'Labor' in the Bible

He said to the woman:I will intensify your labor pains;you will bear children in anguish.Your desire will be for your husband,yet he will rule over you.

And He said to Adam, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’:The ground is cursed because of you.You will eat from it by means of painful laborall the days of your life.

And he named him Noah, saying, “This one will bring us relief from the agonizing labor of our hands, caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.”

They set out from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth, and her labor was difficult.

During her difficult labor, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you have another son.”

So the Egyptians assigned taskmasters over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. They built Pithom and Rameses as supply cities for Pharaoh.

and made their lives bitter with difficult labor in brick and mortar and in all kinds of fieldwork. They ruthlessly imposed all this work on them.

Years later, after Moses had grown up, he went out to his own people and observed their forced labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people.

After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned because of their difficult labor, and they cried out; and their cry for help ascended to God because of the difficult labor.

“Therefore tell the Israelites: I am Yahweh, and I will deliver you from the forced labor of the Egyptians and free you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment.

I will take you as My people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am Yahweh your God, who delivered you from the forced labor of the Egyptians.

Moses told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their broken spirit and hard labor.

You are to labor six days and do all your work,

“You are to labor six days but you must rest on the seventh day; you must even rest during plowing and harvesting times.

“If your brother among you becomes destitute and sells himself to you, you must not force him to do slave labor.

You are to labor six days and do all your work,

But the Egyptians mistreated and afflicted us, and forced us to do hard labor.

However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they imposed forced labor on the Canaanites but did not drive them out completely.

I gave you a land you did not labor for, and cities you did not build, though you live in them; you are eating from vineyards and olive groves you did not plant.’

When Israel became stronger, they made the Canaanites serve as forced labor but never drove them out completely.

Zebulun failed to drive out the residents of Kitron or the residents of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them and served as forced labor.

Naphtali did not drive out the residents of Beth-shemesh or the residents of Beth-anath. They lived among the Canaanites who were living in the land, but the residents of Beth-shemesh and Beth-anath served as their forced labor.

The Amorites refused to leave Har-heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. When the house of Joseph got the upper hand, the Amorites were made to serve as forced labor.

Eli’s daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and about to give birth. When she heard the news about the capture of God’s ark and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband, she collapsed and gave birth because her labor pains came on her.

He removed the people who were in the city and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and to labor at brickmaking. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then he and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

Adoram was in charge of forced labor; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was court historian;

Ahishar, in charge of the palace;and Adoniram son of Abda, in charge of forced labor.

Then King Solomon drafted forced laborers from all Israel; the labor force numbered 30,000 men.

He sent 10,000 to Lebanon each month in shifts; one month they were in Lebanon, two months they were at home. Adoniram was in charge of the forced labor.

This is the account of the forced labor that King Solomon had imposed to build the Lord’s temple, his own palace, the supporting terraces, the wall of Jerusalem, and Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer.

their descendants who remained in the land after them, those whom the Israelites were unable to completely destroy—Solomon imposed forced labor on them; it is this way until today.

Now the man Jeroboam was capable, and Solomon noticed the young man because he was getting things done. So he appointed him over the entire labor force of the house of Joseph.

Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of forced labor, but all Israel stoned him to death. King Rehoboam managed to get into the chariot and flee to Jerusalem.

their descendants who remained in the land after them, those the Israelites had not completely destroyed—Solomon imposed forced labor on them; it is this way today.

Then King Rehoboam sent Hadoram, who was in charge of the forced labor, but the Israelites stoned him to death. However, King Rehoboam managed to get into his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.

Then the king and Jehoiada gave it to those in charge of the labor on the Lord’s temple, who were hiring stonecutters and carpenters to renovate the Lord’s temple, also blacksmiths and coppersmiths to repair the Lord’s temple.

Isn’t mankind consigned to forced labor on earth?Are not his days like those of a hired hand?

Since I will be found guilty,why should I labor in vain?

He must return the fruit of his labor without consuming it;he doesn’t enjoy the profits from his trading.

Do you know when mountain goats give birth?Have you watched the deer in labor?

She treats her young harshly, as if they were not her own,with no fear that her labor may have been in vain.

Trembling seized them there,agony like that of a woman in labor,

He gave their crops to the caterpillarand the fruit of their labor to the locust.

He waters the mountains from His palace;the earth is satisfied by the fruit of Your labor.

Man goes out to his workand to his labor until evening.

He broke their spirits with hard labor;they stumbled, and there was no one to help.

A Solomonic song of ascents.Unless the Lord builds a house,its builders labor over it in vain;unless the Lord watches over a city,the watchman stays alert in vain.

The labor of the righteous leads to life;the activity of the wicked leads to sin.

The diligent hand will rule,but laziness will lead to forced labor.

