63 Bible Verses about Complaints

Do all things without murmurings and reasonings,

Not that I speak as regards privation, for as to me I have learnt in those circumstances in which I am, to be satisfied in myself.

in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus towards you;

And it came to pass that when the people murmured, it was evil in the ears of Jehovah; and Jehovah heard it, and his anger was kindled, and the fire of Jehovah burned among them, and consumed some in the extremity of the camp.

And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil assembly, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.

And Moses said, When Jehovah gives you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for Jehovah hears your murmurings which ye murmur against him ... and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against Jehovah.

and the people spoke against God, and against Moses, Why have ye brought us up out of Egypt that we should die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and no water, and our soul loathes this light bread.

Neither murmur ye, as some of them murmured, and perished by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as types, and have been written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.

And Moses said to Jehovah, Why hast thou done evil to thy servant, and why have I not found favour in thine eyes, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? Have I conceived all this people, have I brought them forth, that thou sayest to me, Carry them in thy bosom, as the nursing-father beareth the suckling, unto the land which thou didst swear unto their fathers? Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh that we may eat!read more.
I am not able to bear all this people alone, for it is too heavy for me. And if thou deal thus with me, slay me, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, that I may not behold my wretchedness.

And he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a certain broom-bush, and requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough: now, Jehovah, take my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

My soul is weary of my life: I will give free course to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say unto +God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou strivest with me.

Therefore I will not restrain my mouth: I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Am I a sea, or a sea-monster, that thou settest a watch over me? When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;read more.
Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions; So that my soul chooseth strangling, death, rather than my bones. I loathe it; I shall not live always: let me alone, for my days are a breath. What is man, that thou makest much of him? and that thou settest thy heart upon him? And that thou visitest him every morning, triest him every moment? How long wilt thou not look away from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle? Have I sinned, what do I unto thee, thou Observer of men? Why hast thou set me as an object of assault for thee, so that I am become a burden to myself? And why dost not thou forgive my transgression and take away mine iniquity? for now shall I lie down in the dust, and thou shalt seek me early, and I shall not be.

If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my sad countenance, and brighten up, I am afraid of all my sorrows; I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.

As for me, is my complaint to a man? or wherefore should not my spirit be impatient?

Even to-day is my complaint bitter: my stroke is heavier than my groaning.

Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.

{To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.} Hear, O God, my voice in my plaint; preserve my life from fear of the enemy:

Truly have I purified my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency: For all the day have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. If I said, I will speak thus, behold, I should be faithless to the generation of thy children.read more.
When I thought to be able to know this, it was a grievous task in mine eyes; Until I went into the sanctuaries of God; then understood I their end. Truly thou settest them in slippery places, thou castest them down in ruins. How are they suddenly made desolate! they pass away, consumed with terrors. As a dream, when one awaketh, wilt thou, Lord, on arising despise their image. When my heart was in a ferment, and I was pricked in my reins,

I pour out my plaint before him; I shew before him my trouble.

Righteous art thou, Jehovah, when I plead with thee; yet will I speak with thee of thy judgments. Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they at ease that deal very treacherously? Thou hast planted them, they also have taken root: they advance, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, but far from their reins. But thou, Jehovah, knowest me; thou hast seen me, and proved my heart toward thee. Drag them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter.read more.
How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of all the fields wither? Because of the wickedness of them that dwell therein, the beasts and the birds perish; for they say, He will not see our end.

And it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed unto Jehovah, and said, Ah, Jehovah, was not this my saying when I was yet in my country? Therefore I was minded to flee at first unto Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great loving-kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. And now, Jehovah, take, I beseech thee, my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.

And the Pharisees seeing it, said to his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with tax-gatherers and sinners?

And the scribes and the Pharisees, seeing him eating with sinners and tax-gatherers, said to his disciples, Why is it that he eats and drinks with tax-gatherers and sinners?

And their scribes and the Pharisees murmured at his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with tax-gatherers and sinners?

But the Pharisees, seeing it, said to him, Behold, thy disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on sabbath.

And the Pharisees said to him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath what is not lawful?

But some of the Pharisees said to them, Why do ye what is not lawful to do on the sabbath?

Why do thy disciples transgress what has been delivered by the ancients? for they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.

then the Pharisees and the scribes ask him, Why do thy disciples not walk according to what has been delivered by the ancients, but eat the bread with defiled hands?

Why does this man thus speak? he blasphemes. Who is able to forgive sins except God alone?

And behold, certain of the scribes said to themselves, This man blasphemes.

and the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them.

The Jews therefore murmured about him, because he said, I am the bread which has come down out of heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we have known? how then does he say, I am come down out of heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said to them, Murmur not among yourselves.

