100 Bible Verses About The Problem of Evil

Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?

I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.

And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.

I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not.

All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.

Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,

Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.

I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.

I loathe it; I would not live alway: let me alone; for my days are vanity.

As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.

And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.

And Nathan departed unto his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick.

When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.

And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?

From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously.

I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the Lord.

Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.

Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.

I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?

Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul;

There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.

How long, Lord? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?

But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.

As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God?

And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?

Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.

Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.

For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten; and they talk to the grief of those whom thou hast wounded.

How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.

An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.

The days of his youth hast thou shortened: thou hast covered him with shame. Selah.

Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.

Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.

Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.

Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.

and the dead by the plague are four and twenty thousand.

Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.

Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.

Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me.

They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul.

This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.

Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,

For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.

And the one went out from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not since:

For there is a man whose labour is in wisdom, and in knowledge, and in equity; yet to a man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his portion. This also is vanity and a great evil.

All this have I seen, and applied my heart unto every work that is done under the sun: there is a time wherein one man ruleth over another to his own hurt.

If the scourge slay suddenly, he will laugh at the trial of the innocent.

Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.

For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?

Then answered Eliphaz the Temanite, and said,

They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.

Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.

So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

When the wicked cometh, then cometh also contempt, and with ignominy reproach.

Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man.

The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.

So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

That thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?

Vex the Midianites, and smite them:

And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.

The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:

Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.

And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

The great God that formed all things both rewardeth the fool, and rewardeth transgressors.

Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?

He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.

The earth is given into the hand of the wicked: he covereth the faces of the judges thereof; if not, where, and who is he?

Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith?

Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.

And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail: go out, and do even so.

My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.

Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me.

For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.

There they cry, but none giveth answer, because of the pride of evil men.

I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness.

I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.

Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?

Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.

Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?

I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.

For he will not lay upon man more than right; that he should enter into judgment with God.

And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

On the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him: he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him: