'Evil' in the Bible

For they can’t sleepunless they have done what is evil;they are robbed of sleepunless they make someone stumble.

Don’t turn to the right or to the left;keep your feet away from evil.

He always plots evil with perversity in his heart—he stirs up trouble.

a heart that plots wicked schemes,feet eager to run to evil,

They will protect you from an evil woman,from the flattering tongue of a stranger.

To fear the Lord is to hate evil.I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct,and perverse speech.

Genuine righteousness leads to life,but pursuing evil leads to death.

The wicked desire what evil men have,but the root of the righteous produces fruit.

An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech,but a righteous one escapes from trouble.

Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil,but those who promote peace have joy.

Desire fulfilled is sweet to the taste,but to turn from evilis an abomination to fools.

A wise man is cautious and turns from evil,but a fool is easily angered and is careless.

The evil bow before those who are good,the wicked, at the gates of the righteous.

Don’t those who plan evil go astray?But those who plan good find loyalty and faithfulness.

The Lord detests the plans of an evil man,but pleasant words are pure.

The mind of the righteous person thinks before answering,but the mouth of the wicked blurts out evil things.

Wickedness is atoned for by loyalty and faithfulness,and one turns from evil by the fear of the Lord.

The highway of the upright avoids evil;the one who guards his way protects his life.

A worthless man digs up evil,and his speech is like a scorching fire.

The one who narrows his eyes is planning deceptions;the one who compresses his lips brings about evil.

An evil man seeks only rebellion;a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

If anyone returns evil for good,evil will never depart from his house.

A king sitting on a throne to judgesifts out all evil with his eyes.

Don’t say, “I will avenge this evil!”Wait on the Lord, and He will rescue you.

Lashes and wounds purge away evil,and beatings cleanse the innermost parts. >

A wicked person desires evil;he has no consideration for his neighbor.

Don’t envy evil menor desire to be with them,

The one who plots evilwill be called a schemer.

For the evil have no future;the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

Smooth lips with an evil heartare like glaze on an earthen vessel.

Though his hatred is concealed by deception,his evil will be revealed in the assembly.

Evil men do not understand justice,but those who seek the Lord understand everything.

The one who leads the upright into an evil waywill fall into his own pit,but the blameless will inherit what is good.

An evil man is caught by sin,but the righteous one sings and rejoices.

She rewards him with good, not evil,all the days of her life.

But better than either of them is the one who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

In my futile life I have seen everything: there is a righteous man who perishes in spite of his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who lives long in spite of his evil.

This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: there is one fate for everyone. In addition, the hearts of people are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live—after that they go to the dead.

For man certainly does not know his time: like fish caught in a cruel net or like birds caught in a trap, so people are trapped in an evil time as it suddenly falls on them.

There is an evil I have seen under the sun, an error proceeding from the presence of the ruler:

The beginning of the words of his mouth is folly,but the end of his speaking is evil madness.

For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

“Wash yourselves. Cleanse yourselves.Remove your evil deeds from My sight.Stop doing evil.

The look on their faces testifies against them,and like Sodom, they flaunt their sin.They do not conceal it.Woe to them,for they have brought evil on themselves.

Woe to those who call evil goodand good evil,who substitute darkness for lightand light for darkness,who substitute bitter for sweetand sweet for bitter.

For the ruthless one will vanish,the scorner will disappear,and all those who lie in wait with evil intentwill be killed—

The one who lives righteouslyand speaks rightly,who refuses gain from extortion,whose hand never takes a bribe,who stops his ears from listening to murderous plotsand shuts his eyes to avoid endorsing evil—

Happy is the man who does this,anyone who maintains this,who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,and keeps his hand from doing any evil.

The righteous one perishes,and no one takes it to heart;faithful men are swept away,with no one realizingthat the righteous one is swept awayfrom the presence of evil.

Their feet run after evil,and they rush to shed innocent blood.Their thoughts are sinful thoughts;ruin and wretchedness are in their paths.

Truth is missing,and whoever turns from evil is plundered.The Lord saw that there was no justice,and He was offended.

I will destine you for the sword,and all of you will kneel down to be slaughtered,because I called and you did not answer,I spoke and you did not hear;you did what was evil in My sightand chose what I did not delight in.

The wolf and the lamb will feed together,and the lion will eat straw like the ox,but the serpent’s food will be dust!They will not do what is evil or destroyon My entire holy mountain,”says the Lord.

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.

“I will pronounce My judgments against them for all the evil they did when they abandoned Me to burn incense to other gods and to worship the works of their own hands.

For My people have committed a double evil:They have abandoned Me,the fountain of living water,and dug cisterns for themselves,cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.

Evil generation,pay attention to the word of the Lord!Have I been a wilderness to Israelor a land of dense darkness?Why do My people claim,“We will go where we want;we will no longer come to You”?

How skillfully you pursue love;you also teach evil women your ways.

Will He bear a grudge forever?Will He be endlessly infuriated?”This is what you have said,but you have done the evil thingsyou are capable of.

At that time Jerusalem will be called, Yahweh’s Throne, and all the nations will be gathered to it, to the name of Yahweh in Jerusalem. They will cease to follow the stubbornness of their evil hearts.

