'Sword' in the Bible

I have struck down your children in vain;they would not accept discipline.Your own sword has devoured your prophetslike a ravaging lion.

I said, “Oh no, Lord God, You have certainly deceived this people and Jerusalem, by announcing, ‘You will have peace,’ while a sword is at our throats.”

They have contradicted the Lordand insisted, “It won’t happen.Harm won’t come to us;we won’t see sword or famine.”

They will consume your harvest and your food.They will consume your sons and your daughters.They will consume your flocks and your herds.They will consume your vines and your fig trees.They will destroy with the swordyour fortified cities in which you trust.

Don’t go out to the fields;don’t walk on the road.For the enemy has a sword;terror is on every side.

I will scatter them among the nations that they and their fathers have not known. I will send a sword after them until I have finished them off.”

Therefore, this is what the Lord of Hosts says: “I am about to punish them. The young men will die by the sword; their sons and daughters will die by famine.

Over all the barren heights in the wildernessthe destroyers have come,for the Lord has a sword that devoursfrom one end of the earth to the other.No one has peace.

If they fast, I will not hear their cry of despair. If they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. Rather, I will finish them off by sword, famine, and plague.”

And I replied, “Oh no, Lord God! The prophets are telling them, ‘You won’t see sword or suffer famine. I will certainly give you true peace in this place.’”

“Therefore, this is what the Lord says concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, though I did not send them, and who say, ‘There will never be sword or famine in this land.’ By sword and famine these prophets will meet their end.

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.”

If I go out to the field,look—those slain by the sword!If I enter the city,look—those ill from famine!For both prophet and priesttravel to a land they do not know.

If they ask you, ‘Where will we go?’ you must tell them: This is what the Lord says:Those destined for death, to death;those destined for the sword, to the sword.Those destined for famine, to famine;those destined for captivity, to captivity.

“I will ordain four kinds of judgment for them”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“the sword to kill, the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the land to devour and destroy.

The mother of seven grew faint;she breathed her last breath.Her sun set while it was still day;she was ashamed and humiliated.The rest of them I will give over to the swordin the presence of their enemies.”This is the Lord’s declaration.

They will die from deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like manure on the face of the earth. They will be finished off by sword and famine. Their corpses will become food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.

Therefore, hand their children over to famine,and pour the sword’s power on them.Let their wives become childless and widowed,their husbands slain by deadly disease,their young men struck down by the sword in battle.

I will spoil the plans of Judah and Jerusalem in this place. I will make them fall by the sword before their enemies, by the hand of those who want to take their life. I will provide their corpses as food for the birds of the sky and for the wild animals of the land.

for this is what the Lord says, ‘I am about to make you a terror to both yourself and those you love. They will fall by the sword of their enemies before your very eyes. I will hand Judah over to the king of Babylon, and he will deport them to Babylon and put them to the sword.

Afterward’”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“‘King Zedekiah of Judah, his officers, and the people—those in this city who survive the plague, the sword, and the famine—I will hand over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, to their enemies, yes, to those who want to take their lives. He will put them to the sword; he won’t spare them or show pity or compassion.’

Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you will live and will retain his life like the spoils of war.

I will send the sword, famine, and plague against them until they have perished from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.”

They will drink, stagger, and go out of their minds because of the sword I am sending among them.”

“Then you are to say to them: This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: Drink, get drunk, and vomit. Fall down and never get up again, as a result of the sword I am sending among you.

For I am already bringing disaster on the city that bears My name, so how could you possibly go unpunished? You will not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts.

The tumult reaches to the ends of the earthbecause the Lord brings a case against the nations.He enters into judgment with all flesh.As for the wicked, He hands them over to the sword—this is the Lord’s declaration.

He has left His den like a lion,for their land has become a desolationbecause of the sword of the oppressor,because of His burning anger.

They brought Uriah out of Egypt and took him to King Jehoiakim, who executed him with the sword and threw his corpse into the burial place of the common people.

“As for the nation or kingdom that does not serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and does not place its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish by sword, famine, and plague”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“until through him I have destroyed it.

Why should you and your people die by the sword, famine, or plague as the Lord has threatened against any nation that does not serve the king of Babylon?

This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “I am about to send against them sword, famine, and plague and will make them like rotten figs that are inedible because they are so bad.

I will pursue them with sword, famine, and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth—a curse and a desolation, an object of scorn and a disgrace among all the nations where I have banished them.

