'Destroy' in the Bible

“See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms,To uproot and break down,To destroy and to overthrow,To build and to plant.”

Therefore a lion from the forest will kill them,A wolf of the deserts will destroy them,A leopard is watching their cities.Everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,Because their transgressions are many,Their desertions of faith are countless.

“Go up through the rows of Jerusalem’s vineyards and destroy [them],But do not completely destroy everything.Strip away her branches and the tendrils [of her vines],For they are not the Lord’s.

“They will consume your harvest and [eat up] your bread;They will consume your sons and your daughters;They will consume your flocks and your herds;They will consume your vines and your fig trees.With the sword they will break down and demolish your fortified cities in which you trust.

“I will destroy the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem), the lovely and delicate one [so like a luxurious pasture].

‘Arise, let us [awaken to] attack her at nightAnd destroy her [fortified] palaces!’”

But I was like a gentle and tame lamb brought to the slaughter;And I did not know that they had devised plots and schemes against me, saying,“Let us destroy the tree with its fruit;Let us cut him off from the land of the living,That his name be remembered no longer.”

But if [any nation] will not listen and obey, I will [completely] uproot and destroy that nation, says the Lord.”

I will smash them one against another, both the fathers and the sons together,” says the Lord. “I shall destroy them [nothing will restrain Me]; I will not show pity nor be sorry nor have compassion.”’”

I will appoint four kinds of destroyers over them,” says the Lord, “the sword to slay, the dogs to tear and drag away, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and to destroy.

“You have abandoned (rejected) Me,” says the Lord.“You keep going backward.Therefore I shall stretch out My hand against you and destroy you;I am tired of delaying [your punishment]!

“I will winnow (sort, separate) them with a winnowing forkAt the gates of the land;I will deprive them of children, I will destroy My people;They did not repent and turn from their [evil] ways.

Let those who persecute me be shamed, but as for me, protect me from shame;Let them lose courage, but let me be undaunted.Bring on them a day of tragedy,And destroy them with double destruction!

At one moment I might [suddenly] speak concerning a nation or kingdom, that I will uproot and break down and destroy;

“Woe to the shepherds (civil leaders, rulers) who are destroying and scattering the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord.

behold (hear this), I will send for all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘and I will send for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant [to enact My plan], and I will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these surrounding nations; and I will utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing [that is, an object of warning and ridicule] and an everlasting desolation.

It will be that as I have watched over them to uproot and to break down, to overthrow, destroy, and afflict with disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant [with good],” says the Lord.

And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You have burned this scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land, and will cut off man and beast from it?’”

Egypt rises like the Nile,Even like the rivers whose waters surge about.And He has said, “I will rise, I will cover that land;I will certainly destroy the city and its inhabitants.”

Because of the day that is comingTo destroy all the PhilistinesAnd to cut off from Tyre and SidonEvery ally who remains.For the Lord is going to destroy the Philistines,The remnant [still surviving] of the coastland of Caphtor.

“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.

“If grape gatherers came to you,Would they not leave some ungleaned grapes [on the vines]?If thieves came by night,Would they not destroy [only] what is enough [for them]?

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.

‘Then I will set My throne [of judgment] in ElamAnd I will destroy from there the king and princes,’Says the Lord.

“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.”

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.

“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.

Sharpen the arrows, take up the shields [and cover yourselves]!The Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of the Medes,Because His purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it;For that is the vengeance of the Lord, vengeance [on Babylon] for [plundering and destroying] His temple.

“You [Cyrus of Persia, soon to conquer Babylon] are My battle-axe and weapon of war—For with you I shatter nations,With you I destroy kingdoms.

“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).