'Youth' in the Bible

The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma [a soothing, satisfying scent] and the Lord said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intent (strong inclination, desire) of man’s heart is wicked from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.

God said to Abraham, “Do not let it distress you because of Ishmael and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her and do what she asks, for your descendants will be named through Isaac.

So Abraham got up early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar, putting them on her shoulder, and gave her the boy, and sent her away. And she left [but lost her way] and wandered [aimlessly] in the Wilderness of Beersheba.

When the water in the skin was all gone, Hagar abandoned the boy under one of the bushes.

God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the voice of the boy from where he is [resting].

Get up, help the boy up, and hold him by the hand, for I will make him a great nation.”

Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the [empty] skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

God was with Ishmael, and he grew and developed; and he lived in the wilderness and became an [expert] archer.

Now Joseph’s brothers were seated [by the steward] before him [in the order of their birth]—the firstborn according to his birthright and the youngest according to his youth; and the men looked at one another in astonishment [because so much was known about them].

Now, therefore, please let your servant (Judah) remain here instead of the youth [to be] a slave to my lord, and let the young man go home with his brothers.

you shall say, ‘Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth until now, both we and our fathers [before us],’ in order that you may live [separately and securely] in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is repulsive to the Egyptians.”

But if a priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced, and has no child, and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she shall eat her father’s food; but no layman shall eat it.

“Also if a woman makes a vow to the Lord and binds herself by a pledge [of abstinence], while living in her father’s house in her youth,

These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter while she is a youth in her father’s house.

He captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And the youth wrote down for him [the names of] the leaders of Succoth and its elders, seventy-seven men.

So [to humiliate them] Gideon said to Jether his firstborn, “Stand up, and kill them!” But the youth did not draw his sword, because he was afraid, for he was still [just] a boy.

Then Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight him. For you are [only] a young man and he has been a warrior since his youth.”

When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner the captain of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?” And Abner answered, “By your life, O king, I do not know.”

But if I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the Lord has sent you away.

So now stand up, go out and speak kindly and encouragingly to your servants; for I swear by the Lord that if you do not go out, not a man will stay with you tonight. And this will be worse for you than all the evil that has come upon you from your youth until now.”

And as soon as I leave you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you to a place I do not know; so when I come to tell Ahab and he does not find you, he will kill me. Yet your servant has [reverently] feared the Lord from my youth.

“For You write bitter things against me [in Your indictment]And make me inherit and suffer for the iniquities of my youth.

(But from my youth the orphan grew up with me as with a father,And from my mother’s womb I have been the widow’s guide),

“Let his flesh be restored and become fresher than in youth;Let him return to the days of his youthful strength.

“They die in youth,And their life ends among the cult prostitutes.

Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;According to Your lovingkindness remember me,For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.

For You are my hope;O Lord God, You are my trust and the source of my confidence from my youth.

O God, You have taught me from my youth,And I still declare Your wondrous works and miraculous deeds.

The wrath of God rose against themAnd killed some of the strongest of them,And subdued the choice young men of Israel.

I was afflicted and close to death from my youth on;I suffer Your terrors; I am overcome.

You have shortened the days of his youth;You have covered him with shame. Selah.

Who satisfies your years with good things,So that your youth is renewed like the [soaring] eagle.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,So are the children of one’s youth.

“Many times they have persecuted me (Israel) from my youth,”Let Israel now say,

“Many times they have persecuted me from my youth,Yet they have not prevailed against me.

Let our sons in their youth be like plants full grown,And our daughters like corner pillars fashioned for a palace;

That prudence (good judgment, astute common sense) may be given to the naive or inexperienced [who are easily misled],And knowledge and discretion (intelligent discernment) to the youth,

Who leaves the companion (husband) of her youth,And forgets the covenant of her God.

Let your fountain (wife) be blessed [with the rewards of fidelity],And rejoice in the wife of your youth.

A poor yet wise youth is better than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to receive instruction and counsel (friendly reproof, warning)—

for the poor youth has [used his wisdom and] come out of prison to become king, even though he was born poor in his kingdom.

I have seen all the living under the sun join with the second youth (the king’s acknowledged successor) who replaces him.