Wealth obtained by fraud will dwindle,but whoever earns it through labor will multiply it.

Give her the reward of her labor,and let her works praise her at the city gates.

I saw that all labor and all skillful work is due to a man’s jealousy of his friend. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Here is what I have seen to be good: it is appropriate to eat, drink, and experience good in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of his life God has given him, because that is his reward.

God has also given riches and wealth to every man, and He has allowed him to enjoy them, take his reward, and rejoice in his labor. This is a gift of God,

All man’s labor is for his stomach,yet the appetite is never satisfied.

So I commended enjoyment because there is nothing better for man under the sun than to eat, drink, and enjoy himself, for this will accompany him in his labor during the days of his life that God gives him under the sun.

They will be horrified;pain and agony will seize them;they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.They will look at each other,their faces flushed with fear.

When the Lord gives you rest from your pain, torment, and the hard labor you were forced to do,

Therefore I am filled with anguish.Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor.I am too perplexed to hear,too dismayed to see.

Be ashamed Sidon, the stronghold of the sea,for the sea has spoken:“I have not been in labor or given birth.I have not raised young menor brought up young women.”

Then Assyria will fall,but not by human sword;a sword will devour him,but not one made by man.He will flee from the sword;his young men will be put to forced labor.

“I have kept silent from ages past;I have been quiet and restrained Myself.But now, I will groan like a woman in labor,gasping breathlessly.

“Rejoice, childless one, who did not give birth;burst into song and shout,you who have not been in labor!For the children of the forsaken one will be morethan the children of the married woman,”says the Lord.

They will not labor without successor bear children destined for disaster,for they will be a people blessed by the Lordalong with their descendants.

Before Zion was in labor, she gave birth;before she was in pain, she delivered a boy.

Who has heard of such a thing?Who has seen such things?Can a land be born in one dayor a nation be delivered in an instant?Yet as soon as Zion was in labor,she gave birth to her sons.

I hear a cry like a woman in labor,a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child.The cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath,stretching out her hands:Woe is me, for my life is wearybecause of the murderers!

We have heard about it,and we are discouraged.Distress has seized us—pain like a woman in labor.

What will you say when He appointsclose friends as leaders over you,ones you yourself trained?Won’t labor pains seize you,as they do a woman in labor?

You residents of Lebanon,nestled among the cedars,how you will groan when labor pains come on you,agony like a woman in labor.

Ask and seewhether a male can give birth.Why then do I see every manwith his hands on his stomach like a woman in laborand every face turned pale?

Damascus has become weak;she has turned to run;panic has gripped her.Distress and labor pains have seized herlike a woman in labor.

The king of Babylon has heard reports about them,and his hands fall helpless.Distress has seized him—pain, like a woman in labor.

Young men labor at millstones;boys stumble under loads of wood.

“Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor strenuously against Tyre. Every head was made bald and every shoulder chafed, but he and his army received no compensation from Tyre for the labor he expended against it.

Labor pains come on him.He is not a wise son;when the time comes,he will not be born.

So the Lord said, “You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night.

Now, why are you shouting loudly?Is there no king with you?Has your counselor perishedso that anguish grips you like a woman in labor?

Writhe and cry out, Daughter Zion,like a woman in labor,for now you will leave the cityand camp in the open fields.You will go to Babylon;there you will be rescued;there the Lord will redeem youfrom the power of your enemies!

Therefore, He will abandon them until the timewhen she who is in labor has given birth;then the rest of His brothers will returnto the people of Israel.

Is it not from the Lord of Hoststhat the peoples labor only to fuel the fireand countries exhaust themselves for nothing?

And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread.

“Consider how the wildflowers grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these!

I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from their labor.”

When a woman is in labor she has pain because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until now.

Now the one planting and the one watering are one in purpose, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

we labor, working with our own hands. When we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;

Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

labor and hardship,many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst,often without food, cold, and lacking clothing.

I am fearful for you, that perhaps my labor for you has been wasted.

For it is written:Rejoice, childless woman,who does not give birth.Burst into song and shout,you who are not in labor,for the children of the desolate are many,more numerous than thoseof the woman who has a husband.

Hold firmly to the message of life. Then I can boast in the day of Christ that I didn’t run or labor for nothing.

I labor for this, striving with His strength that works powerfully in me.

We recall, in the presence of our God and Father, your work of faith, labor of love, and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ,

For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers. Working night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God’s gospel to you.

For this reason, when I could no longer stand it, I also sent him to find out about your faith, fearing that the tempter had tempted you and that our labor might be for nothing.

When they say, “Peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains come on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

Now we ask you, brothers, to give recognition to those who labor among you and lead you in the Lord and admonish you,

In fact, we labor and strive for this, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of everyone, especially of those who believe.