'Pride' in the Bible
and all the firstborn in the land [the pride, hope, and joy] of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the hand-mill, and all the firstborn of cattle as well.
I will break your pride in your power, and I will make your sky like iron [giving no rain and blocking all prayers] and your ground like bronze [hard to plow and yielding no produce].
However, Hezekiah humbled his proud heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come on them during the days of Hezekiah.
“But a hollow (empty-headed) man will become intelligent and wise[Only] when the colt of a wild donkey is born as a man.
“He pours contempt on princes and noblesAnd loosens the belt of the strong [disabling them].
That He may turn man aside from his conduct,And keep him from pride;
“The people cry out, but He does not answerBecause of the pride of evil men.
“He looks on everything that is high [without terror];He is monarch over all the sons of pride. [And now, Job, who are you who does not dare to disturb the beast, yet who dares resist Me, the beast’s creator? Everything under the heavens is Mine; therefore, who can have a claim against God?]”
In pride and arrogance the wicked hotly pursue and persecute the afflicted;Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
The wicked, in the haughtiness of his face, will not seek nor inquire for Him;All his thoughts are, “There is no God [so there is no accountability or punishment].”
Let the lying lips be mute,Which speak insolently and arrogantly against the [consistently] righteousWith pride and contempt.
Do not let the foot of the proud [person] overtake me,And do not let the hand of the wicked drive me away.
He chooses our inheritance for us,The glory and excellence of Jacob whom He loves. Selah.
For the sin of their mouths and the words of their lips,Let them even be trapped in their pride,And on account of the curses and lies which they tell.
Therefore pride is their necklace;Violence covers them like a garment [like a long, luxurious robe].
He will cut off the spirit of princes;He is awesome and feared by the kings of the earth.
The days of our life are seventy years—Or even, if because of strength, eighty years;Yet their pride [in additional years] is only labor and sorrow,For it is soon gone and we fly away.
“The [reverent] fear and worshipful awe of the Lord includes the hatred of evil;Pride and arrogance and the evil way,And the perverted mouth, I hate.
When pride comes [boiling up with an arrogant attitude of self-importance], then come dishonor and shame,But with the humble [the teachable who have been chiseled by trial and who have learned to walk humbly with God] there is wisdom and soundness of mind.
Through pride and presumption come nothing but strife,But [skillful and godly] wisdom is with those who welcome [well-advised] counsel.
In the mouth of the [arrogant] fool [who rejects God] is a rod for his back,But the lips of the wise [when they speak with godly wisdom] will protect them.
Pride goes before destruction,And a haughty spirit before a fall.
“Proud,” “Haughty,” “Scoffer,” are his namesWho acts with overbearing and insolent pride.
A man’s pride and sense of self-importance will bring him down,But he who has a humble spirit will obtain honor.
When the Lord has washed away the [moral] filth of the daughters of Zion and has cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning,
And all the people know it,That is, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria [its capital],Who say in pride and arrogance of heart:
So when the Lord has completed all His work [of judgment] on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit [the thoughts, the declarations, and the actions] of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the haughtiness of his pride.”
And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride,Will be like Sodom and Gomorrah when God overthrew them.
We have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride—Even of his arrogance, his conceit, his rage,His untruthful boasting.
This is the word which the Lord spoke earlier concerning Moab [when Moab’s pride and resistance to God were first known].
The Lord of hosts has planned it, to defile the pride of all beauty,To bring into contempt and humiliation all the honored of the earth.
And Moab will spread out his hands in the middle of the filthAs a swimmer spreads out his hands to swim,But the Lord will humiliate his pride in spite of the [skillful] movements of his hands.
Woe (judgment is coming) to [Samaria] the splendid crown of the drunkards of Ephraim,And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty,Which is at the head of the rich valleyOf those who are overcome with wine!
“Thus says the Lord, ‘In this same way I shall destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
But if you will not listen and obey,My soul will weep in secret for your pride;My eyes will weep bitterlyAnd flow with tears,Because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.
“We have heard of the [giddy] pride of Moab, the extremely proud one—His haughtiness, his arrogance, his conceit, and his self-exaltation.
“As for Your terror,The pride and arrogance of your heart have deceived you,O you who live in the clefts of the rock (Sela also called Petra),Who hold and occupy the height of the hill.Though you make your nest as high as the eagle’s,I will bring you down from there,” says the Lord.
