'Woe' in the Bible

How can I go up to my father if the young man is not with me—for fear that I would see the tragedy that would overtake my [elderly] father [if Benjamin does not return]?”

“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, Moab!You are destroyed, O people of [the god] Chemosh!Moab has given his sons as fugitives [that is, survivors of battle],And his daughters into captivityTo Sihon king of the Amorites.

The Philistines were afraid, for they said, “God has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe [disaster is coming] to us! For nothing like this has happened before.

Woe to us! Who will rescue us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.

‘If I am wicked, woe to me [for judgment comes]!And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.For I am sated and filled with disgrace and the sight of my misery.

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

Woe to me, for I sojourn in Meshech,and I live among the tents of Kedar [among hostile people]!

Who has woe? Who has sorrow?Who has strife? Who has complaining?Who has wounds without cause?Whose eyes are red and dim?

for if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and does not have another to lift him up.

Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child and when your [incompetent] officials and princes feast in the morning.

Their partiality testifies against them,They display their sin like Sodom;They do not even hide it.Woe (judgment is coming) to them!For they have brought evil on themselves [as a reward].

Woe (judgment is coming) to the wicked! It shall go badly with him,For what his hand has done shall be done to him.

Woe (judgment is coming) to those who join house to house and join field to field [to increase their holdings by depriving others],Until there is no more room [for others],So that you have to live alone in the midst of the land!

Woe (judgment is coming) to those who rise early in the morning to pursue intoxicating drink,Who stay up late in the night till wine inflames them!

Woe (judgment is coming) to those who drag along wickedness with cords of falsehood,And sin as if with cart ropes [towing their own punishment];

Woe (judgment is coming) to those who call evil good, and good evil;Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Woe (judgment is coming) to those who are wise in their own eyesAnd clever and shrewd in their own sight!

Woe (judgment is coming) to those who are heroes at drinking wineAnd men of strength in mixing intoxicating drinks,

Then I said,“Woe is me! For I am ruined,Because I am a man of [ceremonially] unclean lips,And I live among a people of unclean lips;For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

Woe (judgment is coming) to those [judges] who issue evil statutes,And to those [magistrates] who constantly record unjust and oppressive decisions,

Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger [against Israel],The staff in whose hand is My indignation and fury [against Israel’s disobedience]!

Woe (judgment is coming) to the land of whirring wingsWhich is beyond the rivers of Cush (Ethiopia),

From the ends of the earth we hear songs, “Glory and honor to the Righteous One,”But I say, “I waste away, I waste away. Woe to me!The treacherous deal treacherously,Indeed, the treacherous deal very treacherously.”

Woe (judgment is coming) to [Samaria] the splendid crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,Which is at the head of the rich valleyOf those who are overcome with wine!

Woe (judgment is coming) to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David [once] camped!Add yet another year; let the feasts run their course [but only one year more].

Woe (judgment is coming) to those who [try to] deeply hide their plans from the Lord,Whose deeds are done in a dark place,And who say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?”

“Woe (judgment is coming) to the rebellious children,” declares the Lord,“Who carry out a plan, but not Mine,And make an alliance [by pouring out a libation], but not of My Spirit,In order to add sin to sin;

Woe (judgment is coming) to those who go down to Egypt for help,Who rely on horsesAnd trust in chariots because they are many,And in horsemen because they are very strong,But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek and consult the Lord!

Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O destroyer,You who were not destroyed,And he who is treacherous, while others did not deal treacherously with him.As soon as you finish destroying, you will be destroyed;As soon as you stop dealing treacherously, others will deal treacherously with you.

“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who quarrels with his Maker—A [worthless] piece of broken pottery among other broken pieces [equally worthless]!Shall the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’Or does the thing say, ‘He has no hands’?

“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who says to a father, ‘What are you fathering?’Or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’”

“Behold, the enemy comes up like clouds,His chariots like the whirlwind;His horses are swifter than eagles.Woe (judgment is coming) to us, for we are ruined!”

For I heard a cry like a woman in labor,The anguish as of one giving birth to her first child,The cry of the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem), who gasps for breath,Who stretches out her hands, saying,“Woe is me [my judgment comes]! I faint [in fear] before the murderers.”

“Woe to me because of my [spiritual] brokenness!” [says Jeremiah, speaking for the nation.]“My wound is incurable.”But I said, “Surely this sickness and suffering and grief are mine,And I must bear it.”

“I have seen your vile and detestable acts,Even your adulteries and your lustful neighings [after idols],And the lewdness of your prostitutionOn the hills in the fields.Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O Jerusalem!How long will you remain unclean [by ignoring My precepts]?”

