What the Bible Says About the Meaning of “Lord of the Flies”

Scripture

¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
² And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden,
³ but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
⁴ But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.
⁵ For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.
⁶ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
⁷ Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
⁸ And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
⁹ But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”
¹⁰ And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
¹¹ He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
¹² The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
¹⁴ The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
¹⁵ I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
¹⁶ To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”
¹⁷ And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
¹⁸ thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
²⁰ The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
²¹ And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
²² Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—”
²³ therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
²⁴ He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 3:1-24

Exodus 32:1-35: ¹ When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
² So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
³ So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.
⁴ And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.”
⁶ And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
⁸ They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them.
⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.
¹⁰ Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.
¹¹ But Moses implored the Lord his God and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
¹² Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people.
¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.’”
¹⁴ And the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people.
¹⁵ Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets that were written on both sides; on the front and on the back they were written.
¹⁶ The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
¹⁷ Now when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, “There is a noise of war in the camp.”
¹⁸ But he said, “It is not the sound of shouting for victory, or the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing that I hear.”
¹⁹ And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.
²⁰ He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.
²¹ And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?”
²² And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.
²³ For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’
²⁴ So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”
²⁵ And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies),
²⁶ then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? Come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered around him.
²⁷ And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate throughout the camp, and each of you kill his brother and his companion and his neighbor.’”
²⁸ And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And that day about three thousand men of the people fell.
²⁹ And Moses said, “Today you have been ordained for the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son and of his brother, so that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.”
³⁰ The next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”
³² Then Moses returned to the Lord, and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold.
³² But now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.”
³³ But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.
³⁴ But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. But on the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.”
³⁵ Then the Lord sent a plague on the people, because they made the calf, the one that Aaron made.

Judges 19:1-30: ¹ In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah.
² And his concubine was unfaithful to him, and she went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months.
³ Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back.
⁴ His father-in-law, the girl’s father, made him stay, and he remained with him three days. So they ate and drank and spent the night there.
⁵ And on the fourth day they arose early in the morning, and he prepared to go, but the girl’s father said to his son-in-law, “Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after that you may go.”
⁶ So the two of them sat and ate and drank together. And the girl’s father said to the man, “Be pleased to spend the night, and let your heart be merry.”
⁷ And when the man rose up to go, his father-in-law urged him; so he spent the night there again.
⁸ And on the fifth day he arose early in the morning to depart. But the girl’s father said, “Strengthen your heart with a morsel of bread, and after that you may go.”
⁹ And when the man and his concubine and his servant rose up to depart, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Behold, now the day has waned toward evening. Please, spend the night. Behold, the day draws to its close. Lodge here and let your heart be merry, and tomorrow you shall arise early in the morning for your journey, and go home.”
¹⁰ But the man would not spend the night. He rose up and departed and arrived opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem).
¹¹ And when they were near Jebus, the day was nearly over, and the servant said to his master, “Come now, let us turn aside to this city of the Jebusites and spend the night in it.”
¹² And his master said to him, “We will not turn aside into the city of foreigners, who do not belong to the people of Israel, but we will pass on to Gibeah.”
¹³ And he said to his young man, “Come, let us draw near to one of these places and spend the night at Gibeah or at Ramah.”
¹⁴ So they passed on and went their way. And the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin,
¹⁵ And they turned aside there to go in and spend the night in Gibeah.
¹⁶ And behold, an old man was coming from his work in the field at evening. He was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was sojourning in Gibeah. The men of the place were Benjaminites.
¹⁷ And when he lifted up his eyes and saw the traveler in the open square of the city, the old man said, “Where are you going? And where do you come from?”
¹⁸ And he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, from which I come. I went to Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to the house of the Lord, but no one has taken me into his house.
¹⁹ We have straw and feed for our donkeys, with bread and wine for me and your female servant and the young man with your servants. There is no lack of anything.”
²⁰ And the old man said, “Peace be to you; I will care for all your wants. Only, do not spend the night in the square.”
²¹ So he brought him into his house and gave the donkeys feed. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank.
²² As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, surrounded the house, beating on the door. And they said to the old man, the master of the house, “Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.”
²³ And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brothers, do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not do this vile thing.
²⁴ Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now. Violate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man do not do this outrageous thing.”
²⁵ But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and made her go out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go.
²⁶ And as the morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, until it was light.
²⁷ And her master rose up in the morning, and when he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, behold, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold.
²⁸ And he said to her, “Get up, let us be going.” But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went away to his home.
²⁹ When he entered his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine he divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.
³⁰ And all who saw it said, “Such a thing has never happened or been seen from the day that the people of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt until this day; consider it, take counsel, and speak.”

