'Anguish' in the Bible

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.”

Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their impatience and despondency, and because of their forced labor.

This day I will begin to put the dread and the fear of you on the peoples (pagans) under the whole heaven, who, when they hear the reports about you, will tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

“Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;I will speak in the anguish of my spirit,I will complain in the bitterness of my soul [O Lord].

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

I am poured out like water,And all my bones are out of joint.My heart is like wax;It is melted [by anguish] within me.

The cords and sorrows of death encompassed me,And the terrors of Sheol came upon me;I found distress and sorrow.

Trouble and anguish have found me,Yet Your commandments are my delight and my joy.

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].

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.

But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish [for with judgment comes the promise of salvation]. In earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He will make them honored [by the presence of the Messiah], by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.

Therefore [continues Isaiah] my loins are filled with anguish;Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in childbirth;I am so bent and bewildered that I cannot hear, I am so terrified that I cannot see.

A [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning the beasts of the Negev (the South):Through a land of trouble and anguish,From where come lioness and lion, viper and [fiery] flying serpent,They carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeysAnd their treasures on the humps of camels,To a people (Egyptians) who cannot benefit them.

“Indeed, My servants will shout for joy from a happy heart,But you will cry out with a heavy heart,And you shall wail and howl from a broken spirit.

My soul, my soul! I writhe in anguish and pain! Oh, the walls of my heart!My heart is pounding and throbbing within me;I cannot be silent,For you have heard, O my soul,The sound of the trumpet,The alarm of war.

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.”

We have heard the report of it;Our hands become limp and helpless.Anguish has gripped us,Pain like that of a woman in childbirth.

“I will make their widows more numerous before MeThan the sand of the seas;I will bring against them, against the mother of the young men,A destroyer at noonday;I will suddenly cause anguish and terrorTo fall on her.

“Damascus has become helpless;She has turned away to flee,Terror (panic) has seized her;Anguish and distress have gripped herLike a woman in childbirth.

“The king of Babylon has heard the report about them,And his hands fall limp and helpless;Anguish has seized him,And agony like that of a woman in childbirth.

He has besieged and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

“A sword will come upon Egypt,And anguish and trembling will be in Ethiopia (Cush),When the slain fall in EgyptAnd they [of Babylon] carry away her great mass of people and her richesAnd her foundations are torn down.

On that day [swift] messengers will go from Me in ships to frighten the careless and unsuspecting Ethiopians, and there will be anguish and trembling in them as in the day of [judgment for] Egypt; for behold, it is coming!”

“I will set fire to Egypt;Pelusium will writhe in [great] anguish,Thebes shall be torn openAnd Memphis shall be in daily distress.

When he had come near the den, he called out to Daniel with a troubled voice. The king said to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you constantly serve, been able to rescue you from the lions?”

Before them the people are in anguish;All faces become pale [with terror].

She is emptied! She is desolate and waste!Hearts melting [in fear] and knees knocking!Anguish is in the whole body,And the faces of all grow pale!

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,