Woe to me, my mother, that you have given birth to meTo be a man of strife and a man of contention to all the earth!I have not loaned, nor have men lent money to me,Yet everyone curses me.

“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who builds his house by [acts of] unrighteousnessAnd his upper chambers by injustice,Who uses his neighbor’s service without payAnd does not give him wages [for his work],

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

‘You said, “Woe is me! For the Lord has added sorrow to my pain; I am weary with my groaning and sighing and I find no rest.”’

Concerning Moab.Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,“Woe (judgment is coming) to [the city of] Nebo, for it has been destroyed!Kiriathaim has been shamed, it has been captured;Misgab [the high fortress] has been shamed, broken down and crushed.

“Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O Moab!The people of [the pagan god called] Chemosh have perished;For your sons have been taken away captiveAnd your daughters into captivity.

Kill all her young bulls [her strength—her young men];Let them go down to the slaughter!Woe (judgment is coming) to the Chaldeans, for their day has come,The time of their punishment.

The crown has fallen from our head [our honor is covered with dust]!Woe to us, for we have sinned!

And He spread it before me, and it was written on the front and on the back, and written on it were [words of] lamentation (funeral songs) and mourning and woe.

Thus says the Lord God, “Woe (judgment is coming) to the foolish prophets who are following their own spirit [claiming to have seen things] but have [in fact] seen nothing.

and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe to the women who fasten magic (protective) charms on all wrists and make veils for the heads of those of every stature to capture [human] lives! Will you capture the lives of My people but keep your own?

“Then it came about after all your wickedness (‘Woe, woe to you!’ says the Lord God),

‘Therefore, thus says the Lord God,“Woe (judgment is coming) to the bloody city,To the pot in which there is rustAnd whose rust has not gone out of it!Take out of it piece by piece,Without making any choice.

‘Therefore, thus says the Lord God,“Woe to the bloody city!I will also make the pile [of wood] high.

“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to them, the [spiritual] shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe (judgment is coming) to the [spiritual] shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?

Woe (judgment is coming) to them, for they have wandered away from Me!Devastation is theirs, because they have rebelled and trespassed against Me!I would redeem them, but they speak lies against Me.

Even though they bring up their children,Yet I will bereave them until not one is left.Indeed, woe (judgment is coming) to them when I look away and withdraw [My blessing] from them!

Woe (judgment is coming) to you who desire the day of the Lord [expecting rescue from the Gentiles]!Why would you want the day of the Lord?It is darkness (judgment) and not light [and rescue and prosperity];

Woe (judgment is coming) to those who are at ease and carefree in Zion (Judah)And to those on the mountain of Samaria who feel secure,The distinguished men of the foremost of nations,To whom the house of Israel comes.

Those who lie on [luxurious] beds of ivoryAnd lounge around out on their couches,And eat lambs from the flockAnd calves from the midst of the stall,

Woe (judgment is coming) to those who devise wickednessAnd plot evil on their beds!When morning comes, they practice evilBecause it is in the power of their hands.

Woe is me (judgment is coming)! For I amLike one who gathers the summer fruits, like one who gleans the vintage grapes.There is not a cluster of grapes to eat,No first-ripe fig which my appetite craves.

Woe (judgment is coming) to the city of blood [guilty of murder and mayhem], completely full of lies and pillage;Her prey never departs [alive].

“Will all these [victims of his greed] not take up a taunting song against him,And in mocking derision against himSay, ‘Woe (judgment is coming) to him who increases that which is not his—How long [will he possess it]?And [woe to him who] makes himself wealthy with loans.’

“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who obtains wicked gain for his house [and thinks by so doing]To set his nest on high,That he may be rescued from the hand of evil.

“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who builds a city with bloodshedAnd establishes a town by violence!

“Woe (judgment is coming) to you who make your neighbors drink,Who mix in your venom to make them drunkSo that you may look at their nakedness!

“Woe (judgment is coming) to him who says to the wooden image, ‘Awake!’And to the speechless stone, ‘Arise!’And that is your teacher?Look, it is overlaid with gold and silver,And there is no breath at all inside it.

Woe (judgment is coming) to the inhabitants of the seacoast,The nation of the Cherethites [in Philistia]!The word of the Lord is against you,O Canaan, land of the Philistines;I will destroy youSo that no inhabitant will be left.

Woe (judgment is coming) to her who is rebellious and defiled,The tyrannical city [Jerusalem]!

“Woe (judgment is coming) to the worthless and foolish shepherdWho deserts the flock!The sword will strike his armAnd his right eye!His arm shall be totally witheredAnd his right eye completely blinded.”