63 Bible Verses about Complaints

Do all things without murmurings and disputings,

Not that I speak according to need, for I have learned to be content in whatever state I am.

In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

And the people were evil, as those complaining in the ears of Jehovah. And Jehovah heard, and His anger was kindled. And the fire of Jehovah burned among them and devoured in the outermost parts of the camp.

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

And Moses said, You will see when Jehovah shall give you flesh to eat in the evening and bread to the full in the morning, when Jehovah hears your murmurings which you 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 you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water. And our soul hates this light bread.

Nor murmur as some of them also murmured and were destroyed by the destroyer. And all these things happened to them as examples; and it is written for our warning on whom the ends of the world have come.

And Moses said to Jehovah, Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, so that You lay the burden of all this people upon me? Have I conceived all this people? Did I bring them forth, that You should say to me, Bear them in your bosom like a nursing father carries the sucking child, to the land which You swore to their fathers? From where should I get flesh to give to all this people? For they weep to me, saying, Give us flesh that we may eat.read more.
I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. And if You are going to part this way with me, I beg You to kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight, and let me not see my misery.

And he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he begged for his life, that he might die. And he said, It is enough. O Jehovah, take away my life. For I am no better than my fathers.

My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint on my self; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, Do not condemn me; make me know why You contend with me.

Therefore I will not hold my mouth; I will speak in the trouble of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Am I like the sea, or a whale, that You set a watch over me? When I say, My bed shall comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint,read more.
then You scare me with dreams, and terrify me with visions; so that my soul chooses strangling, death rather than my life. I despise them; I will not live always; let me alone, for my days are vanity. What is man, that You should magnify him, and that You should set Your heart on him, and visit him every morning, trying him every moment? Until when will You look away from me, nor let me alone until I swallow down my spittle? I have sinned. What shall I do to You, O Watcher of men? Why have You set me as a target for You, so that I am a burden to myself? And why do You not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? For now I shall sleep in the dust, and You shall seek me in the morning, but I shall not be.

If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will depart from my heaviness and be of good cheer, I am afraid of all my sorrows; I know that You will not hold me innocent.

As for me, is my complaint to man? And why should my spirit not be troubled?

Even today is my complaint bitter; my stroke is heavier than my groaning.

Why do you fight against Him? For He does not give account for any of His matters.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; guard my life from fear of the enemy.

Surely I have made my heart pure in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long I have been plagued, and chastened every morning. If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I would deceive a generation of Your sons.read more.
When I thought deeply in order to understand this, it was painful for me, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end. Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down into ruin. How have they been brought into grief, as in a moment! They are fully eaten up with terrors, like a dream when one awakens; so, O Jehovah, when You awake, You shall despise their image. For my heart was grieved and I was pricked in my reins.

I poured out my prayer before Him; I declared my trouble before Him.

Righteous are You, O Jehovah, that I might contend with You; yet let me speak with You about Your judgments. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are all those happy who deal treacherously? You have planted them; yea, they take root. They grow, yea, they make fruit. You are near in their mouth and far from their reins. But You, O Jehovah, know me. You have seen me and tried my heart toward You. Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and devote them for the day of slaughter.read more.
How long shall the land mourn, and the grass of every field wither from the evil of those who dwell in it? The beasts and the birds have been destroyed, because they said, He shall not see our last end.

But it was a great calamity in Jonah's sight, and it kindled anger in him. And he prayed to Jehovah and said, Please, O Jehovah, was this not my saying when I was still in my land? On account of this I fled before to Tarshish. For I knew that You are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and One who repents over calamity. And now, O Jehovah, I beseech You, take my life from me. For better is my death than my life.

And when the Pharisees saw, they said to His disciples, Why does your master eat with tax-collectors and sinners?

And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eat with tax-collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, How is it that He eats and drinks with tax-collectors and sinners?

But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against His disciples, saying, Why do you eat and drink with tax-collectors and sinners?

But when the Pharisees saw, they said to Him, Behold, your disciples do that which it is not lawful to do on the sabbath day.

And the Pharisees said to Him, Behold, why do they do that which is not lawful on the sabbath day?

And certain of the Pharisees said to them, Why do you do that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?

Why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.

Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat loaves with unwashed hands?

Why does this one speak such blasphemies? Who can forgive sins except God only?

And lo, some of the scribes said within themselves, This one blasphemes.

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

Then the Jews murmured about Him, because He said, I am the bread which came down from Heaven. And they said, Is this not Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How now does this One say, I have come down from Heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said to them, Do not murmur with one another.