This is what the Lord says:They found favor in the wilderness—the people who survived the sword.When Israel went to find rest,

Look! Siege ramps have come against the city to capture it, and the city, as a result of the sword, famine, and plague, has been handed over to the Chaldeans who are fighting against it. What You have spoken has happened. Look, You can see it!

“Now therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to this city about which you said, ‘It has been handed over to Babylon’s king through sword, famine, and plague’:

For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the houses of this city and the palaces of Judah’s kings, the ones torn down for defense against the siege ramps and the sword:

“Yet hear the Lord’s word, Zedekiah, king of Judah. This is what the Lord says concerning you: You will not die by the sword;

“Therefore, this is what the Lord says: You have not obeyed Me by proclaiming freedom, each man for his brother and for his neighbor. I hereby proclaim freedom for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“to the sword, to plague, and to famine! I will make you a horror to all the earth’s kingdoms.

“This is what the Lord says: ‘Whoever stays in this city will die by the sword, famine, and plague, but whoever surrenders to the Chaldeans will live. He will keep his life like the spoils of war and will live.’

Indeed, I will certainly deliver you so that you do not fall by the sword. Because you have trusted in Me, you will keep your life like the spoils of war.” This is the Lord’s declaration.

but then Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the 10 men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, with the sword; he killed the one the king of Babylon had appointed in the land.

then the sword you fear will overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine you are worried about will follow on your heels there to Egypt, and you will die there.

All who resolve to go to Egypt to live there for a while will die by the sword, famine, and plague. They will have no one escape or survive from the disaster I will bring on them.’

Now therefore, know for certain that by the sword, famine, and plague you will die in the place where you desired to go to live for a while.”

He will come and strike down the land of Egypt—those destined for death, to death; those destined for captivity, to captivity; and those destined for the sword, to the sword.

And I will take away the remnant of Judah, those who have resolved to go to the land of Egypt to live there for a while; they will meet their end. All of them in the land of Egypt will fall by the sword; they will meet their end by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by the sword and by famine. Then they will become an object of cursing, scorn, execration, and disgrace.

I will punish those living in the land of Egypt just as I punished Jerusalem by sword, famine, and plague.

but from the time we ceased to burn incense to the queen of heaven and to offer her drink offerings, we have lacked everything, and through sword and famine we have met our end.”

I am watching over them for disaster and not for good, and every man of Judah who is in the land of Egypt will meet his end by sword or famine until they are finished off.

Those who escape the sword will return from the land of Egypt to the land of Judah only few in number, and the whole remnant of Judah, the ones going to the land of Egypt to live there for a while, will know whose word stands, Mine or theirs!

That day belongs to the Lord, the God of Hosts,a day of vengeance to avenge Himselfagainst His adversaries.The sword will devour and be satisfied;it will drink its fill of their blood,because it will be a sacrifice to the Lord, the God of Hosts,in the northern land by the Euphrates River.

Announce it in Egypt, and proclaim it in Migdol!Proclaim it in Memphis and in Tahpanhes!Say: Take positions! Prepare yourself,for the sword devours all around you.

He continues to stumble.Indeed, each falls over the other.They say, “Get up! Let’s return to our peopleand to the land of our birth,away from the sword that oppresses.”

Oh, sword of the Lord!How long will you be restless?Go back to your sheath;be still; be silent!

There is no longer praise for Moab;they plan harm against her in Heshbon:Come, let’s cut her off from nationhood.Also, Madmen, you will be silenced;the sword will pursue you.

The one who doesthe Lord’s business deceitfully is cursed,and the one who withholdshis sword from bloodshed is cursed.

I will devastate Elam before their enemies,before those who want to take their lives.I will bring disaster on them,My burning anger.This is the Lord’s declaration.I will send the sword after themuntil I finish them off.

Cut off the sower from Babylonas well as him who wields the sickle at harvest time.Because of the oppressor’s sword,each will turn to his own people,each will flee to his own land.

Put all her young bulls to the sword;let them go down to the slaughter.Woe to them, because their day has come,the time of their punishment.

A sword is against the diviners,and they will act foolishly.A sword is against her heroic warriors,and they will be terrified.

A sword is against his horses and chariotsand against all the foreigners among them,and they will be like women.A sword is against her treasuries,and they will be plundered.

You who have escaped the sword,go and do not stand still!Remember the Lord from far away,and let Jerusalem come to your mind.