But in those days, the disciples multiplying in number, there arose a murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews because their widows were overlooked in the daily ministration.

And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Why is it that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

And they said to Moses, Is it because there were no graves in Egypt, thou hast taken us away to die in the wilderness? why hast thou done this to us, that thou hast led us out of Egypt? Is not this what we told thee in Egypt, when we said, Let us alone, and we will serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.

And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?

And the whole assembly of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, Would that we had died by the hand of Jehovah in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, when we ate bread to the full; for ye have brought us out into this wilderness, to kill this whole congregation with hunger!

But as Paul was going to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, If indeed it was some wrong or wicked criminality, O Jews, of reason I should have borne with you; but if it be questions about words, and names, and the law that ye have, see to it yourselves; for I do not intend to be judge of these things.

And the whole assembly of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness.

and ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because Jehovah hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.

And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, 'Grant them graciously to us; because we did not take for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.'"

Take not thy handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my grief and provocation have I spoken hitherto.

Therefore I will not restrain my mouth: I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Am I a sea, or a sea-monster, that thou settest a watch over me? When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint;

If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my sad countenance, and brighten up,

My soul is weary of my life: I will give free course to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

Attend unto me, and answer me: I wander about in my plaint, and I moan aloud,

I remembered God, and I moaned; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.

{A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before Jehovah.} Jehovah, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto thee.

Our kine laden with young; no breaking in and no going forth, and no outcry in our streets.

Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?

Now Martha was distracted with much serving, and coming up she said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Speak to her therefore that she may help me.

And all murmured when they saw it, saying, He has turned in to lodge with a sinful man.

These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their lusts; and their mouth speaks swelling words, admiring persons for the sake of profit.

And the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, in that we have spoken against Jehovah, and against thee: pray to Jehovah that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

And Moses said to Jehovah, Then the Egyptians will hear it; for in thy might thou broughtest up this people from the midst of them; and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land, who have heard that thou, Jehovah, art in the midst of this people, that thou, Jehovah, lettest thyself be seen eye to eye, and that thy cloud standeth over them, and that thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night; if thou now slayest this people as one man, then the nations that have heard thy fame will speak, saying,read more.
Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people into the land that he had sworn unto them, he has therefore slain them in the wilderness. And now, I beseech thee, let the power of the Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying, Jehovah is slow to anger, and abundant in goodness, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of thy loving-kindness, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now. And Jehovah said, I have pardoned according to thy word. But as surely as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Jehovah! for all those men who have seen my glory, and my signs, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice, shall in no wise see the land which I did swear unto their fathers: none of them that despised me shall see it. But my servant Caleb, because he hath another spirit in him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he came; and his seed shall possess it. (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley.) To-morrow turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness, on the way to the Red sea. And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil assembly, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Say unto them, As surely as I live, saith Jehovah, if I do not do unto you as ye have spoken in mine ears! In this wilderness shall your carcases fall; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number from twenty years old and upwards, who have murmured against me, shall in no wise come into the land, concerning which I have lifted up my hand to make you dwell in it; save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, of whom ye said they should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land that ye have despised. And as to you, your carcases shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall wander in the wilderness forty years, and bear your whoredoms, until your carcases be wasted in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which ye have searched out the land, forty days, each day for a year shall ye bear your iniquities forty years, and ye shall know mine estrangement from you. I Jehovah have spoken; I will surely do it unto all this evil assembly which have gathered together against me! in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die. And the men whom Moses had sent to search out the land, who returned, and made the whole assembly to murmur against him, by bringing up an evil report upon the land, even those men who had brought up an evil report upon the land, died by a plague before Jehovah. But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, lived still of the men that had gone to search out the land. And Moses told all these sayings to all the children of Israel; then the people mourned greatly.

And the whole assembly of the children of Israel murmured on the morrow against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of Jehovah. And it came to pass, when the assembly was gathered together against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tent of meeting, and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of Jehovah appeared. And Moses and Aaron went before the tent of meeting.read more.
And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Get you up from the midst of this assembly, and I will consume them in a moment. And they fell on their faces. And Moses said to Aaron, Take the censer, and put fire thereon from off the altar, and lay on incense, and carry it quickly to the assembly, and make atonement for them; for there is wrath gone out from Jehovah: the plague is begun. And Aaron took as Moses had said, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and behold, the plague had begun among the people; and he put on incense, and made atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides them that had died because of the matter of Korah. And Aaron returned to Moses to the entrance of the tent of meeting; and the plague was stayed.