And in those days, the disciples having multiplied, a murmuring of the Hellenists against the Hebrews occurred, because their widows were overlooked in the daily serving.

And the people thirsted there for water. And the people murmured against Moses and said, Why is this, that You brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our sons and our cattle with thirst?

And they said to Moses, Have you taken us away to die in the wilderness because there were no graves in Egypt? Why have you dealt this way with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Did we not tell you this word in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, so that we may serve the Egyptians? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.

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

And the whole congregation of the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the sons of Israel said to them, O 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 you have brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.

And Paul being about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, If indeed then, it was anything wrong or wicked criminality, O Jews, according to reason I would endure you. But if it is a question of a word and names, and of your law, you look to it. For I do not wish to be a judge of such things.

And the whole congregation of the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

And you murmured in your tents and said, Because Jehovah hates us, He has brought us forth out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.

And it shall be, when their fathers or their brothers come to us to complain, we will say to them, Be favorable to them for our sakes, because we did not reserve each man a wife in the war. For if you did not give to them at this time, you would be guilty.

Do not count your handmaid for a daughter of wickedness, for out of the abundance of my meditation and grief I have spoken until now.

Therefore I will not hold my mouth; I will speak in the trouble of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Am I like the sea, or a whale, that You set 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 depart from my heaviness and be of good cheer,

My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint on my self; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

Attend to me, and hear me; I wander and I moan in my complaint,

I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit fainted. Selah.

A prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before Jehovah. Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, and let my cry come to You.

and our oxen may be loaded; there is no breaking in nor going out and no crying in our streets.

What? Should mankind complain, a living man, because of his sins?

But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she came to Him and said, Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.

And seeing, they all murmured, saying, He has gone in to stay with a sinful man.

These are murmurers, complainers, leading lives according to their lusts. And their mouth speaks proud things, admiring faces for the sake of gain.

And the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against Jehovah and against you. 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, for You have brought up this people in Your might from among them. And they will say to the inhabitant of this land, They have heard that You, Jehovah, are among this people, who is seen eye to eye. You are Jehovah, and Your cloud stands over them, and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night. And will You kill this people as one man? Then the nations who have heard Your fame will speak, saying,read more.
Because Jehovah was not able to bring this people into the land which He swore to them, therefore He has slain them in the wilderness. And now, I beseech You, let the power of my Lord be great, according as You have spoken, saying, Jehovah is long-suffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation. I beseech You, pardon the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your mercy, and as You have forgiven this people from Egypt even until now. And Jehovah said, I have pardoned according to your word. But truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Jehovah. Because all those men who have seen My glory and My miracles which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted Me now these ten times, and have not listened to My voice, surely they shall not see the land which I swore to their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked Me see it. But My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and has followed Me fully, I will bring him into the land into which he went. And his seed shall possess it. (Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites lived in the valley.) Tomorrow turn and go into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmurs against Me? I have heard the murmurings of the sons of Israel which they murmur against Me. Say to them, As I live, says Jehovah, as you have spoken in My ears, so I will do to you. Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against Me, you shall certainly not come into the land which I swore to make you live in, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which you said should be a prey, I will bring them in and they shall know the land which you have despised. But as for you, your bodies shall fall in this wilderness. And your sons shall feed in the wilderness forty years and bear your fornications, until your dead bodies have wasted in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you searched the land, forty days, each day for a year you shall bear your iniquities, forty years; and you shall know My alienation. I Jehovah have spoken; I will surely do it to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. They shall be destroyed in this wilderness, and there they shall die. And the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up an evil report upon the land, even those men that brought up the evil report upon the land died by the plague before Jehovah. But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of the men that went to spy out the land, lived. And Moses told these sayings to all the sons of Israel. And the people mourned greatly.

But on the next day all the congregation of the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron saying, You have killed the people of Jehovah. And it happened when the congregation was gathered together against Moses and against Aaron, they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation. And behold! The cloud covered it, and the glory of Jehovah appeared. And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.read more.
And Jehovah spoke to Moses saying, Get away from this congregation so that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces. And Moses said to Aaron, Take a fire-pan, and put fire in it from the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly to the congregation and make an atonement for them. For wrath has gone out from Jehovah. The plague has begun. And Aaron did as Moses commanded and ran into the midst of the congregation. And behold! The plague had begun among the people. And he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stayed. And those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand, seven hundred, besides the ones who died about the matter of Korah. And Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the plague was stayed.

And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, because it was 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 showed him a tree. And when he had cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a decree and a law for them, and there He tested them.

