The Old Testament
Although Christian scholars have retroactively inferred the presence of Satan in Old Testament passages, it is generally understood that Satan appears only once – in His predecessor, Hassatan, from the Book of Job. Nowhere in the original passages is it inferred that the serpent in the Garden of Eden is the Devil (or working for Him).
“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.
And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.”
– Job 1:6-12
The Synoptic Gospels
The Devil’s first encounter in the New Testament is with Jesus in the wilderness – an encounter not catalogued in the Gospel of John.
“And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts, and the angels waited on him.”
– Mark 1:12-13“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’
Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.”
– Matthew 4:1-11“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”
The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.”
– Luke 4:1-13
After this point, Satan has no direct influence on the life of Jesus. Only in the Gospel of Luke is it mentioned that Satan entered Judas Iscariot prior to his betrayal.
“Then Satan entered Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve.”
– Luke 22:3
Jesus encounters many “devils” (alternatively interpreted as “unclean spirits”), whom he exorcises, during his travels. Interestingly, his dissenters accuse him of being capable of such exorcisms due to fealty to “Beelzebub, prince of demons:”
“And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.
And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?
And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.”
– Mark 3:22-26“But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?
And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.”
– Matthew 12:24-27“But some of them said, He casteth out devils through Beelzebub the chief of the devils.
And others, tempting him, sought of him a sign from heaven.
But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.
If Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom stand? because ye say that I cast out devils through Beelzebub.
And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges.”
– Luke 11:15-19
Jesus also refers to Satan, aka “the evil one,” several times during his preaching:
“Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.”
– Matthew 5:37“When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.”
– Matthew 13:19“The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one …”
– Matthew 13:38“And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”
– Luke 10:18“Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”
– Luke 13:16“And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat …”
– Luke 22:31“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”
– John 17:15
Beyond this point, Satan is referred to in passing, generally in a cautionary manner — until Revelations, which is (by far) the most Satan-saturated book of the Bible.
Acts of the Apostles
“Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself so me of the money you received for the land?”
– Acts 5:3“… how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”
– Acts 10:38“You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?”
– Acts 13:10“I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”
– Acts 26:17-18
Epistle to the Romans
“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.”
– Romans 16:20
First Epistle to the Corinthians
“When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.”
– 1 Corinthians 5:4-5“Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”
– 1 Corinthians 7:5
Second Epistle to the Corinthians
“If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven–if there was anything to forgive–I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake,
in order that Satan might not out wit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.”
– 2 Corinthians 2:10-11“And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.”
– 2 Corinthians 11:14“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.”
– 2 Corinthians 12:7
First Epistle to the Thessalonians
“For we wanted to come to you–certainly I, Paul, did, again and again–but Satan stopped us.”
– 1 Thessalonians 2:18
Second Epistle to the Thessalonians
“The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders,”
– 2 Thessalonians 2:9
First Epistle to Timothy
“Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.”
– 1 Timothy 1:20“He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil.”
– 1 Timothy 3:6“Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.”
– 1 Timothy 5:15
Second Epistle to Timothy
“… and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.”
– 2 Timothy 2:26
Epistle to the Hebrews
“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death–that is, the devil-”
– Hebrews 2:14
Epistle of James
“Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.”
– James 3:15“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
– James 4:7
First Epistle of Peter
“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
– 1 Peter 5:8
First Epistle of John
“I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father.
I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.”
– 1 John 2:13-14“He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”
– 1 John 3:8“This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”
– 1 John 3:10“Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.”
– 1 John 3:12“We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.
We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.”
– 1 John 5:18-19
Epistle of Jude
“But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!””
– Jude 1:9
Revelations
“I know your afflictions and your poverty–yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
– Revelation 2:9-10“I know where you live–where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city–where Satan lives.”
– Revelation 2:13“I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars–I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.”
– Revelation 3:9“The great dragon was hurled down–that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.”
– Revelation 12:9“Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”
– Revelation 12:12“He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.”
– Revelation 20:2“When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison …”
– Revelation 20:7“And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”
– Revelation 20:10