'Hard' in the Bible

“You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy,And you are not to fear what they fear nor be in dread of it.

And it will be in the day when the Lord gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and from the harsh service in which you have been enslaved,

“And I will hand over the Egyptians to a hard and cruel master,And a mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord God of hosts.

A harsh vision has been shown to me;The treacherous one deals treacherously, and the destroyer destroys.Go up, Elam! Lay siege, Media!All the groaning [caused by Babylon’s ruthless oppressions] I [the Lord] have brought to an end.

“As often as it passes through, it will seize you;For morning after morning it will pass through, by day and by night,And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means.”