Temptation

Passages on this topic

From Nave’s Topical Bible (1896), a historical reference index. The groupings are Nave’s; the verses are shown in the text used across this site.

General scriptures concerning

• 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 i…
• 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 Jealo…
• 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 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 inc…
• Deuteronomy 8:17–18 You might say in your heart, “The power and strength of my hands have made this wealth for me.” But remember that it is the LORD your God who gives you the power to gain wealth, in order to confirm His covenant that He swore to your fathers even to this day.
• 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, Go…
• Psalm 119:165 Abundant peace belongs to those who love Your law; nothing can make them stumble.

See Demons

See FAITH, TRIAL OF

See Satan

A Test

• Genesis 22:1–14 Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he answered. “Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” So Abraham got up early the nex…
• Deuteronomy 8:2 Remember that these forty years the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.
• Deuteronomy 8:5 So know in your heart that just as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.
• Deuteronomy 13:1–3 If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you, and if the sign or wonder he has spoken to you comes about, but he says, “Let us follow other gods (which you have not known) and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dream…
• 2 Chronicles 32:31 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.
• Job 1:8–22 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil.” Satan answered the LORD, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not placed a hedge on every side around him and his household…
• Job 2:3–10 Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one on earth like him, a man who is blameless and upright, who fears God and shuns evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.” “Skin for skin!” Satan replie…
• Psalm 66:10–13 For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us like silver. You led us into the net; You laid burdens on our backs. You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but You brought us into abundance. I will enter Your house with burnt offerings; I will fulfill my vows to You —
• Daniel 12:10 Many will be purified, made spotless, and refined, but the wicked will continue to act wickedly. None of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand.
• Zechariah 13:9 This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”

See AFFLICTION, DESIGN OF

See FAITH, TRIAL OF

Leading Into

Prayer against being led into

• Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
• Luke 22:40 When He came to the place, He told them, “Pray that you will not enter into temptation.”

Instances of

Abraham leads Pharaoh

• Genesis 12:18–19 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and asked, “What have you done to me? Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!”

Abimelech

• Genesis 20:9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and asked, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought such tremendous guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done.”

Balak tempts Balaam

• Numbers 22 Then the Israelites traveled on and camped in the plains of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho. Now Balak son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites, and Moab was terrified of the people because they were numerous. Indeed, Moab dreaded the Israelites. So the Moabites said to… (whole chapter)
• Numbers 23 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me seven altars here, and prepare for me seven bulls and seven rams.” So Balak did as Balaam had instructed, and Balak and Balaam offered a bull and a ram on each altar. “Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone,” Balaam said to Balak. “Perhaps the LORD… (whole chapter)
• Numbers 24 And when Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not seek omens as on previous occasions, but he turned his face toward the wilderness. When Balaam looked up and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came upon him, and he lifted up an oracle, saying: “This is the… (whole chapter)

The old prophet of Beth-el, the prophet of Judah

• 1 Kings 13:15–19 So the prophet said to the man of God, “Come home with me and eat some bread.” But the man replied, “I cannot go home with you, and I will not eat bread or drink water with you in this place. For I have been told by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the…

Gideon leads the people of Israel into sin

• Judges 8:27 From all this Gideon made an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

Jeroboam leads the northern kingdom (Israel) into

• 1 Kings 15:30 because of the sins Jeroboam had committed and had caused Israel to commit, and because he had provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger.

