When Affliction Looks Like a Paycheck

If you grew up in church or around Bible-flavored media (Veggie Tales, anyone?), you've probably heard: "The Israelites suffered 400 years of slavery." Clean, simple… and not quite accurate. Scripture says they were afflicted for 400 years (Genesis 15:13). The whips and brick quotas show up late in the story.

Translation:
God called something "affliction" long before it looked like suffering.

That reality should make anyone equating comfort with blessing sit up straight.

“Wait… I Thought They Were Slaves for 400 Years?”

This is where a careful reader hits the “hold up” button. We’ve been handed a neat soundbite; the Bible gives you something more layered.

Here’s what the text actually says:

To Abraham:

“Thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.”
— Genesis 15:13
At the Exodus:

“The sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Canaan and in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years.”
— Exodus 12:40–41 (combined reading)
Paul’s summary:

“The covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law… was four hundred and thirty years after.”
— Galatians 3:17

So:

430 years = from God’s promise to Abraham → giving of the Law at Sinai.
400 years = time Abraham’s seed lives as strangers under pressure.

Some Quick Context

The genealogies quietly blow up the “400 years of Egyptian slavery” cartoon:

Jacob enters Egypt at 130 (Gen 47:9).
From the promise to that moment is about 215 years.
That leaves only about 215 years actually spent in Egypt, not 400.
In Egypt you only have four generations: Levi → Kohath → Amram → Moses (Genesis 46; Exodus 6), which simply cannot stretch to 400 years of brick-making without absurd lifespans and timing.

Put simply:

The 400 years is not “400 years of whips in Egypt.”
It’s roughly 400 years of Abraham’s seed living as strangers and under pressure — starting in Isaac’s lifetime and including their time in Canaan and their later oppression in Egypt.
The harsh slavery we picture is the final chapter, roughly the last century or so, after “a king arose who knew not Joseph.”

That’s crucial for this thought:
God labels the whole long period “affliction” before it ever looks like slavery. Which means a season can be truly afflicting long before it looks miserable from the outside.

Affliction ≠ Only Pain

Biblical sense: the Hebrew 'anah / 'oni means pressure that humbles—whatever pushes you off self-reliance and into dependence on God.

It shows up as:

Oppression by people (Exodus 1:11; Psalm 94:5)
God's refining discipline (Isaiah 48:10; Lamentations 3:33)
Self-humbling (fasting/repentance) (Leviticus 16:29; Isaiah 58:5)

Common thread: being brought low so you can't pretend you're enough. That can be crushing lack—or seductive ease.

Case Studies in Comfortable Affliction

Joseph: Fruitful… in a Foreign Pressure Cooker

Joseph rose to become Egypt's Number 2. Wealth, status, power. Still, he named his son Ephraim: "God made me fruitful in the land of my affliction" (Genesis 41:52).
Egypt looked like success; it functioned like exile. The covenant land, the covenant people, the covenant rule—absent. His prosperity was gilded captivity.

Amos: Overflowing Tables, Hollow Hearts

"They drink wine in bowls… but are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph" (Amos 6:6).
The elites called it blessing. God called it blindness. Prosperity didn't cure the disease; it dressed it in velvet and taught it to grin.

James: Laughter as a Mask

"Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep…" (Jas 4:9).
Not to martyrs in hiding—to comfortable believers. Outward cheer can camouflage inward famine. James orders a reality check.

Egypt: The Whip Was the Finale, Not the Start

Israel settles in plush Goshen (Genesis 47:5–6). From day one: strangers on Pharaoh's favor. That's political and spiritual subjugation. The later lash only revealed what God had already named: affliction.

Why This Scrambles Modern Categories

If affliction can wear a suit and show up as a direct deposit, then comfort can be the most dangerous version:

It numbs: you stop noticing life lived off-kingdom.
It hooks dependence: systems become your quiet saviors.
It hides anemia: metrics rise while the soul thins.

Prosperity can be a pressure—soft on the surface, hard on the heart. Prosperity can be God’s most subtle form of affliction—a gentle pressure that humbles without breaking a sweat, and we may mistake it for blessing.

Hidden-in-plain-sight receipts:

Joseph's palace = "land of my affliction" (Genesis 41:52).
Israel's elites judged while full (Amos 6:6).
James prescribes affliction to the cheerful (James 4:9).

The 400 years weren't about breaking chains; they were about breaking dependencies.

