'Destroy' in the Bible

They did not destroy the peoplesas the Lord had commanded them

The wicked hope to destroy me,but I contemplate Your decrees.

Remember, Lord, what the Edomites saidthat day at Jerusalem:“Destroy it! Destroy itdown to its foundations!”

and in Your faithful love destroy my enemies.Wipe out all those who attack me,for I am Your servant.

For the turning away of the inexperienced will kill them,and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

Wicked man, don’t set an ambush,at the camp of the righteous man;don’t destroy his dwelling.

Don’t spend your energy on womenor your efforts on those who destroy kings.

Do not let your mouth bring guilt on you, and do not say in the presence of the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?

Don’t be excessively righteous, and don’t be overly wise. Why should you destroy yourself?

Wisdom is better than weapons of war,but one sinner can destroy much good.

But this is not what he intends;this is not what he plans.It is his intent to destroyand to cut off many nations.

He will completely destroythe glory of its forests and orchardsas a sickness consumes a person.

None will harm or destroy anotheron My entire holy mountain,for the land will be as fullof the knowledge of the Lordas the sea is filled with water.

They are coming from a far land,from the distant horizon—the Lord and the weapons of His wrath—to destroy the whole country.

Look, the day of the Lord is coming—cruel, with rage and burning anger—to make the earth a desolationand to destroy the sinners on it.

On this mountainHe will destroy the burial shroud,the shroud over all the peoples,the sheet covering all the nations;

He will destroy death forever.The Lord God will wipe away the tearsfrom every faceand remove His people’s disgracefrom the whole earth,for the Lord has spoken.

The scoundrel’s weapons are destructive;he hatches plots to destroy the needy with lies,even when the poor says what is right.

Have I attacked this land to destroy it without the Lord’s approval? The Lord said to me, ‘Attack this land and destroy it.’”

Your builders hurry;those who destroy and devastate you will leave you.

But you have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,who stretched out the heavensand laid the foundations of the earth.You are in constant dread all day longbecause of the fury of the oppressor,who has set himself to destroy.But where is the fury of the oppressor?

The Lord says this:As the new wine is found in a bunch of grapes,and one says, ‘Don’t destroy it,for there’s some good in it,’so I will act because of My servantsand not destroy them all.

The wolf and the lamb will feed together,and the lion will eat straw like the ox,but the serpent’s food will be dust!They will not do what is evil or destroyon My entire holy mountain,”says the Lord.

See, I have appointed you todayover nations and kingdomsto uproot and tear down,to destroy and demolish,to build and plant.

Go up among her vineyard terraces and destroy them,but do not finish them off.Prune away her shoots,for they do not belong to the Lord.

They will consume your harvest and your food.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.They will destroy with the swordyour fortified cities in which you trust.

Though she is beautiful and delicate,I will destroy Daughter Zion.

Rise up, let’s attack by night.Let us destroy her fortresses.”

for I was like a docile lamb led to slaughter.I didn’t know that they had devised plots against me:“Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit;let’s cut him off from the land of the livingso that his name will no longer be remembered.”

“I will ordain four kinds of judgment for them”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the land to devour and destroy.

At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy it.

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” This is the Lord’s declaration.

I am going to send for all the families of the north’—this is the Lord’s declaration—‘and send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will bring them against this land, against its residents, and against all these surrounding nations, and I will completely destroy them and make them a desolation, a derision, and ruins forever.

Just as I watched over them to uproot and to tear them down, to demolish and to destroy, and to cause disaster, so will I be attentive to build and to plant them,” says the Lord.

You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: This is what the Lord says: You have burned the scroll, saying, ‘Why have you written on it: The king of Babylon will certainly come and destroy this land and cause it to be without man or beast?’

Egypt rises like the Nile,and its waters churn like rivers.He boasts, “I will go up, I will cover the earth;I will destroy cities with their residents.”

on account of the day that is comingto destroy all the Philistines,to cut off from Tyre and Sidonevery remaining ally.Indeed, the Lord is about to destroy the Philistines,the remnant of the islands of Caphtor.

If grape harvesters came to you,wouldn’t they leave some gleanings?Were thieves to come in the night,they would destroy only what they wanted.

About Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon’s king, defeated, this is what the Lord says:Rise up, go against Kedar,and destroy the people of the east!

I will set My throne in Elam,and I will destroy the king and officials from there.This is the Lord’s declaration.

Come against her from the most distant places.Open her granaries;pile her up like mounds of grainand completely destroy her.Leave her no survivors.

Don’t let the archer string his bow;don’t let him put on his armor.Don’t spare her young men;completely destroy her entire army!

Sharpen the arrows!Fill the quivers!The Lord has put it into the mindof the kings of the Medesbecause His plan is aimed at Babylonto destroy her,for it is the Lord’s vengeance,vengeance for His temple.

ח KhetThe Lord determined to destroythe wall of Daughter Zion.He stretched out a measuring lineand did not restrain Himself from destroying.He made the ramparts and walls grieve;together they waste away.

You will pursue them in anger and destroy themunder Your heavens.

When I shoot deadly arrows of famine at them, arrows for destruction that I will send to destroy you, inhabitants of Jerusalem, I will intensify the famine against you and cut off your supply of bread.

