'Distress' in the Bible

To the woman He said,“I will greatly multiplyYour pain in childbirth;In pain you will give birth to children;Yet your desire and longing will be for your husband,And he will rule [with authority] over you and be responsible for you.”

then let us get up and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and has been with me wherever I have gone.”

And they said to one another, “Truly we are guilty regarding our brother [Joseph], because we saw the distress and anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us [to let him go], yet we would not listen [to his cry]; so this distress and anguish has come on us.”

Then you will eat the offspring of your own body [to avoid starvation], the flesh of your sons and daughters whom the Lord your God has given you, during the siege and the misery by which your enemy will oppress you.

so that he will not give even one of them any of the flesh of his children which he will eat, because he has nothing else left, during the siege and the misery by which your enemy will oppress you in all your cities.

and toward her afterbirth that comes from between her legs and toward the children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the misery by which your enemy will oppress you in your cities.

Go, cry out to the gods you have chosen; let them rescue you in your time of distress.”

Hannah was greatly distressed, and she prayed to the Lord and wept in anguish.

You will look at the distress of My house (the tabernacle), in spite of all the good which God will do for Israel, and there will never again be an old man in your house.

“About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him as leader over My people Israel; and he will save My people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have looked upon [the distress of] My people, because their cry [for help] has come to Me.”

Everyone who was suffering hardship, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. There were about four hundred men with him.

“In my distress I called upon the Lord;I cried out to my God,And from His temple [in the heavens] He heard my voice;My cry for help came into His ears.

Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hands of man.”

Then the king swore an oath and said, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my soul from all distress,

They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘This is a day of distress and anxiety, of punishment and humiliation; for children have come to [the time of their] birth and there is no strength to rescue them.

Now it came about in the course of time, at the end of two years, that his intestines came out because of his disease and he died in excruciating pain. And his people did not make a funeral fire to honor him, like the fire for his fathers.

In the time of his distress, this same King Ahaz became yet more unfaithful to the Lord.

“Its abundant produce is for the kingsWhom You have set over us because of our sins;They also rule over our bodiesAnd over our cattle as they please,So we are in great distress.

“Distress and anxiety terrify him,They overpower him like a king ready for battle.

“Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress and confinement,Into a broad place where there is no constraint or distress;And that which was set on your table was full of fatness (rich food).

“Will your wealth [be sufficient to] keep you from [the confinement of] distress,Or will all the force of your strength do it?

Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!You have freed me when I was hemmed in and relieved me when I was in distress;Be gracious to me and hear [and respond to] my prayer.

Why do You stand far away, O Lord?Why do You hide [Yourself, veiling Your eyes] in times of trouble?

In my distress [when I seemed surrounded] I called upon the LordAnd cried to my God for help;He heard my voice from His temple,And my cry for help came before Him, into His very ears.

When the righteous cry [for help], the Lord hearsAnd rescues them from all their distress and troubles.

I was mute and silent [before my enemies],I refrained even from good,And my distress grew worse.

But as for me, I will sing of Your mighty strength and power;Yes, I will sing joyfully of Your lovingkindness in the morning;For You have been my strongholdAnd a refuge in the day of my distress.

Which my lips utteredAnd my mouth spoke as a promise when I was in distress.

Do not hide Your face from Your servant,For I am in distress; answer me quickly.

Draw near to my soul and redeem it;Ransom me because of my enemies [so that they do not delight in my distress].

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

“You called in [the time of] trouble and I rescued you;I answered you in the secret place of thunder;I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress!Incline Your ear to me;In the day when I call, answer me quickly.

Nevertheless He looked [sympathetically] at their distressWhen He heard their cry;

Out of my distress I called on the Lord;The Lord answered me and set me free.

In my trouble I cried to the Lord,And He answered me.

Save my life, O Lord, for Your name’s sake;In Your righteousness bring my life out of trouble.

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].

Give strong drink [as medicine] to him who is ready to pass away,And wine to him whose life is bitter.

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house (nation) of IsraelAnd the men of Judah are His delightful planting [which He loves].So He looked for justice, but in fact, [He saw] bloodshed and lawlessness;[He looked] for righteousness, but in fact, [He heard] a cry of distress and oppression.

And in that day they will roar against them (Judah) like the roaring of the sea.And if one looks to the land, in fact, there is darkness and distress;Even the light will be darkened by its clouds.

Then they will look to the earth, they will see only distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness and overwhelming night.

For the cry of distress has echoed around the territory of Moab;The wailing goes as far as Eglaim and the mournful cry to Beer-elim.

For You have been a stronghold for the helpless,A stronghold for the poor in his distress,A shelter from the storm, a shade from the heat;For the breath of tyrantsIs like a rainstorm against a wall.

O Lord, they sought You in distress;They managed only a prayerful whisperWhen Your discipline was upon them.

Then I will harass Ariel,And she will be a city of mourning and lamenting (crying out in grief)Yet she will be like an Ariel [an altar hearth] to Me.