A question we avoid because it messes with our spreadsheets:
If Israel could be afflicted while fields prospered and homes were calm, why are we so certain our prosperity isn't doing the same to us?
Prosperity isn't evil; outside God's rule it just becomes a very polite Pharaoh.

Prosperity itself is not a bad thing; God promises that the righteous will be made to prosper in His will. But prosperity can also become the most dangerous affliction we’ll ever face, precisely because we’ll never think to call it that.

For the Comfortable and the Crushed

Whether you've been living in cushioned affliction or grieving the loss of comforts that were quietly discipling you, Scripture's move is the same: turn fully to God—now.

1) Humble Yourself

"Be afflicted… humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."
— James 4:9–10

Not self-loathing—truth-telling. Drop the “I'm fine” costume.

2) Shift Your Trust

"Charge them that are rich… that they trust not in uncertain riches, but in the living God."
— 1 Timothy 6:17

If wealth remains, loosen your grip. If it's gone, stop chasing. In both, relocate trust from provision to Provider.

3) Redeem the Season

"I know how to be abased and to abound… I can do all things through Christ…"
— Philippians 4:12–13

Plenty? Aim it at the Kingdom.
Want? Let it deepen dependence.
Either way, refuse to waste the opportunity.
And in whatever state you're in, give thanks. It’s not wasted unless you waste it.

4) Buy Better Gold

"Buy of me gold tried in the fire… and eyesalve, that thou mayest see."
—Revelation 3:18

Ask for refined faith, eternal wealth, and clear eyes.

Bottom Line

Affliction—whether wrapped in rags or direct-to-consumer luxury—is God's invitation to drop counterfeit security and grip Him alone. The Christian aim isn't to sprint back to comfort or to dodge hardship; it's to live so neither gets a vote in our loyalty, identity, or joy.

(If that stings a little, that's kind of the point. Pressure reveals what we're leaning on. Better to find out now than under a taskmaster's shout.)