Then the sons of Israel came, the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month. And the people stayed in Kadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there. And there was no water for the congregation. And they gathered themselves against Moses and against Aaron. And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying, Oh that we had died when our brothers died before Jehovah!read more.
And why have you brought up the congregation of Jehovah into this wilderness, so that we and our cattle should die there? And why have you made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us into this evil place? It is no place of seed or of figs or of vines or of pomegranates. And there is no water to drink. And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces. And the glory of Jehovah appeared to them. And Jehovah spoke to Moses saying, Take the rod, and gather the assembly, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes. And it shall give forth its water, and you shall bring forth to them water out of the rock. So you shall give the congregation and their animals drink. And Moses took the rod from before Jehovah as He commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said to them, Hear now you rebels. Must we bring water for you out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he struck the rock twice. And the water came out plentifully, and the congregation and their animals drank. And Jehovah spoke to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not believe Me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. These are the Waters of Strife, because the sons of Israel fought with Jehovah, and He showed Himself holy among them.

And the people wrangled with Moses and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said to them, Why do you wrangle with me? Why do you tempt Jehovah? And the people thirsted there for water. And the people murmured against Moses and said, Why is this, that You brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our sons and our cattle with thirst? And Moses cried to Jehovah, saying, What shall I do to this people? They are almost ready to stone me.read more.
And Jehovah said to Moses, Go on in front of the people, and take with you the elders of Israel. And take your rod with which you struck the river, in your hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there upon the rock in Horeb. And you shall smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, so that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the wrangling of the sons of Israel, and because they tempted Jehovah, saying, Is Jehovah among us or not?

And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried. And the people wept that night. And all the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron. And the whole congregation said to them, Oh that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or, Oh that we had died in the wilderness! And why has Jehovah brought us into this land to fall by the sword, so that our wives and our sons should be a prey? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?read more.
And they said to one another, Let us make a leader, and let us return to Egypt. And Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel.

And Moses said to Jehovah, Why have You afflicted Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, so that You lay the burden of all this people upon me? Have I conceived all this people? Did I bring them forth, that You should say to me, Bear them in your bosom like a nursing father carries the sucking child, to the land which You swore to their fathers? From where should I get flesh to give to all this people? For they weep to me, saying, Give us flesh that we may eat.read more.
I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. And if You are going to part this way with me, I beg You to kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight, and let me not see my misery. And Jehovah said to Moses, Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people, and the officers over them. And bring them to the tabernacle of the congregation so that they may stand there with you. And I will come down and talk with you there. And I will take of the spirit on you, and will put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you so that you do not bear it yourself alone. And say to the people, Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat flesh. For you have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat, for it was well with us in Egypt? Therefore Jehovah will give you flesh, and you shall eat. You shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days. Even a whole month, until it comes out at your nostrils, and it is hateful to you, because you have despised Jehovah among you, and have wept before Him, saying, Why did we come out of Egypt? And Moses said, The people among whom I am are six hundred thousand footmen. And You have said, I will give them flesh so that they may eat a whole month! Shall the flocks and the herds be killed for them, to be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be enough for them? And Jehovah said to Moses, Has Jehovah's hand become short? You shall see now whether or not My word shall come to pass to you. And Moses went out and told the people the words of Jehovah, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them all around the tabernacle. And Jehovah came down in a cloud and spoke to him, and took of the spirit on him and gave it to the seventy elders. And it happened when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they never did so again. But two of the men stayed in the camp; the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other was Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. And they were of those who were written, but did not go out to the tabernacle. And they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, make them cease. And Moses said to him, Are you jealous for my sake? Would God that all Jehovah's people were prophets, that Jehovah would put His Spirit upon them! And Moses went into the camp, he and the elders of Israel. And a wind went forth from Jehovah. And it cut off quails from the sea and let them fall by the camp, about a day's journey on this side, and about a day's journey on the other side, all around the camp, and about two cubits high upon the face of the earth. And the people stood up all that day and all night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails. And he that gathered least gathered ten homers. And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of Jehovah was kindled against the people, and Jehovah struck the people with a very great plague. And he called the name of that place Graves of Lust, because there they buried the people that lusted. And the people pulled up stakes from the Graves of Lust to Hazeroth, and stayed at Hazeroth.

And they pulled up stakes from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. And the soul of the people was very discouraged because of the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses, Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water. And our soul hates this light bread. And Jehovah sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people. And many people of Israel died.read more.
And the people came to Moses and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against Jehovah and against you. Pray to Jehovah that He take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.