Rejoice, young man, in your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant in the days of your young manhood. And walk in the ways of your heart and in the desires of your eyes, but know that God will bring you into judgment for all these things.

Therefore, remove sorrow and anger from your heart and put away pain from your body, for childhood and the prime of life are fleeting.

Remember [thoughtfully] also your Creator in the days of your youth [for you are not your own, but His], before the evil days come or the years draw near when you will say [of physical pleasures], “I have no enjoyment and delight in them”;

“Persist, then, [Babylon] in your enchantmentsAnd your many sorceriesWith which you have labored from your youth;Perhaps you will be able to profit [from them],Perhaps you may prevail and cause trembling.

“This is how they have become to you, those [astrologers and sorcerers] with whom you have labored,Those who have done business with you from your youth;Each has wandered in his own way.There is no one to save you.

“Do not fear, for you will not be put to shame,And do not feel humiliated or ashamed, for you will not be disgraced.For you will forget the shame of your youth,And you will no longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood.

“For the Lord has called you,Like a wife who has been abandoned, grieved in spirit,And like a wife [married] in her youth when she is [later] rejected and scorned,”Says your God.

Then I said, “Ah, Lord God!Behold, I do not know how to speak,For I am [only] a young man.”

But the Lord said to me,“Do not say, ‘I am [only] a young man,’Because everywhere I send you, you shall go,And whatever I command you, you shall speak.

“Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord,“I remember [earnestly] the lovingkindness and devotion of your youth,Your time of betrothal [like that of a bride during the early years in Egypt and again at Sinai],When you followed Me in the wilderness,Through a land not sown.

“Will you not just now call out to Me,‘My Father, you were the guide and companion of my youth?

“But the shameful act [of idolatry] has consumed the labor of our fathers since our youth—their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.

Let us lie down in our shame, and let our dishonor and humiliation cover us; for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers; from our youth even to this day we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”

“I spoke to you in your [times of] prosperity,But you said, ‘I will not listen!’This has been your attitude and practice from your youth;You have not obeyed My voice.

‘After I turned away [from You], I repented;After I was instructed, I struck my thigh [in remorse];I was ashamed and even humiliatedBecause I carried the disgrace of my youth [as a nation].’

For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only evil in My sight from their youth; for the children of Israel have been provoking Me to anger by the [idols that are the] work of their hands,” says the Lord.

“Moab has been at ease from his youth;He has also been undisturbed, and settled like wine on his dregs,And he has not been emptied from one vessel to another,Nor has he gone into exile.Therefore his flavor remains in him,And his scent has not changed.

With you I shatter man and woman,With you I shatter old man and youth,With you I shatter young man and virgin,

It is good for a man that he should bearThe yoke [of godly discipline] in his youth.

But I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold (hear me), I have never been defiled; for from my youth until now I have never eaten what died on its own or was torn by beasts, nor has any unclean meat ever entered my mouth.”

And in all your repulsive acts and prostitutions (idolatrous immoralities) you did not [pause to] remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, squirming in your [newborn] blood.

Because you have not remembered the days of your youth but have enraged Me with all these things, therefore, I in turn will bring your conduct down on your own head,” says the Lord God, “so that you will not commit this lewdness on top of all your other repulsive acts.

“Nevertheless, I will remember [with compassion] My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.

and they prostituted themselves in Egypt. From their youth they were grossly immoral; in that place their breasts were embraced and their virgin bosom was grasped.

She did not give up the acts of prostitution that originated during her time in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her, and they handled her virgin bosom and poured out their depravity on her.

Yet she multiplied her depravities, remembering the days of her youth, when she was actively immoral in the land of Egypt.

Thus you longed for the lewdness and vulgarity of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom on account of the breasts of your youth.

“Then I will give her her vineyards from there,And make the Valley of Achor a door of hope and expectation [anticipating the time when I will restore My favor on her].And she will sing there and respond as in the days of her youthAs in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt.

Wail like a virgin [bride] clothed with sackclothFor the bridegroom of her youth [who has died].

but he will [deny his identity and] say, ‘I am no prophet. I work the ground, because a man sold me as a slave in my youth.’

But you say, “Why [does He reject it]?” Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously. Yet she is your marriage companion and the wife of your covenant [made by your vows].

But not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit. And what did that one do while seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth.