'Hard' in the Bible
For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.”
The scribes and Pharisees tie up heavy loads [that are hard to bear] and place them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not lift a finger [to make them lighter].
“The one who had received one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a harsh and demanding man, reaping [the harvest] where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter seed.
And He told His disciples to have a small boat stand ready for Him because of the many people, so that they would not crowd Him;
His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in around You [from all sides], and You ask, ‘Who touched Me?’”
The disciples were amazed and bewildered by His words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is [for those who place their hope and confidence in riches] to enter the kingdom of God!
But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well, because you weigh men down with burdens [man-made rules, unreasonable requirements] which are hard to bear, and you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers [to lighten the load].
I was [always] afraid of you, because you are a stern man; you pick up what you did not lay down and you reap what you did not sow.’
He said to the servant, ‘I will judge and condemn you by your own words, you worthless servant! Did you [really] know that I was a stern man, picking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow?
When many of His disciples heard this, they said, “This is a difficult and harsh and offensive statement. Who can [be expected to] listen to it?”
Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord [and relentless in his search for believers], went to the high priest,
“For the heart (the understanding, the soul) of this people has become dull (calloused),And with their ears they scarcely hear,And they have shut their eyes [to the truth];Otherwise they might see with their eyes,And hear with their ears,And understand with their heart and return [to Me],And I would heal them.”’
Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet my beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord.
We work [for our living], working hard with our own hands. When we are reviled and verbally abused, we bless. When we are persecuted, we take it patiently and endure.
But [in fact] their minds were hardened [for they had lost the ability to understand]; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed [only] in Christ.
hunted down and persecuted, but not deserted [to stand alone]; struck down, but never destroyed;
But I am hard-pressed between the two. I have the desire to leave [this world] and be with Christ, for that is far, far better;
Fathers, do not provoke or irritate or exasperate your children [with demands that are trivial or unreasonable or humiliating or abusive; nor by favoritism or indifference; treat them tenderly with lovingkindness], so they will not lose heart and become discouraged or unmotivated [with their spirits broken].
For I testify for him that he has worked strenuously for you and for the believers in Laodicea and those in Hierapolis.
For you remember, believers, our labor and hardship. We worked night and day [practicing our trade] in order not to be a [financial] burden to any of you while we proclaimed the gospel of God to you.
But understand this, that in the last days dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will come [difficult days that will be hard to bear].
Concerning this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull and sluggish in [your spiritual] hearing and disinclined to listen.