12 Bible Verses about Murmuring

Now the people began complaining openly before the Lord about hardship. When the Lord heard, His anger burned, and fire from the Lord blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.

I think of God; I groan;
I meditate; my spirit becomes weak.Selah

The people grumbled to Moses, “What are we going to drink?”

They said to Moses: “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you took us to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?

The entire Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

The next day the entire Israelite community complained about Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord’s people!”

The people spoke against God and Moses: "Why have you led us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread or water, and we detest this wretched food!" Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and they bit them so that many Israelites died.

While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the Lord’s anger burned against the people, and the Lord struck them with a very severe plague.

The entire Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted. Instead, you brought us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of hunger!"

So the people complained to Moses: "Give us water to drink." "Why are you complaining to me?" Moses replied to them. "Why are you testing the Lord?" But the people thirsted there for water, and grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you ever bring us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?"

Why should any living person complain,
any man, because of the punishment for his sins?

Those who are confused will gain understanding,
and those who grumble will accept instruction.

A man’s own foolishness leads him astray,
yet his heart rages against the Lord.

Jesus answered them, “Stop complaining among yourselves.

Nor should we complain as some of them did, and were killed by the destroyer.

And the Pharisees and scribes were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!”

All who saw it began to complain, “He’s gone to lodge with a sinful man!”

But the Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to His disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Therefore the Jews started complaining about Him, because He said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They were saying, "Isn't this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can He now say, 'I have come down from heaven' ?" Jesus answered them, "Stop complaining among yourselves.

At that, the Jews argued among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

So the men Moses sent to scout out the land, and who returned and incited the entire community to complain about him by spreading a bad report about the land- those men who spread the report about the land were struck down by the Lord.

Nor should we complain as some of them did, and were killed by the destroyer.

They despised the pleasant land and did not believe His promise. They grumbled in their tents and did not listen to the Lord's voice. So He raised His hand against them [with an oath] that He would make them fall in the desert read more.
and would disperse their descendants among the nations, scattering them throughout the lands.

Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world.

Nor should we complain as some of them did, and were killed by the destroyer.

Therefore the Jews started complaining about Him, because He said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They were saying, "Isn't this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can He now say, 'I have come down from heaven' ?" Jesus answered them, "Stop complaining among yourselves.

So the people complained to Moses: "Give us water to drink." "Why are you complaining to me?" Moses replied to them. "Why are you testing the Lord?" But the people thirsted there for water, and grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you ever bring us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?"

The people grumbled to Moses, “What are we going to drink?”

They said to Moses: “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you took us to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?

The entire Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

The next day the entire Israelite community complained about Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord’s people!”

The entire Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted. Instead, you brought us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of hunger!"

The people grumbled to Moses, “What are we going to drink?”

“May the Lord take note of you and judge,” they said to them, “because you have made us reek in front of Pharaoh and his officials—putting a sword in their hand to kill us!”

250 prominent Israelite men who were leaders of the community and representatives in the assembly, and they rebelled against Moses. They came together against Moses and Aaron and told them, "You have gone too far! Everyone in the entire community is holy, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the Lord's assembly?"

Now the people began complaining openly before the Lord about hardship. When the Lord heard, His anger burned, and fire from the Lord blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.

"How long [must I endure] this evil community that keeps complaining about Me? I have heard the Israelites' complaints that they make against Me. Tell them: As surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do to you exactly as I heard you say. Your corpses will fall in this wilderness-all of you who were registered [in the census], the entire number of you 20 years old or more-because you have complained about Me.

"Get away from this community so that I may consume them instantly." But they fell facedown. Then Moses told Aaron, "Take your firepan, place fire from the altar in it, and add incense. Go quickly to the community and make atonement for them, because wrath has come from the Lord; the plague has begun."

Nor should we complain as some of them did, and were killed by the destroyer.

Do everything without grumbling and arguing,

But the men who had gone up with him responded, "We can't go up against the people because they are stronger than we are!" So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: "The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size. We even saw the Nephilim there." (The offspring of Anak were descended from the Nephilim.) "To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them."

So the men Moses sent to scout out the land, and who returned and incited the entire community to complain about him by spreading a bad report about the land- those men who spread the report about the land were struck down by the Lord.

But the Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to His disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

For with the judgment you use, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner:

But he replied to his father, 'Look, I have been slaving many years for you, and I have never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.'

The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people despise Me? How long will they not trust in Me despite all the signs I have performed among them?

All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron, and the whole community told them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness!

The next day the entire Israelite community complained about Moses and Aaron, saying, “You have killed the Lord’s people!”

But the people thirsted there for water, and grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you ever bring us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

So Moses went back to the Lord and asked, "Lord, why have You caused trouble for this people? And why did You ever send me? Ever since I went in to Pharaoh to speak in Your name he has caused trouble for this people, and You haven't delivered Your people at all."

So Moses asked the Lord, "Why have You brought such trouble on Your servant? Why are You angry with me, and why do You burden me with all these people? Did I conceive all these people? Did I give them birth so You should tell me, 'Carry them at your breast, as a nursing woman carries a baby,' to the land that You swore to [give] their fathers? Where can I get meat to give all these people? For they are crying to me: 'Give us meat to eat!' read more.
"I can't carry all these people by myself. They are too much for me. If You are going to treat me like this, please kill me right now. If You are pleased with me, don't let me see my misery [any more]."

David was angry because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah, so he named that place an Outburst Against Uzzah, as it is today.

I believed, even when I said, "I am severely afflicted." In my alarm I said, "Everyone is a liar."

