'Enemies' in the Bible

The Lord has sworn [an oath] by His right hand and by His mighty arm,“I will never again give your grain as food for your enemies,Nor will [the invading] foreigners drink your new wine for which you have labored.”

“The sound of an uproar from the city! A voice from the temple!The voice of the Lord, providing retribution to His enemies.

When you see this, your heart will rejoice;Your bones will flourish like new grass.And the [powerful] hand of the Lord will be revealed to His servants,But His indignation will be toward His enemies.

“I have abandoned My house,I have given up My [precious] inheritance (Judah);I have given the [dearly] beloved of My lifeInto the hands of her enemies.

“She who has borne seven [sons] languishes;She has breathed out her soul.Her sun has set while it was still day;She has been shamed and humiliated.So I will hand over [the rest of] the survivors to the swordBefore their enemies,” says the Lord.

“Then I will make your enemies bring [you along with] your possessionsInto a land which you do not know [for there you will serve your conquerors];For a fire has been kindled in My anger,Which will burn upon you.”

O Lord, You know and understand;Remember me [thoughtfully], take notice of me,take vengeance for me on my persecutors.Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away;Know that for Your sake I endure [continual] rebuke and dishonor.

And you will, through your own fault, let go of your [grip on your] inheritanceThat I gave you;And I will make you serve your enemiesIn a land which you do not know;For you have kindled a fire in My angerWhich will burn forever.

Then [my enemies] said, “Come and let us work out schemes against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not going to be lost to the priest [as Jeremiah predicts], nor the counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us strike him with our tongue [by making charges against him before the king], and let us ignore anything he says.”

I will pour out and nullify the counsel (plans) of [the men of] Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will make their people fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their lives; and I will give their dead bodies as food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.

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 thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; they will fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon; he will carry them away to Babylon as captives and will slaughter them with the sword.

Moreover, I will hand over all the riches of this city, all the result of its labor, all its precious things; even all the treasures of the kings of Judah I will hand over to their enemies, and they will plunder them, and take them away and carry them to Babylon.

Then afterward,” says the Lord, “I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the virulent disease, the sword, and the famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemy, into the hand of those who seek their lives. And he will strike them with the edge of the sword; he will not spare them nor have mercy and compassion on them.”’

Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh [after the ark of the Lord had been taken by our enemies] and this city [Jerusalem] will be desolate, without inhabitant’?” And all the people were gathered around Jeremiah in the [outer area of the] house of the Lord.

I will give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their lives. And [like the body of the calf] their dead bodies will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth.

Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes I will place into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of those who seek their life, and into the hand of the army of the king of Babylon which has withdrawn from you.

Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, just as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, who was his enemy and was seeking his life.’”

‘So I will cause Elam to be shattered (dismayed) before their enemiesAnd before those who seek their lives;And I will bring disaster on them,Even My fierce anger,’ says the Lord.‘And I will send the sword after themUntil I have consumed them.

She weeps bitterly in the nightAnd her tears are [constantly] on her cheeks;Among all her lovers (political allies)She has no one to comfort her.All her friends have dealt treacherously with her;They have become her enemies.

Her adversaries have become her masters,Her enemies prosper;For the Lord has caused her griefBecause of the multitude of her transgressions;Her young children have goneInto captivity before the enemy.

“People have heard that I groan,That I have no comforter [in You].All my enemies have heard of my desperation;They are delighted [O Lord] that You have done it.Oh, that You would bring the day [of judgment] which You have proclaimedSo that they will become like me.

All your enemiesHave opened their mouths wide against you;They [scornfully] hiss and gnash their teeth.They say, “We have swallowed her up!Certainly this is the day for which we waited;We have reached it, we have seen it!”

All our enemies have gaped at us.

Without cause my enemiesHunted me down like a bird;

I will also hand you over to your lovers, and they will tear down your shrines, demolish your high places, strip you of your clothing, take away your jewels, and they will leave you naked and bare.