See RESISTANCE TO

See YIELDING TO, below

Resistance to

• Genesis 39:7–10 and after some time his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.” But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has entrusted everything he owns to my care. No one in this house is…
• Nehemiah 4:9 So we prayed to our God and posted a guard against them day and night.
• Job 31:1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I gaze with desire at a virgin?
• Job 31:5–17 If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has rushed to deceit, let God weigh me with honest scales, that He may know my integrity. If my steps have turned from the path, if my heart has followed my eyes, or if impurity has stuck to my hands, then may another eat what I have sown, and may my crops b…
• Job 31:19–34 if I have seen one perish for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a cloak, if his heart has not blessed me for warming him with the fleece of my sheep, if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless because I saw that I had support in the gate, then may my arm fall from my shoulder and be…
• Job 31:38–40 if my land cries out against me and its furrows weep together, if I have devoured its produce without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants, then let briers grow instead of wheat and stinkweed instead of barley.” Thus conclude the words of Job.
• Psalm 17:4 As for the deeds of men — by the word of Your lips I have avoided the ways of the violent.
• Psalm 73:2–26 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggle in their death; their bodies are well-fed. They are free of the burdens others carry; they are not afflicted like other men. Therefore pr…
• Psalm 94:17–18 Unless the LORD had been my helper, I would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence. If I say, “My foot is slipping,” Your loving devotion, O LORD, supports me.
• Psalm 119:101 I have kept my feet from every evil path, that I may keep Your word.

Yielding to

Instances of

Adam and Eve

• Genesis 3:1–19 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 i…

Sarah, to lie

• Genesis 12:13 Please say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake, and on account of you my life will be spared.”
• Genesis 18:13–15 And the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really bear a child when I am old?’ Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you — in about a year — and Sarah will have a son.” But Sarah was afraid, so she denied it and said, “I did not laugh.”
• Genesis 20:13 So when God had me journey from my father’s house, I said to Sarah, ‘This is how you can show your loyalty to me: Wherever we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”

Isaac, to lie

• Genesis 26:7 But when the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” since he thought to himself, “The men of this place will kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is so beautiful.”

Jacob, to defraud Esau

• Genesis 27:6–13 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I overheard your father saying to your brother Esau, ‘Bring me some game and prepare me a tasty dish to eat, so that I may bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.’ Now, my son, listen to my voice and do exactly as I tell you. Go out to the flock a…

Balaam

• Numbers 22:15–22 Then Balak sent other princes, more numerous and more distinguished than the first messengers. They came to Balaam and said, “This is what Balak son of Zippor says: ‘Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me, for I will honor you richly and do whatever you say. So please come and put a curse…
• 2 Peter 2:15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.

Achan

• Joshua 7:21 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful cloak from Shinar, two hundred shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. They are hidden in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath.”

David, to commit adultery

• 2 Samuel 11:2–5 One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing— a very beautiful woman. So David sent and inquired about the woman, and he was told, “This is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then Davi…

To count the nation of Israel

• 1 Chronicles 21 Then Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count the Israelites from Beersheba to Dan and bring me a report, so that I may know their number.” But Joab replied, “May the LORD multiply His troops a h… (whole chapter)

Solomon, to become an idolater through the influences of his wives

• 1 Kings 11:4 For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.
• Nehemiah 13:26 Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all Israel— yet foreign women drew him into sin.

The prophet of Judah

• 1 Kings 13:11–19 Now a certain old prophet was living in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the deeds that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words that the man had spoken to the king. “Which way did he go?” their father asked. And his sons showed him the way taken b…

Hezekiah

• 2 Kings 20:12–20 At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard about Hezekiah’s illness. And Hezekiah received the envoys and showed them all that was in his treasure house — the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil, as well as his a…
• Isaiah 39:1–4 At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he had heard about Hezekiah’s illness and recovery. And Hezekiah welcomed the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his treasure house — the silver, the gold, the spices, and the precious oil…
• Isaiah 39:6–7 The time will surely come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, will be taken away to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of…

Peter

• Matthew 26:69–74 Meanwhile, Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came up to him. “You also were with Jesus the Galilean,” she said. But he denied it before them all: “I do not know what you are talking about.” When Peter had gone out to the gateway, another servant girl saw him and said to the…
• Mark 14:67–71 and saw him warming himself there. She looked at Peter and said, “You also were with Jesus the Nazarene.” But he denied it. “I do not know or even understand what you are talking about,” he said. Then he went out to the gateway, and the rooster crowed. There the servant girl saw him and again said…
• Luke 22:55–60 When those present had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. A servant girl saw him seated in the firelight and looked intently at him. “This man also was with Him,” she said. But Peter denied it. “Woman, I do not know Him,” he said. A short…