Cursed be the day on which I was born. The day my mother bore me- let it never be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, saying, "A male child is born to you," bringing him great joy. Let that man be like the cities the Lord overthrew without compassion. Let him hear an outcry in the morning and a war cry at noontime read more.
because he didn't kill me in the womb so that my mother might have been my grave, her womb eternally pregnant. Why did I come out of the womb to see [only] struggle and sorrow, to end my life in shame?

Cursed be the day on which I was born. The day my mother bore me- let it never be blessed. Cursed be the man who brought the news to my father, saying, "A male child is born to you," bringing him great joy. Let that man be like the cities the Lord overthrew without compassion. Let him hear an outcry in the morning and a war cry at noontime read more.
because he didn't kill me in the womb so that my mother might have been my grave, her womb eternally pregnant. Why did I come out of the womb to see [only] struggle and sorrow, to end my life in shame?

Why should any living person complain,
any man, because of the punishment for his sins?

But Cain answered the Lord, "My punishment is too great to bear! Since You are banishing me today from the soil, and I must hide myself from Your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me."

For when he sees his children, the work of My hands within his [nation], they will honor My name, they will honor the Holy One of Jacob and stand in awe of the God of Israel. Those who are confused will gain understanding and those who grumble will accept instruction.

Therefore the Jews started complaining about Him, because He said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They were saying, "Isn't this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can He now say, 'I have come down from heaven' ?" Jesus answered them, "Stop complaining among yourselves.

At that, the Jews argued among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

So Moses went back to the Lord and asked, "Lord, why have You caused trouble for this people? And why did You ever send me? Ever since I went in to Pharaoh to speak in Your name he has caused trouble for this people, and You haven't delivered Your people at all."

You will say to me, therefore, "Why then does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?" But who are you-anyone who talks back to God? Will what is formed say to the one who formed it, "Why did you make me like this?"

A man’s own foolishness leads him astray,
yet his heart rages against the Lord.

I said: In the prime of my life I must go to the gates of Sheol; I am deprived of the rest of my years. I said: I will never see the Lord, the Lord in the land of the living; I will not look on humanity any longer with the inhabitants of what is passing away. My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me like a shepherd's tent. I have rolled up my life like a weaver; He cuts me off from the loom. You make an end of me from day until night. read more.
I thought until the morning: He will break all my bones like a lion; You make an end of me day and night. I chirp like a swallow [or] a crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak looking upward. Lord, I am oppressed; support me. What can I say? He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it. I walk along slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul, Lord, because of these [promises] people live, and in all of them is the life of my spirit as well; You have restored me to health and let me live. Indeed, it was for [my own] welfare that I had such great bitterness; but Your love [has delivered] me from the Pit of destruction, for You have thrown all my sins behind Your back. For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who go down to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.

but he went on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. He said, “I have had enough! Lord, take my life, for I’m no better than my fathers.”

Therefore the Jews started complaining about Him, because He said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They were saying, "Isn't this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can He now say, 'I have come down from heaven' ?" Jesus answered them, "Stop complaining among yourselves.

You have said: “It is useless to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His requirements and walking mournfully before the Lord of Hosts?

but he went on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. He said, “I have had enough! Lord, take my life, for I’m no better than my fathers.”

He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Hosts, but the Israelites have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are looking for me to take my life.”

As the sun was rising, God appointed a scorching east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he almost fainted, and he wanted to die. He said, "It's better for me to die than to live." Then God asked Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" "[Yes,]" he replied. "It is right. I'm angry enough to die!"

In the same way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them committed sexual immorality and practiced perversions, just as they did, and serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire. Nevertheless, these dreamers likewise defile their flesh, despise authority, and blaspheme glorious beings. Yet Michael the archangel, when he was disputing with the Devil in a debate about Moses' body, did not dare bring an abusive condemnation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" read more.
But these people blaspheme anything they don't understand, and what they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals-they destroy themselves with these things. Woe to them! For they have traveled in the way of Cain, have abandoned themselves to the error of Balaam for profit, and have perished in Korah's rebellion. These are the ones who are like dangerous reefs at your love feasts. They feast with you, nurturing only themselves without fear. They are waterless clouds carried along by winds; trees in late autumn-fruitless, twice dead, pulled out by the roots; wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameful deeds; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever! And Enoch, in the seventh [generation] from Adam, prophesied about them: Look! The Lord comes with thousands of His holy ones to execute judgment on all, and to convict them of all their ungodly deeds that they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things ungodly sinners have said against Him. These people are discontented grumblers, walking according to their desires; their mouths utter arrogant words, flattering people for their own advantage.

So the people complained to Moses, “Give us water to drink.”

“Why are you complaining to me?” Moses replied to them. “Why are you testing the Lord?”

Therefore, I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind. I hated all my work at which I labored under the sun because I must leave it to the man who comes after me.

Moses also told Korah, "Now listen, Levites! Isn't it enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the Israelite community to bring you near to Himself, to perform the work at the Lord's tabernacle, and to stand before the community to minister to them? He has brought you near, and all your fellow Levites who are with you, but you are seeking the priesthood as well. read more.
Therefore, it is you and all your followers who have conspired against the Lord! As for Aaron, who is he that you should complain about him?"

But Cain answered the Lord, "My punishment is too great to bear! Since You are banishing me today from the soil, and I must hide myself from Your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me."

These people are discontented grumblers, walking according to their desires; their mouths utter arrogant words, flattering people for their own advantage.

In those days, as the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint by the Hellenistic Jews against the Hebraic Jews that their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution.

When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she envied her sister. “Give me sons, or I will die!” she said to Jacob.

For I envied the arrogant;
I saw the prosperity of the wicked.