnedAnd done that which is evil in Your sight,So that You are justified when You speak [Your sentence]And faultless in Your judgment.

Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?The lovingkindness of God endures all day long.

There they were, in great terror and dread, where there had been no terror or dread;For God scattered the bones of him who besieged you;You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.

For strangers have risen against meAnd violent men have sought my life;They have not set God before them. Selah.

For it is not an enemy who taunts me—Then I could bear it;Nor is it one who has hated me who insolently exalts himself against me—Then I could hide from him.

He has redeemed my life in peace from the battle that was against me,For there were many against me.

He [my companion] has put out his hands against those who were at peace with him;He has broken his covenant [of friendship and loyalty].

My enemies have trampled upon me all day long,For they are many who fight proudly against me.

All day long they twist my words and say hurtful things;All their thoughts are against me for evil.

Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;Set me securely on an inaccessibly high place away from those who rise up against me.

Look! They lie in wait for my life;Fierce and powerful men [are uniting together to] launch an attack against me,Not for my wrongdoing nor for any sin of mine, O Lord.

Give us help against the enemy,For the help of man is worthless (ineffectual, without purpose).

For You have been a shelter and a refuge for me,A strong tower against the enemy.

So they will be caused to stumble;Their own tongue is against them;All who gaze at them will shake the head [in scorn].

Wickedness and guilt prevail against me;Yet as for our transgressions,You forgive them [removing them from Your sight].

For my enemies have spoken against me;Those who watch for my life have consulted together,

They set their mouth against the heavens,And their tongue swaggers through the earth.

If I had said, “I will say this,” [and expressed my feelings],I would have betrayed the generation of Your children.

O God, why have You rejected us forever?Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?

Do not forget the [clamoring] voices of Your adversaries,The uproar of those who rise against You, which ascends continually [to Your ears].

Yet they still continued to sin against HimBy rebelling against the Most High in the desert.

Then they spoke against God;They said, “Can God prepare [food for] a table in the wilderness?

Therefore, when the Lord heard, He was full of wrath;A fire was kindled against Jacob,And His anger mounted up against Israel,

How often they rebelled against Him in the wildernessAnd grieved Him in the desert!

Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High GodAnd did not keep His testimonies (laws).

O do not remember against us the sins and guilt of our forefathers.Let Your compassion and mercy come quickly to meet us,For we have been brought very low.

“Then I would quickly subdue and humble their enemiesAnd turn My hand against their adversaries;

They concoct crafty schemes against Your people,And conspire together against Your hidden and precious ones.

For they have conspired together with one mind;Against You they make a covenant—

O God, arrogant and insolent men have risen up against me;A band of violent men have sought my life,And they have not set You before them.

But [in apparent contradiction of all this] You [the faithful Lord] have cast off and rejected;You have been full of wrath against Your anointed.

They will lift you up in their hands,So that you do not [even] strike your foot against a stone.

My eye has looked on my foes;My ears hear of the evildoers who rise up against me.

Who will stand up for me against the evildoers?Who will take a stand for me against those who do wickedness?

They band themselves together against the life of the righteousAnd condemn the innocent to death.

He sent [thick, oppressive] darkness and made the land dark;And Moses and Aaron did not rebel against His words.

Therefore He lifted up His hand [swearing] to them,That He would cause them to fall in the wilderness,

Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against His peopleAnd He detested His own inheritance.

Because they had rebelled against the precepts of GodAnd spurned the counsel of the Most High.

Give us help against the adversary,For deliverance by man is in vain [a worthless hope].

For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me;They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.

They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,And have fought against me without a cause.

Let this be the reward of my attackers from the Lord,And of those who speak evil against my life.

I will give thanks to You with an upright heart,When I learn [through discipline] Your righteous judgments [for my transgressions].

Your word I have treasured and stored in my heart,That I may not sin against You.

Even though princes sit and talk to one another against me,Your servant meditates on Your statutes.

The arrogant have forged a lie against me,But I will keep Your precepts with all my heart.

“If it had not been the Lord who was on our sideWhen men rose up against us,

Then they would have [quickly] swallowed us alive,When their wrath was kindled against us;