You are to say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! This is what the Lord God says to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.

While they were killing, I was left alone. And I fell facedown and cried out, “Oh, Lord God! Are You going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel when You pour out Your wrath on Jerusalem?”

“But if the prophet is deceived and speaks a message, it was I, Yahweh, who deceived that prophet. I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel.

Pharaoh will not help him with his great army and vast horde in battle, when ramps are built and siege walls constructed to destroy many lives.

I searched for a man among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land so that I might not destroy it, but I found no one.

therefore I am about to stretch out My hand against you and give you as plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and eliminate you from the countries. I will destroy you, and you will know that I am Yahweh.”

They will destroy the walls of Tyre and demolish her towers. I will scrape the soil from her and turn her into a bare rock.

He along with his people,ruthless men from the nations,will be brought in to destroy the land.They will draw their swords against Egyptand fill the land with the slain.

This is what the Lord God says:I will destroy the idols and put an endto the false gods in Memphis.There will no longer bea prince from the land of Egypt.So I will instill fear in that land.

“I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bandage the injured, and strengthen the weak, but I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will shepherd them with justice.

The vision I saw was like the one I had seen when He came to destroy the city, and like the ones I had seen by the Chebar Canal. I fell facedown.

Because of this, the king became violently angry and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had assigned to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He came and said to him, “Don’t kill the wise men of Babylon! Bring me before the king, and I will give him the interpretation.”

“The king saw an observer, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump with its roots in the ground and with a band of iron and bronze around it, in the tender grass of the field. Let him be drenched with dew from the sky, and share food with the wild animals for seven periods of time.’

His power will be great,but it will not be his own.He will cause terrible destructionand succeed in whatever he does.He will destroy the powerfulalong with the holy people.

He will cause deceit to prosperthrough his cunning and by his influence,and in his own mind he will make himself great.He will destroy many in a time of peace;he will even stand against the Prince of princes.Yet he will be shattered—not by human hands.

After those 62 weeksthe Messiah will be cut offand will have nothing.The people of the coming princewill destroy the city and the sanctuary.The end will come with a flood,and until the end there will be war;desolations are decreed.

He will resolve to come with the force of his whole kingdom and will reach an agreement with him. He will give him a daughter in marriage to destroy it, but she will not stand with him or support him.

Those who eat his provisions will destroy him; his army will be swept away, and many will fall slain.

But reports from the east and the north will terrify him, and he will go out with great fury to annihilate and completely destroy many.

You will stumble by day;the prophet will also stumble with you by night.And I will destroy your mother.

A sword will whirl through his cities;it will destroy and devour the bars of his gates,because of their schemes.

I will not vent the full fury of My anger;I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim.For I am God and not man,the Holy One among you;I will not come in rage.

I will destroy you, Israel;you have no help but Me.

Therefore, the Lord God says:An enemy will surround the land;he will destroy your strongholdsand plunder your citadels.

Look, the eyes of the Lord Godare on the sinful kingdom,and I will destroy itfrom the face of the earth.However, I will not totally destroythe house of Jacob—this is the Lord’s declaration—

All her carved images will be smashed to pieces;all her wages will be burned in the fire,and I will destroy all her idols.Since she collected the wages of a prostitute,they will be used again for a prostitute.

But He will completely destroy Ninevehwith an overwhelming flood,and He will chase His enemies into darkness.

Woe, inhabitants of the seacoast,nation of the Cherethites!The word of the Lord is against you,Canaan, land of the Philistines:I will destroy you until there is no one left.

He will also stretch out His hand against the northand destroy Assyria;He will make Nineveh a desolate ruin,dry as the desert.

I will overturn royal thrones and destroy the power of the Gentile kingdoms. I will overturn chariots and their riders. Horses and their riders will fall, each by his brother’s sword.

I will send it out,”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts—“and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name. It will stay inside his house and destroy it along with its timbers and stones.”

A mongrel people will live in Ashdod,and I will destroy the pride of the Philistines.

On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

After they were gone, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Get up! Take the child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is about to search for the child to destroy Him.”

“Don’t assume that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

“Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.

Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

But the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

“He will completely destroy those terrible men,” they told Him, “and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give him his produce at the harvest.”

“What do You have to do with us, Jesus—Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

Immediately the Pharisees went out and started plotting with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.

“And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

Then the chief priests and the scribes heard it and started looking for a way to destroy Him. For they were afraid of Him, because the whole crowd was astonished by His teaching.

“Therefore, what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers and give the vineyard to others.

“Leave us alone! What do You have to do with us, Jesus—Nazarene? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do what is good or to do what is evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

Every day He was teaching in the temple complex. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people were looking for a way to destroy Him,

He will come and destroy those farmers and give the vineyard to others.”But when they heard this they said, “No—never!”

Jesus answered, “Destroy this sanctuary, and I will raise it up in three days.”

A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.

For we heard him say that Jesus, this Nazarene, will destroy this place and change the customs that Moses handed down to us.”

For if your brother is hurt by what you eat, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy that one Christ died for by what you eat.

For it is written:I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,and I will set aside the understanding of the experts.