See, one will come like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan against the enduring habitation [of Edom] and its watered pastures; for in an instant I will make him (Edom) run from his land. I will appoint over him the one whom I choose. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me [into court] and prosecute Me [for this]? Who is the [earthly] shepherd who can stand [defiantly] before Me?”
“Behold, I am against you, [O Babylon, you] arrogant one, [you who are pride and presumption personified],”Says the Lord God of hosts,“For your day has come,The time when I will punish you.
“The arrogant (proud) one will stumble and fallWith no one to raise him up;And I will set fire to his citiesAnd it will devour all who are around him.”
“See, one will come up like a lion from the thicket of the Jordan against the enduring habitation [of Babylon] and its watered pastures; for in an instant I will make Babylon run from his land. I will appoint over Babylon the one whom I choose. For who is like Me, and who will summon Me [into court] and prosecute Me [for this]? Who is the [earthly] shepherd who can stand [defiantly] before Me?”
He has bent His bow like an enemy;He has set His right hand like an adversaryAnd slain all that were delightful and pleasing to the eye;In the tent of the Daughter of ZionHe has poured out His wrath like fire.
‘Behold, the day! Behold, it is coming! Your doom has gone forth, the rod has blossomed, arrogance has sprouted.
As for the beauty of [gold for] ornaments, they turned it to pride and from it made the images of their repulsive things (idols) and of their vile things. Therefore I will make it an unclean thing to them.
Behold, this was the sin of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters (outlying cities) had arrogance, abundant food, and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy.
For [the name of] your sister Sodom was not mentioned by you [except as a byword] in the day of your pride [when David ruled],
‘Speak to the house of Israel, “Thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will profane My sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and the delight of your soul; and your sons and your daughters whom you have left behind [in Jerusalem] will fall by the sword.
‘Thus says the Lord,“Those who uphold and support Egypt will fallAnd the pride of her power will come down;From Migdol [in the north] to Syene [in the south]They will fall within her by the sword,”Says the Lord God.
“In Tehaphnehes the day will be darkWhen I break the yoke bars and dominion of Egypt there.Then the pride of her power will come to an end;A cloud [of disasters] will cover her,And her daughters will go into captivity.
I will make your horde [of people] fall by the swords of the mighty—all of them are tyrants among the nations,And they will devastate the pride and presumption of Egypt,And all its hordes will be destroyed.
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and faithful and His ways are just, and He is able to humiliate and humble those who walk in [self-centered, self-righteous] pride.”
Out of one of them (Antiochus IV Epiphanes) came forth a rather small horn [but one of irreverent presumption and profane pride] which grew exceedingly powerful toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land (Israel).
But the pride and self-reliance of Israel testifies against him.Therefore Israel, and [especially] Ephraim, stumble and fall in their wickedness and guilt;Judah also has stumbled with them.
Though the pride of Israel testifies against him,Yet they do not return [in repentance] to the Lord their God,Nor seek nor search for nor desire Him [as essential] in spite of all this.
The Lord God has sworn [an oath] by Himself—the Lord God of hosts, says:“I loathe and reject the [self-centered] arrogance of Jacob (Israel),And I hate his palaces and citadels;Therefore, I shall hand over the [idolatrous] city [of Samaria] with all that it contains [to the Assyrian invaders].”
The Lord has sworn [an oath] by the pride of Jacob,“Surely I shall never forget [nor leave unpunished] any of their [rebellious] acts.
“The pride and arrogance of your heart have deceived you,You who live in the clefts and lofty security of the rock (Sela),Whose dwelling place is high,Who say [boastfully] in your heart,‘Who will bring me down to earth?’
This they shall have in return for their pride, because they have taunted and become arrogant against the people of the Lord of hosts.
“On that day you [Israel] will feel no shameBecause of all your actsBy which you have rebelled and sinned against Me;Then I will remove from among youYour rejoicing ones who delight in their pride;And you will never again behave arrogantlyOn My holy mountain [Mount Zion].
And a mongrel race will live in Ashdod,And I will put an end to the pride and arrogance of the Philistines.
“And they will pass through the sea of distress and anxiety [with the Lord leading His people, as at the Red Sea]And He will strike the waves in the sea,So that all the depths of the Nile will dry up;And the pride of Assyria will be brought downAnd the scepter [of the taskmasters] of Egypt will pass away.
There is a sound of the shepherds’ wail,For their splendor (grazing land) is ruined;There is a sound of the young lions’ roar,For the pride of the Jordan is ruined.