1 Samuel 8:1-22: ³ Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.
² The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba.
³ Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.
⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah
⁵ and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
⁶ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
⁷ And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
⁸ According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you.
⁹ Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
¹⁰ So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him.
¹¹ He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots.
¹² He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.
¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
¹⁴ He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants.
¹⁵ He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants.
¹⁶ He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work.
¹⁷ He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.
¹⁸ And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
¹⁹ But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us,
²⁰ that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
²¹ And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the ears of the Lord.
²² And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

1 Kings 18:16-40: ¹⁶ So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah.
¹⁷ When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?”
¹⁸ And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals.
¹⁹ Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
²⁰ So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel.
²¹ And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.
²² Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men.
²³ Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it.
²⁴ And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”
²⁵ Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.”
²⁶ And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made.
²⁷ And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
²⁸ And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.
²⁹ And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.
³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down.
³¹ Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name,”
³² And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord.
³³ And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.”
³⁴ And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.”
³⁵ And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water.
³⁶ And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.
³⁷ Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”
³⁸ Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
³⁹ And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.”
⁴⁰ And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.

Isaiah 14:12-15: ¹² “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!”
¹³ You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north;
¹⁴ I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.’
¹⁵ But you are brought down to Sheol,
to the far reaches of the pit.

Jeremiah 17:5-10: ⁵ Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.
⁶ He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.
⁷ “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
⁸ He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.
⁹ The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
¹⁰ “I the Lord search the heart
and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”

Ezekiel 28:12-19: ¹² “Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord God: “You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
¹³ You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared.
¹⁴ You were an anointed guardian cherub.
¹⁵ You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you.
¹⁶ In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
¹⁷ Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
¹⁸ By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries; so I brought fire out from your midst; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you.
¹⁹ All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever.”

Matthew 4:1-11: ¹ Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
² And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
³ And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
⁴ But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple.
⁶ and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
⁷ Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
⁹ And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
¹¹ Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Matthew 12:22-32: ²² Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw.
²³ And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?”
²⁴ But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.”
²⁵ Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.
²⁶ And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?
²⁷ And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.
²⁸ But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
²⁹ Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.
³⁰ Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
³¹ Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
³² And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

Mark 5:1-20: ¹ They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.
² And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.
³ He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain,
⁴ for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him.
⁵ Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.
⁶ And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him.
⁷ And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”
⁸ For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”
⁹ And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”
¹⁰ And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.
¹¹ Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside.
¹² And they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.”
¹³ So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.
¹⁴ The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened.
¹⁵ And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.
¹⁶ And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs.
¹⁷ And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.
¹⁸ As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.
¹⁹ And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
²⁰ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Luke 4:1-13: ¹ And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness
² for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry.
³ The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
⁴ And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”
⁵ And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time,
⁶ and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will.
⁷ If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.”
⁸ And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”
⁹ And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,
¹⁰ for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’
¹¹ and, “On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
¹² And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
¹³ And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

Luke 11:14-26: ¹⁴ Now he was casting out a demon that was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke, and the people marveled.
¹⁵ But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons,”
¹⁶ while others, to test him, kept seeking from him a sign from heaven.
¹⁷ But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.
¹⁸ And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.
¹⁹ And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges.
²⁰ But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
²¹ When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are safe;
²² But when one stronger than he attacks him and overcomes him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his spoil.
²³ Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
²⁴ “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’
²⁵ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order.
²⁶ Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.

John 8:42-47: ⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.
⁴³ Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.
⁴⁴ You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
⁴⁵ But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.
⁴⁶ Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?
⁴⁷ Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.

Romans 1:18-32: ¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
¹⁹ For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
²⁰ For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
²² Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
²³ and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
²⁴ Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
²⁵ because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
²⁷ and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
²⁸ And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
²⁹ They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,
³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
³¹ foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
³² Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Romans 3:9-18: ¹⁰ as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
¹⁰ as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
¹¹ no one understands; no one seeks for God.
¹² All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
¹³ “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;”
¹⁶ “in their paths are ruin and misery,”
¹⁷ and the way of peace they have not known.”
¹⁸ “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

1 Corinthians 10:1-13: ¹ For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,
² and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
³ and all ate the same spiritual food,
⁴ and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
⁵ Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
⁶ Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.
⁷ Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”
⁸ We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.
⁹ We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents.
¹⁰ nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.
¹¹ Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.
¹² Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
¹³ 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.

Galatians 5:16-26: But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
¹⁷ For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,
²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
²¹ envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
²⁴ And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Ephesians 6:10-20: ¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
¹¹ Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
¹³ Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
¹⁴ Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
¹⁵ and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
¹⁶ In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
¹⁷ and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
¹⁸ praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
¹⁹ and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,
²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12: Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,
² not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
³ Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction.
⁴ who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
⁵ Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
⁶ And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time.
⁷ For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.
⁸ And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming.
⁹ The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders,
¹⁰ and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
¹¹ Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false,
¹² in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

1 Timothy 4:1-5: ¹ Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.
² through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,
³ who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
⁴ For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,
⁵ For it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

2 Timothy 3:1-9: ¹ But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
² For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
³ heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
⁴ treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
⁵ having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
⁶ For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,
⁷ always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.
⁸ Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.
⁹ But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

James 1:13-15: ¹³ 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.
¹⁴ But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.
¹⁵ Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

1 Peter 5:8-9: ⁸ Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
⁹ Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

Revelation 12:7-12: ⁷ Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back,
⁸ but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
⁹ And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
¹⁰ And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
¹¹ And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
¹² Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!

Revelation 20:1-10: ¹ Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain.
² And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years,
³ and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.
⁴ Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
⁵ The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.
⁶ Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.
⁷ And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison
⁸ and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.
⁹ And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them.
¹⁰ and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.