47 Bible Verses about Complaining
Most Relevant Verses
And do not murmur [in unwarranted discontent], as some of them did—and were destroyed by the destroyer.
All the Israelites murmured [in discontent] against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Oh that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or that we had died in this wilderness!
The whole congregation of the Israelites [grew discontented and] murmured and rebelled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness,
Now the people became like those who complain and whine about their hardships, and the Lord heard it; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and devoured those in the outlying parts of the camp.
Therefore you and all your company are gathered together against the Lord; but as for Aaron, who is he that you murmur against him?”
The people [grew discontented and] grumbled at Moses, saying, “What are we going to drink?”
So the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, nor is there any water, and we loathe this miserable food.”
According to the number of days in which you spied out the land [of Canaan], forty days, for each day, you shall bear and suffer a year for your sins and guilt, for forty years, and you shall know My displeasure [the revoking of My promise and My estrangement because of your sin].
Do not complain against one another, believers, so that you will not be judged [for it]. Look! The Judge is standing right at the door.
The rabble among them [who followed Israel from Egypt] had greedy desires [for familiar and delicious food], and the Israelites wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat?
and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, for He hears your murmurings against the Lord. What are we, that you murmur and rebel against us?”
Now about this time, when the number of disciples was increasing, a complaint was made by the Hellenists (Greek-speaking Jews) against the [native] Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.
Moses said, “This will happen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning [enough] bread to be fully satisfied, because the Lord has heard your murmurings against Him; for what are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against the Lord.”
“How long shall I put up with this evil congregation who murmur [in discontent] against Me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites, which they are making against Me.
and the Israelites said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and ate bread until we were full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this entire assembly with hunger.”
“Those who err in mind will know the truth,
And those who criticize and murmur discontentedly will accept instruction.
Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Whose eyes are red and dim?
He named the place [where this miracle occurred] Massah (test) and Meribah (contention) because of the quarreling of the sons of Israel, and because they tested the [patience of the] Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us, or not?”
your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, even all who were numbered of you, your entire number from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against Me.
“As for me, is my complaint to man or about him?
And why should I not be impatient and my spirit troubled?
Why should any living mortal, or any man,
Complain [of punishment] in view of his sins?
We remember the fish we ate freely and without cost in Egypt, the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic.
Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water so we may [have something to] drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you tempt the Lord and try His patience?”
But Jesus, aware that His disciples were complaining about it, asked them, “Does this cause you to stumble and take offense?
“If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint,
I will leave off my sad appearance, and be cheerful and brighten up,’
so that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and guileless, innocent and uncontaminated, children of God without blemish in the midst of a [morally] crooked and [spiritually] perverted generation, among whom you are seen as bright lights [beacons shining out clearly] in the world [of darkness],
“I am disgusted with my life and loathe it!
I will give free expression to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
“Why do you complain against Him?
That He does not answer [you with] all His doings.
You murmured and were ill-tempered (discontented) in your tents, and said, ‘Because the Lord hates us He has brought us from the land of Egypt to hand us over to the Amorites to destroy us.
John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not accompanying us [as Your disciple].”
“And the Lord heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and took an oath, saying,
Listen to me and answer me;
I am restless and distraught in my complaint and distracted
When the people saw it, they all began muttering [in discontent], “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a [notorious] sinner.”
But on the next day the entire congregation of the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have caused the death of the people of the Lord.”
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That both adversity (misfortune) and good (prosperity, happiness) proceed?
But the people were thirsty for water; and the people murmured against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up from Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”
bearing graciously with one another, and willingly forgiving each other if one has a cause for complaint against another; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so should you forgive.
These people are [habitual] murmurers, griping and complaining, following after their own desires [controlled by passion]; they speak arrogantly, [pretending admiration and] flattering people to gain an advantage.
Does any one of you, when he has a complaint (civil dispute) with another [believer], dare to go to law before unrighteous men (non-believers) instead of [placing the issue] before the saints (God’s people)?
But they sulked and complained in their tents;
They did not listen to the voice of the Lord.
From Thematic Bible
Complaining » What to do instead of complaining
Why does a living man sigh [one who is still in this life's school of discipline]? [And why does] a man complain for the punishment of his sins? Let us test and examine our ways, and let us return to the Lord!
Complaining » The reward for complaining
Now the people became like those who complain and whine about their hardships, and the Lord heard it; and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and devoured those in the outlying parts of the camp.
Complaining » Who are complainers
[The wicked are sentenced to suffer] just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the adjacent towns -- "which likewise gave themselves over to impurity and indulged in unnatural vice and sensual perversity -- "are laid out [in plain sight] as an exhibit of perpetual punishment [to warn] of everlasting fire. Nevertheless in like manner, these dreamers also corrupt the body, scorn and reject authority and government, and revile and libel and scoff at [heavenly] glories (the glorious ones). But when [even] the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, judicially argued (disputed) about the body of Moses, he dared not [presume to] bring an abusive condemnation against him, but [simply] said, The Lord rebuke you! read more.
But these men revile (scoff and sneer at) anything they do not happen to be acquainted with and do not understand; and whatever they do understand physically [that which they know by mere instinct], like irrational beasts -- "by these they corrupt themselves and are destroyed (perish). Woe to them! For they have run riotously in the way of Cain, and have abandoned themselves for the sake of gain [it offers them, following] the error of Balaam, and have perished in rebellion [like that] of Korah! These are hidden reefs (elements of danger) in your love feasts, where they boldly feast sumptuously [carousing together in your midst], without scruples providing for themselves [alone]. They are clouds without water, swept along by the winds; trees, without fruit at the late autumn gathering time -- "twice (doubly) dead, [lifeless and] plucked up by the roots; Wild waves of the sea, flinging up the foam of their own shame and disgrace; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of eternal darkness has been reserved forever. It was of these people, moreover, that Enoch in the seventh [generation] from Adam prophesied when he said, Behold, the Lord comes with His myriads of holy ones (ten thousands of His saints) To execute judgment upon all and to convict all the impious (unholy ones) of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed [in such an] ungodly [way], and of all the severe (abusive, jarring) things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him. These are inveterate murmurers (grumblers) who complain [of their lot in life], going after their own desires [controlled by their passions]; their talk is boastful and arrogant, [and they claim to] admire men's persons and pay people flattering compliments to gain advantage.