Scriptures about Affliction

And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; (Genesis 15:13)
And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction. (Genesis 16:11)
And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me. (Genesis 29:32)
Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight. ... If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me and thee. (Genesis 31:42, 50)
And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction. (Genesis 41:52)
Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. (Exodus 1:11–12)
And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; ... And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey. (Exodus 3:7, 17)
And the people believed: and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped. (Exodus 4:31)
Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child. If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry; (Exodus 22:22–23)
And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you: ... It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever. (Leviticus 16:29, 31)
Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD. ... For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. ... It shall be unto you a sabbath of rest, and ye shall afflict your souls: in the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath. (Leviticus 23:27, 29, 32)
And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? (Numbers 11:11)
And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim, and shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish for ever. (Numbers 24:24)
And ye shall have on the tenth day of this seventh month an holy convocation; and ye shall afflict your souls: ye shall not do any work therein: (Numbers 29:7)
Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void. (Numbers 30:13)
Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life. (Deuteronomy 16:3)
And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage: And when we cried unto the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression: (Deuteronomy 26:6–7)
And the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and said unto her, Entice him, and see wherein his great strength lieth, and by what means we may prevail against him, that we may bind him to afflict him: and we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. ... And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. (Judges 16:5–6, 19)
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? (Ruth 1:21)
And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. (1 Samuel 1:11)
Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, (2 Samuel 7:10)
It may be that the LORD will look on mine affliction, and that the LORD will requite me good for his cursing this day. (2 Samuel 16:12)
And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down. (2 Samuel 22:28)
And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted. (1 Kings 2:26)
When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them: (1 Kings 8:35)
And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever. (1 Kings 11:39)
And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace. (1 Kings 22:27)
For the LORD saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter: for there was not any shut up, nor any left, nor any helper for Israel. (2 Kings 14:26)
And the LORD rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight. (2 Kings 17:20)
When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them; (2 Chronicles 6:26)
And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in peace. (2 Chronicles 18:26)
If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. (2 Chronicles 20:9)
And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, (2 Chronicles 33:12)
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. (Ezra 8:21)
And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. (Nehemiah 1:3)
And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red sea; (Nehemiah 9:9)
Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; (Job 5:6)
To him that is afflicted pity should be shewed from his friend; but he forsaketh the fear of the Almighty. (Job 6:14)
If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction; (Job 10:15)
Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me. (Job 30:11)
And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me. ... My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me. (Job 30:16, 27)
So that they cause the cry of the poor to come unto him, and he heareth the cry of the afflicted. (Job 34:28)
And if they be bound in fetters, and be holden in cords of affliction; ... He delivereth the poor in his affliction, and openeth their ears in oppression. ... Take heed, regard not iniquity: for this hast thou chosen rather than affliction. (Job 36:8, 15, 21)
Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict. (Job 37:23)
For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks. (Psalm 18:27)
For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. (Psalm 22:24)
Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted. ... Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins. (Psalm 25:16, 18)
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all. (Psalm 34:19)
How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out. ... Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression? (Psalm 44:2, 24)
God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Selah. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God. (Psalm 55:19)
Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins. (Psalm 66:11)
Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. (Psalm 82:3)
Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah. ... Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee. ... I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted. (Psalm 88:7, 9, 15)
The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him. (Psalm 89:22)
Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil. (Psalm 90:15)
They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage. (Psalm 94:5)
A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee. (Psalm 102:1)
Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry: (Psalm 106:44)
Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; ... Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. ... Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. ... Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock. (Psalm 107:10, 17, 39, 41)
I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted: (Psalm 116:10)
This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me. ... Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word. ... It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes. ... I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. ... Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction. ... I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according unto thy word. ... RESH. Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget thy law. (Psalm 119:50, 67, 71, 75, 92, 107, 153)
A Song of degrees. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say: Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me. (Psalm 129:1–2)
A Song of degrees. LORD, remember David, and all his afflictions: (Psalm 132:1)
I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor. (Psalm 140:12)
And of thy mercy cut off mine enemies, and destroy all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant. (Psalm 143:12)
All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast. (Proverbs 15:15)
Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate: (Proverbs 22:22)
A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin. (Proverbs 26:28)
Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. (Proverbs 31:5)
Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. (Isaiah 9:1)
And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: (Isaiah 30:20)
Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. (Isaiah 48:10)
Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. (Isaiah 49:13)
Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine: ... But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over. (Isaiah 51:21, 23)
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. ... He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. (Isaiah 53:4, 7)
O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. (Isaiah 54:11)
Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. ... Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? ... And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: (Isaiah 58:3, 5, 10)
The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 60:14)
In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. (Isaiah 63:9)
Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore? (Isaiah 64:12)
For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim. (Jeremiah 4:15)
The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction. (Jeremiah 15:11)
O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. (Jeremiah 16:19)
Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee. (Jeremiah 30:15)
And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the LORD. (Jeremiah 31:28)
The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast. (Jeremiah 48:16)
Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits. The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for the LORD hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions: her children are gone into captivity before the enemy. ... Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction and of her miseries all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, when her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and none did help her: the adversaries saw her, and did mock at her sabbaths. ... Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth not her last end; therefore she came down wonderfully: she had no comforter. O LORD, behold my affliction: for the enemy hath magnified himself. ... Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. (Lamentations 1:3–5, 7, 9, 12)
I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. ... Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. ... For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. (Lamentations 3:1, 19, 33)
I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early. (Hosea 5:15)
For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right. (Amos 5:12)
That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. ... But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the LORD the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hemath unto the river of the wilderness. (Amos 6:6, 14)
Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity; (Obadiah 1:13)
And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. (Jonah 2:2)
In that day, saith the LORD, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; (Micah 4:6)
What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time. ... Thus saith the LORD; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. (Nahum 1:9, 12)
I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction: and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble. (Habakkuk 3:7)
I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD. ... Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. (Zephaniah 3:12, 19)
And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. (Zechariah 1:15)
For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour. (Zechariah 8:10)
And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away. (Zechariah 10:11)
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. (Matthew 24:9)
And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended. (Mark 4:17)
For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. (Mark 13:19)
And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance. ... I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt. (Acts 7:10–11, 34)
Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. (Acts 20:23)
And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. (2 Corinthians 1:6)
For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you. (2 Corinthians 2:4)
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; (2 Corinthians 4:17)
But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, (2 Corinthians 6:4)
How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. (2 Corinthians 8:2)
The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: (Philippians 1:16)
Notwithstanding ye have well done, that ye did communicate with my affliction. (Philippians 4:14)
Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: (Colossians 1:24)
And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: (1 Thessalonians 1:6)
That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. ... Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our affliction and distress by your faith: (1 Thessalonians 3:3, 7)
Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work. (1 Timothy 5:10)
Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; (2 Timothy 1:8)
Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. (2 Timothy 3:11)
But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. (2 Timothy 4:5)
But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. (Hebrews 10:32–33)
Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; ... They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Hebrews 11:25, 37)
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. (James 1:27)
Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. (James 4:9)
Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. ... Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. (James 5:10, 13)
Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. (1 Peter 5:9)