Strife

Abram and Lot’s herdsmen were quarreling over grazing land, and Abram settles it before it grows: “Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee” (Genesis 13:8). Proverbs knows how quickly such things spread: “The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water.” A hot temper makes it worse, for “he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife” (Proverbs 15:18). Walking away is counted as strength: “It is an honour for a man to cease from strife” (Proverbs 20:3). James traces fighting back to the desires inside people (James 4:1).

629 verses

Genesis

Genesis 3:15

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Genesis 4:6

And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

Genesis 13:8

And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.

Genesis 16:5

And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.

Genesis 16:6

But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.

Genesis 37:4

And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

Genesis 37:5

And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.

Genesis 37:6

And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:

Genesis 37:7

For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.

Genesis 37:8

And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.

Genesis 37:9

And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

Genesis 37:10

And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

Genesis 37:11

And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.

Genesis 37:19

And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh.

Genesis 37:20

Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

Genesis 45:24

So he sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way.

Genesis 49:7

Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

Exodus

Exodus 11:8

And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves unto me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that follow thee: and after that I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in a great anger.

Exodus 20:5

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Exodus 22:24

And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

Exodus 32:10

Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

Exodus 33:5

For the LORD had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee.

Exodus 34:13

But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves:

Exodus 34:14

For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

Leviticus

Leviticus 19:14

Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD.

Leviticus 19:17

Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.

Leviticus 19:18

Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

Numbers

Numbers 11:1

And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.

Numbers 11:10

Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their families, every man in the door of his tent: and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also was displeased.

Numbers 11:33

And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.

Numbers 12:9

And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed.

Numbers 14:11

And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?

Numbers 16:3

And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?

Numbers 16:20

And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

Numbers 16:21

Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.

Numbers 16:45

Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces.

Numbers 25:3

And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.

Numbers 25:4

And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel.

Numbers 25:11

Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.

Numbers 32:10

And the LORD'S anger was kindled the same time, and he sware, saying,

Numbers 32:11

Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:

Numbers 32:13

And the LORD'S anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed.

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 1:12

How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?

Deuteronomy 6:14

Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;

Deuteronomy 6:15

(For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

Deuteronomy 9:13

Furthermore the LORD spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

Deuteronomy 9:14

Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they.

Deuteronomy 9:18

And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights: I did neither eat bread, nor drink water, because of all your sins which ye sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.

Deuteronomy 9:19

For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also.

Deuteronomy 9:20

And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him: and I prayed for Aaron also the same time.

Deuteronomy 27:17

Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Deuteronomy 27:18

Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Deuteronomy 29:20

The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.

Deuteronomy 32:16

They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.

Deuteronomy 32:21

They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

Deuteronomy 32:22

For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.

Deuteronomy 32:32

For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:

Deuteronomy 32:33

Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps.

Joshua

Joshua 7:1

But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.

Joshua 7:26

And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.

Joshua 23:16

When ye have transgressed the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which he hath given unto you.

Judges

Judges 2:12

And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger.

Judges 3:8

Therefore the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Chushanrishathaim king of Mesopotamia: and the children of Israel served Chushanrishathaim eight years.

Judges 10:7

And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon.

1 Samuel

1 Samuel 18:8

And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?

1 Samuel 18:9

And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.

1 Samuel 18:10

And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand.

1 Samuel 18:11

And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.

1 Samuel 18:12

And Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul.

1 Samuel 18:13

Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.

1 Samuel 18:14

And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD was with him.

1 Samuel 18:15

Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him.

1 Samuel 18:16

But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them.

1 Samuel 18:17

And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the LORD'S battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.

1 Samuel 18:18

And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son in law to the king?

1 Samuel 18:19

But it came to pass at the time when Merab Saul's daughter should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife.

1 Samuel 18:20

And Michal Saul's daughter loved David: and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him.

1 Samuel 18:21

And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David, Thou shalt this day be my son in law in the one of the twain.

1 Samuel 18:22

And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king's son in law.

1 Samuel 18:23

And Saul's servants spake those words in the ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king's son in law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?

1 Samuel 18:24

And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spake David.

1 Samuel 18:25

And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.

1 Samuel 18:26

And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son in law: and the days were not expired.

1 Samuel 18:27

Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king's son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.

1 Samuel 18:28

And Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal Saul's daughter loved him.

1 Samuel 18:29

And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul became David's enemy continually.

1 Samuel 18:30

Then the princes of the Philistines went forth: and it came to pass, after they went forth, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul; so that his name was much set by.

1 Samuel 19:8

And there was war again: and David went out, and fought with the Philistines, and slew them with a great slaughter; and they fled from him.

1 Samuel 19:9

And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand.

1 Samuel 19:10

And Saul sought to smite David even to the wall with the javelin; but he slipped away out of Saul's presence, and he smote the javelin into the wall: and David fled, and escaped that night.

1 Samuel 19:11

Saul also sent messengers unto David's house, to watch him, and to slay him in the morning: and Michal David's wife told him, saying, If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain.

1 Samuel 19:12

So Michal let David down through a window: and he went, and fled, and escaped.

1 Samuel 19:13

And Michal took an image, and laid it in the bed, and put a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster, and covered it with a cloth.

1 Samuel 19:14

And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, He is sick.

1 Samuel 19:15

And Saul sent the messengers again to see David, saying, Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may slay him.

1 Samuel 19:16

And when the messengers were come in, behold, there was an image in the bed, with a pillow of goats' hair for his bolster.

1 Samuel 19:17

And Saul said unto Michal, Why hast thou deceived me so, and sent away mine enemy, that he is escaped? And Michal answered Saul, He said unto me, Let me go; why should I kill thee?

1 Samuel 19:18

So David fled, and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth.

1 Samuel 19:19

And it was told Saul, saying, Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.

1 Samuel 19:20

And Saul sent messengers to take David: and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied.

Based on Nave's Topical Bible by Orville J. Nave (1896). Public domain. KJV scripture text, public domain.