Circumcise yourselves to the Lord;remove the foreskin of your hearts,men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem.Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fireand burn with no one to extinguish itbecause of your evil deeds.

Wash the evil from your heart, Jerusalem,so that you will be delivered.How long will you harbormalicious thoughts within you?

“For My people are fools;they do not know Me.They are foolish children,without understanding.They are skilled in doing what is evil,but they do not know how to do what is good.”

They have become fat and sleek.They have also excelled in evil matters.They have not taken up cases,such as the case of the fatherless, so they might prosper,and they have not defended the rights of the needy.

As a well gushes out its water,so she pours out her evil.Violence and destruction resound in her.Sickness and wounds keep coming to My attention.

The bellows blow,blasting the lead with fire.The refining is completely in vain;the evil ones are not separated out.

“But return to My place that was at Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at first. See what I did to it because of the evil of My people Israel.

Yet they didn’t listen or pay attention but followed their own advice and according to their own stubborn, evil heart. They went backward and not forward.

However, they wouldn’t listen to Me or pay attention but became obstinate; they did more evil than their ancestors.

“For the Judeans have done what is evil in My sight.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “They have set up their detestable things in the house that is called by My name and defiled it.

Death will be chosen over life by all the survivors of this evil family, those who remain wherever I have banished them.” This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

I have paid careful attention.They do not speak what is right.No one regrets his evil,asking, ‘What have I done?’Everyone has stayed his courselike a horse rushing into battle.

They bent their tongues like their bows;lies and not faithfulness prevail in the land,for they proceed from one evil to another,and they do not take Me into account.This is the Lord’s declaration.

Yet they would not obey or pay attention; each one followed the stubbornness of his evil heart. So I brought on them all the curses of this covenant, because they had not done what I commanded them to do.”

What right does My beloved haveto be in My house,having carried out so many evil schemes?Can holy meat prevent your disasterso you can rejoice?

How long will the land mournand the grass of every field wither?Because of the evil of its residents,animals and birds have been swept away,for the people have said,“He cannot see what our end will be.”

This is what the Lord says: “Concerning all My evil neighbors who attack the inheritance that I bequeathed to My people, Israel, I am about to uproot them from their land, and I will uproot the house of Judah from them.

These evil people, who refuse to listen to Me, who follow the stubbornness of their own hearts, and who have followed other gods to serve and worship—they will be like this underwear, of no use at all.

Can the Cushite change his skin,or a leopard his spots?If so, you might be able to do what is good,you who are instructed in evil.

The people they are prophesying to will be thrown into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword. There will be no one to bury them—they, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. I will pour out their own evil on them.”

I will deliver you from the power of evil peopleand redeem you from the control of the ruthless.

You did more evil than your fathers. Look, each one of you was following the stubbornness of his evil heart, not obeying Me.

However, if that nation I have made an announcement about turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it.

However, if it does what is evil in My sight by not listening to My voice, I will relent concerning the good I had said I would do to it.

So now, say to the men of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem: This is what the Lord says: I am about to bring harm to you and make plans against you. Turn now, each from your evil way, and correct your ways and your deeds.

But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless. We will continue to follow our plans, and each of us will continue to act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”

Should good be repaid with evil?Yet they have dug a pit for me.Remember how I stood before Youto speak good on their behalf,to turn Your anger from them.

Sing to the Lord!Praise the Lord,for He rescues the life of the needyfrom the hand of evil people.

House of David, this is what the Lord says:Administer justice every morning,and rescue the victim of robberyfrom the hand of his oppressor,or My anger will flare up like fireand burn unquenchablybecause of their evil deeds.

The wind will take charge of all your shepherds,and your lovers will go into captivity.Then you will be ashamed and humiliatedbecause of all your evil.

“Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the shepherds who shepherd My people: You have scattered My flock, banished them, and have not attended to them. I will attend to you because of your evil acts”—this is the Lord’s declaration.

For the land is full of adulterers;the land mourns because of the curse,and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up.Their way of life has become evil,and their power is not rightly used

Among the prophets of Jerusalem alsoI saw a horrible thing:They commit adultery and walk in lies.They strengthen the hands of evildoers,and none turns his back on evil.They are all like Sodom to Me;Jerusalem’s residents are like Gomorrah.

If they had really stood in My council,they would have enabled My people to hear My wordsand would have turned them back from their evil waysand their evil deeds.

He announced, ‘Turn, each of you, from your evil way of life and from your evil deeds. Live in the land the Lord gave to you and your ancestors long ago and forever.

Perhaps they will listen and return—each from his evil way of life—so that I might relent concerning the disaster that I plan to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.

From their youth, the Israelites and Judeans have done nothing but what is evil in My sight! They have done nothing but provoke Me to anger by the work of their hands”—this is the Lord’s declaration—

because of all the evil the Israelites and Judeans have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem.

The people coming to fight the Chaldeans will fill the houses with the corpses of their own men that I strike down in My wrath and rage. I have hidden My face from this city because of all their evil.

Time and time again I have sent you all My servants the prophets, proclaiming: Turn, each one from his evil way of life, and correct your actions. Stop following other gods to serve them. Live in the land that I gave you and your ancestors. But you would not pay attention or obey Me.