'Cruelty' in the Bible

For the Lord humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for Ahaz had allowed unrestrained and undisciplined behavior in Judah and had been very unfaithful to the Lord.

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

They slice off [in discord] what is on the right hand but are still hungry,And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied;Each eats the flesh of his own arm.

But Saul began ravaging the church [and assaulting believers]; entering house after house and dragging off men and women, putting them in prison.

For I am the least [worthy] of the apostles, and not fit to be called an apostle, because I [at one time] fiercely oppressed and violently persecuted the church of God.