'Desire' in the Bible

To the woman He said,“I will greatly multiplyYour pain in childbirth,In pain you will bring forth children;Yet your desire will be for your husband,And he will rule over you.”

If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

It came about after these events that his master’s wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, “Lie with me.”

Not so! Go now, the men among you, and serve the Lord, for that is what you desire.” So they were driven out from Pharaoh’s presence.

“The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil;My desire shall be gratified against them;I will draw out my sword, my hand will destroy them.’

‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’

“However, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, whatever you desire, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle and the deer.

“When the Lord your God extends your border as He has promised you, and you say, ‘I will eat meat,’ because you desire to eat meat, then you may eat meat, whatever you desire.

If the place which the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, then you may slaughter of your herd and flock which the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates whatever you desire.

and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and have a desire for her and would take her as a wife for yourself,

But if the man does not desire to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to establish a name for his brother in Israel; he is not willing to perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’

Then the elders of his city shall summon him and speak to him. And if he persists and says, ‘I do not desire to take her,’

If the man said to him, “They must surely burn the fat first, and then take as much as you desire,” then he would say, “No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force.”

His armor bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart; turn yourself, and here I am with you according to your desire.”

Saul then said, “Thus you shall say to David, ‘The king does not desire any dowry except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to take vengeance on the king’s enemies.’” Now Saul planned to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.

Now then, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to do so; and our part shall be to surrender him into the king’s hand.”

“Truly is not my house so with God?For He has made an everlasting covenant with me,Ordered in all things, and secured;For all my salvation and all my desire,Will He not indeed make it grow?

So Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message which you have sent me; I will do what you desire concerning the cedar and cypress timber.

My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea; and I will make them into rafts to go by sea to the place where you direct me, and I will have them broken up there, and you shall carry them away. Then you shall accomplish my desire by giving food to my household.”

(Hiram king of Tyre had supplied Solomon with cedar and cypress timber and gold according to all his desire), then King Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.

King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire which she requested, besides what he gave her according to his royal bounty. Then she turned and went to her own land together with her servants.

I will take you, and you shall reign over whatever you desire, and you shall be king over Israel.

King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire which she requested besides a return for what she had brought to the king. Then she turned and went to her own land with her servants.

So Haman came in and the king said to him, “What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?”

“But I would speak to the Almighty,And I desire to argue with God.

“They say to God, ‘Depart from us!We do not even desire the knowledge of Your ways.

“If I have kept the poor from their desire,Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,

“Then if you have anything to say, answer me;Speak, for I desire to justify you.

For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire,And the greedy man curses and spurns the Lord.

O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear

May He grant you your heart’s desireAnd fulfill all your counsel!

You have given him his heart’s desire,And You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah.

Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries,For false witnesses have risen against me,And such as breathe out violence.

Do not let them say in their heart, “Aha, our desire!”Do not let them say, “We have swallowed him up!”

Lord, all my desire is before You;And my sighing is not hidden from You.

The Lord will protect him and keep him alive,And he shall be called blessed upon the earth;And do not give him over to the desire of his enemies.

Then the King will desire your beauty.Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him.

Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.

“Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,But trusted in the abundance of his richesAnd was strong in his evil desire.”

Whom have I in heaven but You?And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.

And in their heart they put God to the testBy asking food according to their desire.

So they ate and were well filled,And their desire He gave to them.

Before they had satisfied their desire,While their food was in their mouths,

The wicked will see it and be vexed,He will gnash his teeth and melt away;The desire of the wicked will perish.

You open Your handAnd satisfy the desire of every living thing.

He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;He will also hear their cry and will save them.

She is more precious than jewels;And nothing you desire compares with her.

Do not desire her beauty in your heart,Nor let her capture you with her eyelids.

What the wicked fears will come upon him,But the desire of the righteous will be granted.

The desire of the righteous is only good,But the expectation of the wicked is wrath.

From the fruit of a man’s mouth he enjoys good,But the desire of the treacherous is violence.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

Desire realized is sweet to the soul,But it is an abomination to fools to turn away from evil.

He who separates himself seeks his own desire,He quarrels against all sound wisdom.

Discipline your son while there is hope,And do not desire his death.

The desire of the sluggard puts him to death,For his hands refuse to work;

Do not desire his delicacies,For it is deceptive food.

Do not eat the bread of a selfish man,Or desire his delicacies;

Do not be envious of evil men,Nor desire to be with them;

It is not for kings, O Lemuel,It is not for kings to drink wine,Or for rulers to desire strong drink,

Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.

“I am my beloved’s,And his desire is for me.

Indeed, while following the way of Your judgments, O Lord,We have waited for You eagerly;Your name, even Your memory, is the desire of our souls.

“It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd!And he will perform all My desire.’And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’And of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”

So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;It will not return to Me empty,Without accomplishing what I desire,And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

‘Why have we fasted and You do not see?Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire,And drive hard all your workers.

And if you give yourself to the hungryAnd satisfy the desire of the afflicted,Then your light will rise in darknessAnd your gloom will become like midday.

“And the Lord will continually guide you,And satisfy your desire in scorched places,And give strength to your bones;And you will be like a watered garden,And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

But as for the land to which they desire to return, they will not return to it.

Yet you turned and profaned My name, and each man took back his male servant and each man his female servant whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them into subjection to be your male servants and female servants.”’

And I will bring Israel back to his pasture and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and his desire will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead.

Behold now, I have stretched out My hand against you and diminished your rations. And I delivered you up to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of your lewd conduct.

“Son of man, behold, I am about to take from you the desire of your eyes with a blow; but you shall not mourn and you shall not weep, and your tears shall not come.

‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am about to profane My sanctuary, the pride of your power, the desire of your eyes and the delight of your soul; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind will fall by the sword.

‘As for you, son of man, will it not be on the day when I take from them their stronghold, the joy of their pride, the desire of their eyes and their heart’s delight, their sons and their daughters,

He will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women, nor will he show regard for any other god; for he will magnify himself above them all.

They feed on the sin of My peopleAnd direct their desire toward their iniquity.

When it is My desire, I will chastise them;And the peoples will be gathered against themWhen they are bound for their double guilt.

Concerning evil, both hands do it well.The prince asks, also the judge, for a bribe,And a great man speaks the desire of his soul;So they weave it together.

But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, and not sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire compassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.

Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for concerning this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere.”

and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.

What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?

But earnestly desire the greater gifts.And I show you a still more excellent way.

Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.

however, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue.

If they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church.

Therefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues.

But concerning Apollos our brother, I encouraged him greatly to come to you with the brethren; and it was not at all his desire to come now, but he will come when he has opportunity.

I give my opinion in this matter, for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it.

But now finish doing it also, so that just as there was the readiness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it by your ability.

But what I am doing I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting.

But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.

For those who are circumcised do not even keep the Law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh.