'Dread' in the Bible

And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.

If the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and [the Feared One] of Isaac, had not been with me, most certainly you would have sent me away now empty-handed. God has seen my affliction and humiliation and the [exhausting] labor of my hands, so He rendered judgment and rebuked you last night.”

The God of Abraham [your father] and the God of Nahor [my father], and the god [the image of worship] of their father [Terah, an idolater], judge between us.” But Jacob swore [only] by [the one true God] the Fear of his father Isaac.

But the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.

Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.

I will also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down and there will be no one to make you afraid. I will also eliminate harmful animals from the land, and no sword will pass through your land.

So Moab was in great fear because of the people, for they were numerous; and Moab was in dread of the sons of Israel.

Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.

This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.

You shall not dread them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God.

For {I was in dread} from [being in] the presence of the anger and the wrath [with] which Yahweh was angry with you [so as] to destroy you, but Yahweh listened to me also {at that time}.

There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel: you are advancing today to battle against your enemies. Do not lack courage. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble [in terror] before them,

And he shall bring back upon you all the diseases of Egypt [concerning] which {you were in dread} {because of them}.

Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be in dread night and day, never certain of survival.

In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and in the evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’—because of the dread you will have in your heart and because of what you will see.

Be strong and be courageous; you should not be afraid, and you {should not be in dread from their presence}, for Yahweh your God [is] the [one] going with you; he will not leave you alone and he will not forsake you."

“They sacrificed to demons who were not God,To gods whom they have not known,New gods who came lately,Whom your fathers did not dread.

and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and everyone who lives in the land is panicking because of you.

He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “Whoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen.” Then the dread of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out as one man.

Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.

They destroyed all the cities around Gerar, for the dread of the Lord had fallen on them; and they despoiled all the cities, for there was much plunder in them.

Now the dread of the Lord was on all the kingdoms of the lands which were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat.

And the dread of God was on all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.

In each and every province and in each and every city, wherever the king’s commandment and his decree arrived, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the dread of the Jews had fallen on them.

The Jews assembled in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm; and no one could stand before them, for the dread of them had fallen on all the peoples.

Even all the princes of the provinces, the satraps, the governors and those who were doing the king’s business assisted the Jews, because the dread of Mordecai had fallen on them.

“For what I fear comes upon me,And what I dread befalls me.

Dread came upon me, and trembling,And made all my bones shake.

then I still dread all of my suffering; I know you still won't acquit me.

“Let Him remove His rod from me,And let not dread of Him terrify me.

Shall not his excellency make you afraid? and his dread fall upon you?

Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid.

Therefore snares surround you,and sudden dread terrifies you,

“Therefore I would be terrified at His presence;When I consider [all of this], I tremble in dread of Him.

Dominion and dread belong to Him,the One who establishes harmony in the heavens.

For a dread unto me is calamity from God, And because of His excellency I am not able.

Look, dread of me should not terrify you, and my hand will not be heavy upon you.

There they are in great dread,For God is with the righteous generation.

Even though I walk through the [sunless] valley of the shadow of death,I fear no evil, for You are with me;Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort and console me.

A Psalm of David.The Lord is my light and my salvation;Whom shall I fear?The Lord is the defense of my life;Whom shall I dread?

I am ridiculed by all my adversariesand even by my neighbors.I am dreaded by my acquaintances;those who see me in the street run from me.

For the choir director. A psalm of David, the Lord’s servant.An oracle within my heartconcerning the transgression of the wicked person:There is no dread of God before his eyes,

For the Lord Most High is to be feared [and worshiped with awe-inspired reverence and obedience];He is a great King over all the earth.

There they were, in great terror and dread, where there had been no terror or dread;For God scattered the bones of him who besieged you;You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint;Preserve my life from dread of the enemy.

Since my youth I have been oppressed and in danger of death. I bear your dread and am overwhelmed.

Egypt was glad when they left,for the dread of Israel had fallen on them.

Turn away the disgrace I dread;indeed, Your judgments are good.

My flesh trembles in [reverent] fear of You,And I am afraid and in awe of Your judgments.

I will also laugh at your calamity;I will mock when your dread comes,

when what you dread comes like a storm, and your calamity comes on like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.

“But he who listens to me shall live securelyAnd will be at ease from the dread of evil.”

The dread of the wicked will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.

They [the stricken, deprived of all in which they had trusted] will go into the caves of the rocksAnd into the holes of the ground [fleeing]From the terror and dread of the LordAnd from the splendor of His majesty,When He arises to terrify the earth.

To go into the caverns of the rocks and into the clefts of the [ragged] cliffs [as they flee]From the terror and dread of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty,When He arises to terrify the earth.

For before the boy knows to reject what is bad and choose what is good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned.

Ye shall not say, Conspiracy, of everything of which this people saith, Conspiracy; and fear ye not their fear, and be not in dread.

Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

In that day the Egyptians will become like women, and they will tremble and be in dread because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He is going to wave over them.