And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel (Jerusalem),Even all who fight against her and her stronghold, and who distress her,Will be like a dream, a vision of the night.

They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says, ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke and disgrace; for children have come to birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.

“They lift it on their shoulders [in religious processions or into battle] and carry it;They set it in its place and there it remains standing.It cannot move from its place.Even if one cries to it [for help], the idol cannot answer;It cannot save him from his distress.

“I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people;And there will no longer be heard in herThe voice of weeping and the sound of crying.

For thus says the Lord;“Behold, I am slinging out at this time the people of this land,And will cause them [great] distress,That they may find it [to be as I have said].”

And I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and each one will eat one another’s flesh during the siege and distress brought by their enemies and those who seek their lives.”’

“For the Ascent of LuhithWill be climbed by [successive groups of] fugitives with continual weeping;For on the descent of HoronaimThey have heard the distress of the cry of destruction.

Judah has gone into exile under afflictionAnd under harsh servitude;She dwells among the [pagan] nations,But she has found no rest;All her pursuers have overtaken herIn the midst of [her] distress.

When anguish comes, they [of Judah] shall seek peace, but there will be none.

“Now at that [end] time Michael, the great [angelic] prince who stands guard over the children of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; but at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the Book [of Life], will be rescued.

I will go away and return to My place [on high]Until they acknowledge their offense and bear their guilt and seek My face;In their distress they will earnestly seek Me, saying,

They do not cry out to Me from their heartWhen they wail on their beds [in unbelieving despair];For the sake of grain and new wine they assemble themselves [as if worshiping Baal];They rebel against Me.

“Do not gaze and gloat [in triumph] over your brother’s day,The day when his misfortune came.Do not rejoice over the sons of JudahIn the day of their destruction;Do not speak arrogantly [jeering and maliciously mocking]In the day of their distress.

“Do not stand at the crossroadTo cut down those [of Judah] who escaped;And do not hand over [to the enemy] those [of Judah] who surviveIn the day of their distress.

and said,“I called out of my trouble and distress to the Lord,And He answered me;Out of the belly of Sheol I cried for help,And You heard my voice.

I heard and my whole inner self trembled;My lips quivered at the sound.Decay and rottenness enter my bones,And I tremble in my place.Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress,For the people to arise who will invade and attack us.

That day is a day of [the outpouring of the] wrath [of God],A day of trouble and distress,A day of destruction and devastation,A day of darkness and gloom,A day of clouds and thick darkness,

I will bring distress on menSo that they will walk like the blind [unable to find a way of escape],Because they have sinned against the Lord;Their blood will be poured out like dust [and trampled underfoot],And their flesh like dung.

“And they will pass through the sea of distress and anxiety [with the Lord leading His people, as at the Red Sea]And He will strike the waves in the sea,So that all the depths of the Nile will dry up;And the pride of Assyria will be brought downAnd the scepter [of the taskmasters] of Egypt will pass away.

But when the young man heard this, he left grieving and distressed, for he owned much property and had many possessions [which he treasured more than his relationship with God].

For at that time there will be a great tribulation (pressure, distress, oppression), such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will [again].

And taking with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee [James and John], He began to be grieved and greatly distressed.

While He was still speaking, some people came from the synagogue official’s house, saying [to Jairus], “Your daughter has died; why bother the Teacher any longer?”

“But in those days, after [the suffering and distress of] that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,

Woe to those women who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For great trouble and anguish will be on the land, and wrath and retribution on this people [Israel].

“There will be signs (attesting miracles) in the sun and moon and stars; and on the earth [there will be] distress and anguish among nations, in perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea and the waves,

So for now you are in grief; but I will see you again, and [then] your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away from you your [great] joy.

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.]

“Now a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great distress and our fathers could not find food [for their households and livestock].

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

I think then that because of the impending distress [that is, the pressure of the current trouble], it is good for a man to remain as he is.

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.

For we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about our trouble in [the west coast province of] Asia [Minor], how we were utterly weighed down, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life [itself].

For I wrote to you out of great distress and with an anguished heart, and with many tears, not to cause you sorrow but to make you realize the [overflowing] love which I have especially for you.

For our momentary, light distress [this passing trouble] is producing for us an eternal weight of glory [a fullness] beyond all measure [surpassing all comparisons, a transcendent splendor and an endless blessedness]!

For after all it is only just for God to repay with distress those who distress you,

sometimes by being made a spectacle, publicly exposed to insults and distress, and sometimes by becoming companions with those who were so treated.

‘I know your suffering and your poverty (but you are rich), and how you are blasphemed and slandered by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan [they are Jews only by blood, and do not believe and truly honor the God whom they claim to worship].

Listen carefully, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her [I will bring] into great anguish, unless they repent of her deeds.

They were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment and cause them extreme pain for five months; and their torment was like the torment from a scorpion when it stings a man.

Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness; and people gnawed their tongues because of the pain [of their excruciating anguish and severe torment],