And they came to Marah, and could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter; therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried to Jehovah; and Jehovah shewed him wood, and he cast it into the waters, and the waters became sweet. There he made for them a statute and an ordinance; and there he tested them.

And the children of Israel, the whole assembly, came into the wilderness of Zin, in the first month; and the people abode at Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. And there was no water for the assembly, and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people contended with Moses, and spoke, saying, Would that we had died when our brethren died before Jehovah!read more.
And why have ye brought the congregation of Jehovah into this wilderness, that we should die there, we and our beasts? And why have ye made us to go up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates, neither is there any water to drink. And Moses and Aaron went from before the congregation to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and fell upon their faces; and the glory of Jehovah appeared to them. And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Take the staff, and gather the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, and it shall give its water; and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock, and shalt give the assembly and their beasts drink. And Moses took the staff from before Jehovah, as he had commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said to them, Hear now, ye rebels: shall we bring forth to you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his staff smote the rock twice, and much water came out, and the assembly drank, and their beasts. And Jehovah said to Moses and to Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to hallow me before the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land that I have given them. These are the waters of Meribah, where the children of Israel contended with Jehovah, and he hallowed himself in them.

And the people contended with Moses, and said, Give us water, that we may drink! And Moses said to them, Why do ye dispute with me? Why do ye tempt Jehovah? And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Why is it that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? And Moses cried to Jehovah, saying, What shall I do with this people? Yet a little, and they will stone me!read more.
And Jehovah said to Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel, and thy staff with which thou didst smite the river, take in thy hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock on Horeb; and thou shalt strike the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so before the eyes of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they had tempted Jehovah, saying, Is Jehovah among us, or not?

And the whole assembly lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron; and the whole assembly said to them, Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! or in this wilderness would that we had died! And why is Jehovah bringing us to this land that we may fall by the sword, that our wives and our little ones may become a prey? Is it not better for us to return to Egypt?read more.
And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return to Egypt. Then Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces before the whole congregation of the assembly of the children of Israel.

And Moses said to Jehovah, Why hast thou done evil to thy servant, and why have I not found favour in thine eyes, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? Have I conceived all this people, have I brought them forth, that thou sayest to me, Carry them in thy bosom, as the nursing-father beareth the suckling, unto the land which thou didst swear unto their fathers? Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh that we may eat!read more.
I am not able to bear all this people alone, for it is too heavy for me. And if thou deal thus with me, slay me, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, that I may not behold my wretchedness. And Jehovah said to Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and their officers; and take them to the tent of meeting, and they shall stand there with thee. And I will come down and talk with thee there; and I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, and thou shalt not bear it alone. And unto the people shalt thou say, Hallow yourselves for to-morrow, and ye shall eat flesh; for ye have wept in the ears of Jehovah, saying, Who will give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt; and Jehovah will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. Not one day shall ye eat, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; but for a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it become loathsome unto you; because that ye have despised Jehovah who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt? And Moses said, The people in whose midst I am are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou sayest, I will give them flesh that they may eat a whole month. Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered for them, to suffice them? And Jehovah said to Moses, Hath Jehovah's hand become short? Now shalt thou see whether my word will come to pass unto thee or not. And Moses went out and told the people the words of Jehovah; and he gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them round about the tent. And Jehovah came down in a cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy men, the elders; and it came to pass, that when the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not repeat it. And two men remained in the camp, the name of the one, Eldad, and the name of the other, Medad; and the Spirit rested upon them (and they were among them that were written, but they had not gone out to the tent); and they prophesied in the camp. And there ran a youth, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp. And Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them! But Moses said to him, Enviest thou for my sake? would that all Jehovah's people were prophets, and that Jehovah would put his Spirit upon them! And Moses withdrew into the camp, he and the elders of Israel. And there went forth a wind from Jehovah, and drove quails from the sea, and cast them about the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and about a day's journey on the other side, round about the camp, and about two cubits above the earth. And the people rose up all that day, and the whole night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered little gathered ten homers; and they spread them abroad for themselves round about the camp. The flesh was yet between their teeth, before it was chewed, when the wrath of Jehovah was kindled against the people, and Jehovah smote the people with a very great plague. And they called the name of that place Kibroth-hattaavah; because there they buried the people who lusted. From Kibroth-hattaavah the people journeyed to Hazeroth; and they were at Hazeroth.

And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to go round the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became impatient on the way; and the people spoke against God, and against Moses, Why have ye brought us up out of Egypt that we should die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and no water, and our soul loathes this light bread. Then Jehovah sent fiery serpents among the people, which bit the people; and much people of Israel died.read more.
And the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, in that we have spoken against Jehovah, and against thee: pray to Jehovah that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.