And the nations will know [without any doubt] that the house of Israel went into exile for their great sin, because they acted treacherously against Me; and I hid My face (favor, blessing) from them. So I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell [into captivity or were killed] by [the power of] the sword.

When I bring them back from the nations and gather them out of their enemies’ lands, then I shall show Myself holy [and My justice and holiness will be vindicated] through them in the sight of many nations.

“Then Daniel, whose [Babylonian] name was Belteshazzar, was appalled and speechless for a while [because he was deeply concerned about the destiny of the king], and his thoughts alarmed him. The king said, ‘Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation frighten you.’ Belteshazzar answered, ‘My lord, may the dream be [meant] for those who hate you and its message for your enemies!

“And though they go into captivity before their enemies,From there I shall command the sword to kill them,And I will set My eyes against them for evil (judgment, punishment) and not for good [that is, not for correction leading to restoration].”

“Writhe in pain and labor to give birth,O Daughter of Zion,Like a woman in childbirth;For now you shall go out of the city,Live in the field,And go to Babylon.There you will be rescued;There the Lord shall redeem youFrom the hand of your enemies.

Your hand will be lifted up against your adversaries,And all your enemies shall be cut off and destroyed.

For the son dishonors the father and treats him contemptuously,The daughter rises up [in hostility] against her mother,The daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—A man’s enemies are the men (members) of his own household.

The Lord is a jealous and avenging God [protecting and demanding what is rightfully and uniquely His];The Lord avenges and He is full of wrath.The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries,And He reserves wrath for His enemies.

But with an overwhelming flood [of judgment through invading armies]He will make a complete destruction of its siteAnd will pursue His enemies into darkness.

Behold, your people are [as weak and helpless as] women in your midst!The gates of your land are opened wide to your enemies;Fire consumes the bars across your gates.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy [demanding what is rightfully and uniquely mine], and I am jealous for her with great wrath [against her enemies].’

The Lord of hosts shall defend and protect them;And they will devour [the enemy] and trample down the slingstones [that have missed their mark],And they will drink [of victory] and be boisterous as with wine;And they shall be filled like sacrificial bowls [used to catch the blood],Drenched like the corners of the [sacrificial] altar.

“They will be like mighty menTrampling down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle;And they will fight because the Lord is with them,And the [enemies’] riders on horses will be shamed.

But I say to you, love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

‘The Lord (the Father) said to my Lord (the Son, the Messiah),“Sit at My right hand,Until I put Your enemies under Your feet”’?

David himself said [when inspired] by the Holy Spirit,‘The Lord (the Father) said to my Lord (the Son, the Messiah),“Sit at My right hand,Until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’

Salvation from our enemies,And from the hand of all who hate us;

“But I say to you who hear [Me and pay attention to My words]: Love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies, [make it a practice to] do good to those who hate you,

But love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; for your reward will be great (rich, abundant), and you will be sons of the Most High; because He Himself is kind and gracious and good to the ungrateful and the wicked.

[The king ended by saying,] ‘But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them, bring them here and kill them in my presence.’”

For a time [of siege] is coming when your enemies will put up a barricade [with pointed stakes] against you, and surround you [with armies] and hem you in on every side,

Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’

Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more certain, having been reconciled, that we will be saved [from the consequences of sin] by His life [that is, we will be saved because Christ lives today].

From the standpoint of the gospel, the Jews [at present] are enemies [of God] for your sake [which is for your benefit], but from the standpoint of God’s choice [of the Jews as His people], they are still loved by Him for the sake of the fathers.

For Christ must reign [as King] until He has put all His enemies under His feet.

For there are many, of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even with tears, who live as enemies of the cross of Christ [rejecting and opposing His way of salvation],

But to which of the angels has the Father ever said,“Sit at My right hand [together with me in royal dignity],Until I make your enemiesA footstool for your feet [in triumphant conquest]”?

waiting from that time onward until his enemies are made a footstool for His feet.

And if anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way.

And the two witnesses heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” Then they ascended into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them.