The land of Judah will become a terror to Egypt; everyone to whom it is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the purpose of the Lord of hosts which He is purposing against them.

But you have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,who stretched out the heavensand laid the foundations of the earth.You are in constant dread all day longbecause of the fury of the oppressor,who has set himself to destroy.But where is the fury of the oppressor?

"Whom did you so dread and while you feared me that you lied, and you did not remember me, and did not lay to heart these things? Haven't I remained silent for a long time, and still you don't fear me?"

So I will choose their punishment,and I will bring on them what they dreadbecause I called and no one answered;I spoke and they didn’t hear;they did what was evil in My sightand chose what I didn’t delight in.

“Your own wickedness will correct you,And your apostasies will reprove you;Know therefore and see that it is evil and bitterFor you to forsake the Lord your God,And the dread of Me is not in you,” declares the Lord God of hosts.

But the Lord is with me like a dread champion;Therefore my persecutors will stumble and not prevail.They will be utterly ashamed, because they have failed,With an everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.

In fact, I will hand you over to those you dread, who want to take your life, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and the Chaldeans.

Yes, this is what the Lord says:We have heard a cry of terror,of dread—there is no peace.

Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, “I dread the Jews who have gone over to the Chaldeans, for they may give me over into their hand and they will abuse me.”

But I will deliver you on that day,” declares the Lord, “and you will not be given into the hand of the men whom you dread.

Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear [as if he were deity]; do not be afraid of him,’ says the Lord, ‘for [he is a mere man, but I am the living, omniscient God and] I am with you [always] to protect you and to deliver you from his hand.

the sword that you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt. The famine that you dread will pursue you into Egypt, and there you will die.

Dread, and pit, and a trapping net [are] against you, O inhabitant of Moab," {declares} Yahweh.

"He [who] flees {before} the dread will fall into the pit, and the [one who] climbs up from the pit will be caught in the trapping net, for I will bring on Moab the year of their punishment," {declares} Yahweh.

Look, I [am] going to bring dread on you," {declares} Lord Yahweh of hosts, "from all your surrounding [neighbors]. And you will be scattered, each one {before it}, and there is no [one who] gathers the fugitives.

Then He said to me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight and in dread drink water by measure.

Then say to the people of the land: This is what the Lord God says about the residents of Jerusalem in the land of Israel: They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water in dread, for their land will be stripped of everything in it because of the violence of all who live there.

Now I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, while the men who were with me did not see the vision; nevertheless, a great dread fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves.

They will lick the dust like a serpent,Like reptiles of the earth.They will come trembling out of their fortresses;To the Lord our God they will come in dreadAnd they will be afraid before You.

When Judas, His betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was gripped with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders,

for they all saw Him and were shaken and terrified. But He immediately spoke with them and said, “Take courage! It is I (I Am)! Stop being afraid.”

For he did not [really] know what to say because they were terrified [and stunned by the miraculous sight].

And He said to them, “Where is your faith [your confidence in Me]?” They were afraid and astonished, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the sea, and they obey Him?”

Then all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to leave them, because they were overwhelmed with fear. So Jesus got into the boat and returned [to the west side of the Sea of Galilee].

“I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have nothing more that they can do.

people fainting from fear and expectation of the [dreadful] things coming on the world; for the [very] powers of the heavens will be shaken.

And hearing these words, Ananias fell down suddenly and died; and great fear and awe gripped those who heard of it.

And great fear and awe gripped the whole church, and all who heard about these things.

For [civil] authorities are not a source of fear for [people of] good behavior, but for [those who do] evil. Do you want to be unafraid of authority? Do what is good and you will receive approval and commendation.

For he is God’s servant to you for good. But if you do wrong, [you should] be afraid; for he does not carry the [executioner’s] sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an avenger who brings punishment on the wrongdoer.

I came to you in [a state of] weakness and fear and great trembling.

For even when we arrived in Macedonia our bodies had no rest, but we were oppressed at every turn—conflicts and disputes without, fears and dread within.

So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently say,“The Lord is my Helper [in time of need], I will not be afraid.What will man do to me?”

But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness [though it is not certain that you will], you are still blessed [happy, to be admired and favored by God]. Do not be afraid of their intimidating threats, nor be troubled or disturbed [by their opposition].

There is no fear in love [dread does not exist]. But perfect (complete, full-grown) love drives out fear, because fear involves [the expectation of divine] punishment, so the one who is afraid [of God’s judgment] is not perfected in love [has not grown into a sufficient understanding of God’s love].

Fear nothing that you are about to suffer. Be aware that the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested [in your faith], and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful to the point of death [if you must die for your faith], and I will give you the crown [consisting] of life.

But after three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear and panic fell on those who were watching them.

And in that [very] hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell and was destroyed; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest [who survived] were overcome with terror, and they glorified the God of heaven [as they recognized His awesome power].