Temptation: General Scriptures Concerning
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Genesis 3:1–13
Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’” / The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, / but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’”
Genesis 20:6
Then God said to Abimelech in the dream, “Yes, I know that you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. That is why I did not let you touch her.
Exodus 34:12–16
Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst. / Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles. / For you must not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
Deuteronomy 7:25
You must burn up the images of their gods; do not covet the silver and gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it; for it is detestable to the LORD your God.
Deuteronomy 8:11–14, 17, 18
Be careful not to forget the LORD your God by failing to keep His commandments and ordinances and statutes, which I am giving you this day. / Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses in which to dwell, / and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all that you have is multiplied,
Deuteronomy 13:3
you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
1 Chronicles 21:1
Then Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.
2 Chronicles 32:30, 31
It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Spring of Gihon and channeled it down to the west side of the City of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did. / And so when ambassadors of the rulers of Babylon were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone to test him, that He might know all that was in Hezekiah’s heart.
Psalm 119:165
Abundant peace belongs to those who love Your law; nothing can make them stumble.
Proverbs 1:10–17
My son, if sinners entice you, do not yield to them. / If they say, “Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause, / let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those descending into the Pit.
Proverbs 2:10–12, 16
For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will delight your soul. / Discretion will watch over you, and understanding will guard you, / to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perversity,
Proverbs 4:14, 15
Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. / Avoid it; do not travel on it. Turn from it and pass on by.
Proverbs 5:6–21
She does not consider the path of life; she does not know that her ways are unstable. / So now, my sons, listen to me, and do not turn aside from the words of my mouth. / Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house,
Proverbs 6:27, 28
Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned? / Can a man walk on hot coals without scorching his feet?
Proverbs 7:7–23
I saw among the simple, I noticed among the youths, a young man lacking judgment, / crossing the street near her corner, strolling down the road to her house, / at twilight, as the day was fading into the dark of the night.
Proverbs 9:15–17
calling out to those who pass by, who make their paths straight. / “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” she says to him who lacks judgment. / “Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is tasty!”
Proverbs 12:26
A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the ways of the wicked lead them astray.
Proverbs 13:14
The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning one from the snares of death.
Proverbs 14:27
The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death.
Proverbs 16:29
A violent man entices his neighbor and leads him down a path that is not good.
Proverbs 19:27
If you cease to hear instruction, my son, you will stray from the words of knowledge.
Proverbs 28:10
He who leads the upright along the path of evil will fall into his own pit, but the blameless will inherit what is good.
Ecclesiastes 7:26
And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.
Isaiah 33:15, 16
He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil— / he will dwell on the heights; the mountain fortress will be his refuge; his food will be provided and his water assured.
Jeremiah 2:24, 25
a wild donkey at home in the wilderness, sniffing the wind in the heat of her desire. Who can restrain her passion? All who seek her need not weary themselves; in mating season they will find her. / You should have kept your feet from going bare and your throat from being thirsty. But you said, ‘It is hopeless! For I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’
Jeremiah 35:5–7
Then I set pitchers full of wine and some cups before the men of the house of the Rechabites, and I said to them, “Drink some wine.” / “We do not drink wine,” they replied, “for our forefather Jonadab son of Rechab commanded us, ‘Neither you nor your descendants are ever to drink wine. / Nor are you ever to build a house or sow seed or plant a vineyard. Those things are not for you. Instead, you must live in tents all your lives, so that you may live a long time in the land where you wander.’
Hosea 7:5
The princes are inflamed with wine on the day of our king; so he joins hands with those who mock him.
Amos 2:12
“But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.
Matthew 4:1–11
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. / After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. / The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Matthew 5:19
So then, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do likewise will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 12:45
Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there; and the final plight of that man is worse than the first. So will it be with this wicked generation.”
Matthew 13:22
The seed sown among the thorns is the one who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Matthew 18:6–9
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. / Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! / If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.
Matthew 26:31, 41
Then Jesus said to them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of Me. For it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ / “Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
Mark 4:15, 17
Some are like the seeds along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. / But they themselves have no root, and they remain for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
Mark 10:21–25
Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “There is one thing you lack: Go, sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” / But the man was saddened by these words and went away in sorrow, because he had great wealth. / Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
Mark 13:21, 22
At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. / For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible.
Mark 14:38
Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
Luke 4:1–13
Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, / where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry. / The devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
Luke 8:13, 14
The seeds on rocky ground are those who hear the word and receive it with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a season, but in the time of testing, they fall away. / The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does not mature.
Luke 11:4
And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’”
Luke 22:3, 31, 32, 40, 46
Then Satan entered Judas Iscariot, who was one of the Twelve. / Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. / But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
John 16:1, 2
“I have told you these things so that you will not fall away. / They will put you out of the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.
Romans 6:12–14
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires. / Do not present the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and present the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness. / For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
Romans 7:5
For when we lived according to the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, bearing fruit for death.
Romans 8:35–39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? / As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” / No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
Romans 12:21
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 14:13, 15, 21
Therefore let us stop judging one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. / If your brother is distressed by what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother, for whom Christ died. / It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything to cause your brother to stumble.
1 Corinthians 7:5
Do not deprive each other, except by mutual consent and for a time, so you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan will not tempt you through your lack of self-control.
1 Corinthians 8:9–13
Be careful, however, that your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. / For if someone with a weak conscience sees you who are well informed eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged to eat food sacrificed to idols? / So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge.
1 Corinthians 10:13, 28–32
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it. / But if someone tells you, “This food was offered to idols,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience— / Do not become a stumbling block, whether to Jews or Greeks or the church of God—
2 Corinthians 2:11
in order that Satan should not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
2 Corinthians 11:3, 14, 15
I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ. / And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. / It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.
2 Corinthians 12:7
or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
Galatians 4:14
And although my illness was a trial to you, you did not despise or reject me. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus Himself.
Galatians 5:17
For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want.
Ephesians 4:27
and do not give the devil a foothold.
Ephesians 6:11, 13–17
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. / Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. / And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
1 Thessalonians 3:5
For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter had somehow tempted you and caused our labor to be in vain.
1 Timothy 5:15
For some have already turned aside to follow Satan.
1 Timothy 6:9, 10
Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. / For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
2 Timothy 3:13
while evil men and imposters go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Hebrews 2:18
Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.
Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.
Hebrews 12:3, 4
Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. / In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.
James 1:2–4, 12–16
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, / because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. / Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 4:7
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
1 Peter 1:6, 7
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials / so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 4:12
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you.
1 Peter 5:1
As a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings, and a partaker of the glory to be revealed, I appeal to the elders among you:
2 Peter 2:9, 18
if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. / With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.
2 Peter 3:17
Therefore, beloved, since you already know these things, be on your guard so that you will not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure standing.
1 John 2:16, 26
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. / I have written these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.
1 John 4:4
You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
Revelation 3:10
Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
Revelation 12:10, 11, 17
And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down—he who accuses them day and night before our God. / They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death. / And the dragon was enraged at the woman, and went to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And the dragon stood on the shore of the sea.