'Calamity' in the Bible

And [in that garden] the Lord God caused to grow from the ground every tree that is desirable and pleasing to the sight and good (suitable, pleasant) for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the [experiential] knowledge (recognition) of [the difference between] good and evil.

but [only] from the tree of the knowledge (recognition) of good and evil you shall not eat, otherwise on the day that you eat from it, you shall most certainly die [because of your disobedience].”

For God knows that on the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened [that is, you will have greater awareness], and you will be like God, knowing [the difference between] good and evil.”

And the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), knowing [how to distinguish between] good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take from the tree of life as well, and eat [its fruit], and live [in this fallen, sinful condition] forever”—

The Lord has returned upon you all the bloodshed of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hands of Absalom your son. And behold, you are caught in your own evil, for you are a man of bloodshed!”

“They came upon me in the day of my calamity,But the Lord was my support.

He called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You brought further tragedy to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?”

You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has lifted you up [in pride]. Enjoy your glory but stay at home; for why should you plunge into misery so that you, even you, would fall [at my hand], and Judah with you?”

Then he went in to his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to a son, and he named him Beriah (on misfortune), because tragedy had come on his house.

“Oh, that my grief could actually be weighedAnd placed in the balances together with my tragedy [to see if my grief is the grief of a coward]!

“When [His] scourge kills suddenly,He mocks at the despair of the innocent.

“He will not escape from darkness [fleeing disaster];The flame [of God’s wrath] will wither his branch,And by the blast of His mouth he will go away.

“The strength [of the wicked] is famished and weakened,And disaster is ready at his side [if he stops].

“How often [then] is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out,And that their disaster falls on them?Does God distribute pain and destruction and sorrow [to them] in His anger?

“That evil men are [now] reserved for the day of disaster and destruction,They will be led away on the day of [God’s] wrath?

“They break up and clutter my path [upsetting my plans],They profit from my destruction;No one restrains them.

“However, does not one falling in a heap of ruins stretch out his hand?Or in his disaster [will he not] therefore cry out for help?

“Does not tragedy fall [justly] on the unjustAnd disaster to those who work wickedness?

“For tragedy from God is a terror to me,And because of His majesty and exaltation I can do nothing [nor endure facing Him].

They confronted me in the day of my disaster,But the Lord was my support.

Let those be ashamed and humiliated together who rejoice at my distress;Let those be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves over me.

He sent upon them His burning anger,His fury and indignation and distress,A band of angels of destruction [among them].

No evil will befall you,Nor will any plague come near your tent.

“Do not let a slanderer be established in the earth;Let evil quickly hunt the violent man [to overthrow him and stop his evil acts].”

I also will laugh at your disaster;I will mock when your dread and panic come,

When your dread and panic come like a storm,And your disaster comes like a whirlwind,When anxiety and distress come upon you [as retribution].

Therefore [the crushing weight of] his disaster will come suddenly upon him;Instantly he will be broken, and there will be no healing or remedy [because he has no heart for God].

No harm befalls the righteous,But the wicked are filled with trouble.

The wicked is overthrown through his wrongdoing,But the righteous has hope and confidence and a refuge [with God] even in death.

The Lord has made everything for its own purpose,Even the wicked [according to their role] for the day of evil.

Whoever mocks the poor taunts his Maker,And he who rejoices at [another’s] disaster will not go unpunished.

He who has a crooked mind finds no good,And he who is perverted in his language falls into evil.

A foolish (ungodly) son is destruction to his father,And the contentions of a [quarrelsome] wife are like a constant dripping [of water].

When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous (the upright, the one in right standing with God),But to the evildoers it is disaster.

He who sows injustice will reap [a harvest of] trouble,And the rod of his wrath [with which he oppresses others] will fail.

For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again,But the wicked stumble in time of disaster and collapse.

For their tragedy will rise suddenly,And who knows the punishment that both [the Lord and the king] will bring on the rebellious?

Do not abandon your own friend and your father’s friend,And do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your disaster.Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.

Blessed and favored by God is the man who fears [sin and its consequence] at all times,But he who hardens his heart [and is determined to sin] will fall into disaster.

For man also does not know his time [of death]; like fish caught in a treacherous net, and birds caught in the snare, so the sons of men are ensnared in an evil time when a dark cloud suddenly falls on them.

Woe (judgment is coming) to those who drag along wickedness with cords of falsehood,And sin as if with cart ropes [towing their own punishment];

Yet He is also wise and will bring disaster,And does not retract His words,But will arise against the house of evildoersAnd against the helpers of those who do evil.

The One forming light and creating darkness,Causing peace and creating disaster;I am the Lord who does all these things.

The righteous man perishes [at the hand of evil], and no one takes it to heart;Faithful and devout men are taken away, while no one understandsThat the righteous person is taken away [to be spared] from disaster and evil.

“They will not labor in vain,Or bear children for disaster;For they are the descendants of those blessed by the Lord,And their offspring with them.

“Your ways and your deedsHave brought these things on you.This is your tragedy and doom; how bitter,How it has touched your heart!”

News of one [terrible] disaster comes close after another,For the whole land is devastated;Suddenly my tents are spoiled and destroyed,My [tent] curtains [ruined] in a moment.

Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold I am bringing disaster and suffering on them which they will not be able to escape; though they cry to Me, I will not listen to them.

“What right has My beloved [to be] in My houseWhen she has done many vile things and acted treacherously [over and over again]?Can vows and the meat of your sacrifices remove your wickedness from you and cancel the consequences of your sin,So that you can [escape your judgment and] rejoice?”

For the Lord of hosts, who planted you, has pronounced evil and horror against you because of the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me [to anger] by offering sacrifices and burning incense to Baal.

and there will be no remnant [of the conspirators] left, for I will bring disaster and horror on the men of Anathoth in the year of their punishment.”

‘I will scatter them like an east windBefore the enemy;I will show them My back and not My faceIn the day of their disaster [says the Lord].’”

“Also her mercenaries in her armyAre like fattened calves,For they too have turned back and have fled together;They did not stand [their ground],Because the day of their disaster has come upon them,The time of their punishment.

“The destruction of Moab will come soon,And his disaster hurries quickly.

“Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths [of the desert to escape the judgment of Edom],O inhabitants of Dedan,For I will bring the destruction of Esau (Edom) upon himWhen I inspect and punish him.

“Their camels will become plunder,And their herds of cattle a spoil;And I will scatter to all the [four] winds those who cut the corners of their hair [as evidence of their idolatry],And I will bring their disaster from every side,” says the Lord.

“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.

Then they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would bring this disaster [as punishment] on them.”’

Disaster will come upon disaster and rumor will be heaped on rumor; they will seek a vision from a prophet, but the law and guidance will be lost from the priest and [wise] counsel [will cease] from the elders.

‘It is sharpened to make a slaughter,Polished to flash and glimmer like lightning!’Shall we then rejoice [when such a disaster approaches]? But it rejects and views with contempt the scepter of My son [Judah].

Because you [descendants of Esau] have had an everlasting hatred [for Jacob (Israel)] and you handed over the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their tragedy, at the time of their final punishment [the Babylonian conquest],

Therefore the Lord has kept the tragedy ready and has brought it on us, for the Lord our God is [uncompromisingly] righteous and openly just in all His works which He does—He keeps His word; and we have not obeyed His voice.

O Israel, return [in repentance] to the Lord your God,For you have stumbled and fallen [visited by tragedy], because of your sin.

“Do not enter the gate of My peopleIn the day of their disaster;Yes, you, do not look [with delight] on their miseryIn the day of their ruin,And do not loot treasuresIn the day of their ruin.

“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who obtains wicked gain for his house [and thinks by so doing]To set his nest on high,That he may be rescued from the hand of evil.

“For thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Just as I planned to do harm to you when your fathers provoked Me to wrath,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and I did not relent,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me (the Messiah),Because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor.He has sent Me to announce release (pardon, forgiveness) to the captives,And recovery of sight to the blind,To set free those who are oppressed (downtrodden, bruised, crushed by tragedy),

There will be tribulation and anguish [torturing confinement] for every human soul who does [or permits] evil, to the Jew first and also to the Greek,

Who shall ever separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

who comforts and encourages us in every trouble so that we will be able to comfort and encourage those who are in any kind of trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

The first woe has passed; behold, two woes are still coming after these things.

The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.