100 Bible Verses about Adversity

Romans 8:28 ESV / 3,018 helpful votes

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Proverbs 24:10 ESV / 2,674 helpful votes

If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.

James 1:2-4 ESV / 2,461 helpful votes

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 ESV / 2,199 helpful votes

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

1 Peter 5:10 ESV / 2,016 helpful votes

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Romans 12:2 ESV / 1,931 helpful votes

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

1 Peter 5:8 ESV / 1,813 helpful votes

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Psalm 34:19 ESV / 1,808 helpful votes

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

Philippians 4:12-13 ESV / 1,779 helpful votes

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

James 1:12 ESV / 1,733 helpful votes

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV / 1,732 helpful votes

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

2 Chronicles 15:7 ESV / 1,673 helpful votes

But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”

Proverbs 3:4-6 ESV / 1,628 helpful votes

So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV / 1,585 helpful votes

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Proverbs 17:17 ESV / 1,578 helpful votes

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

Joshua 1:9 ESV / 1,430 helpful votes

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Revelation 21:4 ESV / 1,411 helpful votes

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

John 14:27 ESV / 1,351 helpful votes

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Isaiah 26:3 ESV / 1,299 helpful votes

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

2 Corinthians 1:4 ESV / 1,277 helpful votes

Who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Isaiah 41:10 ESV / 1,250 helpful votes

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Philippians 4:6-7 ESV / 1,201 helpful votes

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 4:12-13 ESV / 1,170 helpful votes

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV / 1,102 helpful votes

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Philippians 4:13 ESV / 1,096 helpful votes

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Psalm 56:3 ESV / 1,087 helpful votes

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.

Exodus 14:14 ESV / 1,071 helpful votes

The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Psalm 23:4 ESV / 1,055 helpful votes

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Revelation 1:1 ESV / 1,045 helpful votes

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,

John 16:33 ESV / 1,044 helpful votes

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Psalm 50:15 ESV / 1,041 helpful votes

And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV / 1,031 helpful votes

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Proverbs 3:4-5 ESV / 1,024 helpful votes

So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

James 1:2 ESV / 1,019 helpful votes

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

Psalm 9:9 ESV / 979 helpful votes

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

Job 2:10 ESV / 962 helpful votes

But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Romans 8:31 ESV / 958 helpful votes

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Ecclesiastes 7:13 ESV / 897 helpful votes

Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked?

1 Peter 5:8-9 ESV / 850 helpful votes

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV / 847 helpful votes

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Romans 5:3-5 ESV / 836 helpful votes

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

1 Peter 5:6-7 ESV / 791 helpful votes

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Deuteronomy 31:8 ESV / 750 helpful votes

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Revelation 11:1-19 ESV / 731 helpful votes

Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. ...

1 Peter 5:7 ESV / 730 helpful votes

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

James 1:13 ESV / 730 helpful votes

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

Psalm 55:22 ESV / 704 helpful votes

Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

Psalm 46:1 ESV / 698 helpful votes

To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Isaiah 30:20 ESV / 693 helpful votes

And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher.

Isaiah 43:2 ESV / 662 helpful votes

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

Ecclesiastes 7:14 ESV / 648 helpful votes

In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

Isaiah 40:2 ESV / 643 helpful votes

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.

Hebrews 12:2 ESV / 632 helpful votes

Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

John 3:16-17 ESV / 624 helpful votes

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Hebrews 9:27 ESV / 620 helpful votes

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,

Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV / 602 helpful votes

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

Proverbs 18:24 ESV / 595 helpful votes

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Romans 8:38-39 ESV / 569 helpful votes

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Nahum 1:7 ESV / 564 helpful votes

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.

Psalm 68:19 ESV / 562 helpful votes

Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Selah

1 Timothy 6:12 ESV / 554 helpful votes

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

1 Corinthians 14:33 ESV / 552 helpful votes

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,

Isaiah 45:7 ESV / 552 helpful votes

I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.

Psalm 22:11 ESV / 531 helpful votes

Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.

1 Corinthians 15:26 ESV / 523 helpful votes

The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Psalm 119:67 ESV / 516 helpful votes

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV / 492 helpful votes

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV / 483 helpful votes

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Psalm 145:13-17 ESV / 482 helpful votes

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. [The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.] The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.

Psalm 59:16-17 ESV / 478 helpful votes

But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress. O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.

Isaiah 40:31 ESV / 466 helpful votes

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 43:18 ESV / 459 helpful votes

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.

1 Peter 4:1 ESV / 448 helpful votes

Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,

Proverbs 15:32 ESV / 447 helpful votes

Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence.

Isaiah 35:4 ESV / 446 helpful votes

Say to those who have an anxious heart, “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.”

Ecclesiastes 10:10 ESV / 444 helpful votes

If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed.

Hebrews 11:1 ESV / 439 helpful votes

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Ephesians 3:20 ESV / 436 helpful votes

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

Mark 11:23 ESV / 436 helpful votes

Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.

Isaiah 65:8 ESV / 427 helpful votes

Thus says the Lord: “As the new wine is found in the cluster, and they say, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,’ so I will do for my servants' sake, and not destroy them all.

Psalm 121:1-2 ESV / 427 helpful votes

A Song of Ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Exodus 3:7 ESV / 427 helpful votes

Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings,

Colossians 1:24 ESV / 424 helpful votes

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,

Joshua 1:5 ESV / 424 helpful votes

No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.

Psalm 34:17 ESV / 407 helpful votes

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.

Isaiah 1:1-31 ESV / 391 helpful votes

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. ...

Romans 12:1 ESV / 374 helpful votes

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Psalm 118:5-6 ESV / 299 helpful votes

Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

Hebrews 10:26-31 ESV / 278 helpful votes

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” ...

1 Corinthians 9:25-27 ESV / 273 helpful votes

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Isaiah 58:10-11 ESV / 268 helpful votes

If you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Hebrews 13:1-25 ESV / 262 helpful votes

Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous. Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” ...

Titus 3:9-11 ESV / 258 helpful votes

But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 ESV / 251 helpful votes

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

Job 15:1-35 ESV / 251 helpful votes

Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said: “Should a wise man answer with windy knowledge, and fill his belly with the east wind? Should he argue in unprofitable talk, or in words with which he can do no good? But you are doing away with the fear of God and hindering meditation before God. For your iniquity teaches your mouth, and you choose the tongue of the crafty. ...

Daniel 1:1-10 ESV / 250 helpful votes

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the vessels of the house of God. And he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and placed the vessels in the treasury of his god. Then the king commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king's palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans. The king assigned them a daily portion of the food that the king ate, and of the wine that he drank. They were to be educated for three years, and at the end of that time they were to stand before the king. ...

Colossians 1:11-12 ESV / 249 helpful votes

Being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

Job 1:1-22 ESV / 248 helpful votes

There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east. His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually. ...

Nehemiah 1:1-11 ESV / 247 helpful votes

The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah. Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.” As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, ...

Genesis 39:20-23 ESV / 246 helpful votes

And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the Lord was with him. And whatever he did, the Lord made it succeed.

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