63 Bible Verses about Complaints

Do all things without complaining (grumbling) (murmuring) and questioning (disputing).

I am not saying this because I am in 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.

The people complained out loud to Jehovah about their troubles. Jehovah heard them and he became angry. Fire from Jehovah burned among them. It destroyed some people on the outskirts of the camp.

Then Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron: How long must I put up with this wicked congregation that keeps complaining about me? I have heard the complaints the Israelites are making about me.

Moses said: This will happen when Jehovah gives you meat to eat in the evening, and bread to eat in the morning. Jehovah hears your complaints against him. And what are we? Your complaints are not against us but against Jehovah.

and criticized God and Moses. They said: Why did you make us leave Egypt only to let us die in the desert? There is no bread or water, and we cannot stand this awful food!

Do not grumble like some of them grumbled. Venomous snakes killed them. These things happened for examples, and they are written for our instruction, upon whom the end of the ages has come.

So he asked: Jehovah, why have you brought me this trouble? How have I displeased you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Am I their mother? Did I give birth to them? Are you really asking me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries a baby, all the way to the land you promised their ancestors with an oath? Where can I get meat for all these people? They continually cry for me to give them meat to eat.read more.
I am not able to take care of all these people by myself. This is too much work for me! If you treat me like this have pity on me and kill me. That way I will not have to endure my shame any longer.

Elijah walked a whole day into the wilderness. He stopped and sat down under a broom plant and wished he would die. It is just too much, Jehovah, he prayed. Take away my life. I could just as well be dead.

I loathe my very life. I will therefore give free rein to my complaint and speak out in my bitterness. I will say to God: 'Do not condemn me, but tell me what charges you have against me.

I will not keep from speaking. I must express my anguish. I must complain in my bitterness. Am I a sea monster that you place a guard on me? When I think: 'My bed will comfort me, and I will try to forget my misery with sleep,read more.
you shatter me with dreams. You terrify me with visions.' I would rather die of strangulation than go on and on like this. I hate my life. I do not want to go on living. Oh, leave me alone for these few remaining days. What is man that you should magnify him and set your mind on him? For you examine us every morning and test us every moment. How long will you keep looking at me and let me alone till I swallow my spittle? Have I sinned? What have I done to you, O watcher of all humanity? Why have you made me your target? Am I a burden to you? Why not just pardon my sin and take away my guilt? For soon I will lie down in the dust and die. When you look for me, I will be gone.

If I say: 'I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face and wear a smile, I am afraid of all my suffering and I know that God will not hold me innocent.

As for me, is my complaint addressed to mortals? Why should I not be impatient?

Even today my complaint is bitter rebellion. God's hand is heavy despite my groaning.

Why do you complain to him that he answers none of man's words?

([Psalm of David]) Listen to my concerns, O God, and protect me from my terrible enemies.

I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. I have been plagued all day long, and chastened every morning. If I say, I will speak thus; then, I would offend the generation of your children.read more.
When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me. I understood their end when I went into the sanctuary of God. Surely you set them in slippery places. You threw them down into destruction. How are they destroyed, suddenly! They are utterly consumed with terrors. It is like waking up from a dream, O Jehovah. When you awake you will despise everything they represent. My heart was grieved and I was pierced within.

I pour out my complaints in his presence and tell him my troubles.

Jehovah, if I argued my case with you, you would prove to be right. Indeed, I must question you about matters of justice. Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why do dishonest people succeed with impunity? You plant them, and they take root. They grow and bear fruit. You are near their lips, but far from their mind. But, you know me, Jehovah. You see what I do and how in my heart I love you. Drag them away like sheep to be butchered. Guard them until it is time for them to be slaughtered.read more.
How long will our land be dry and the grass in every field be withered? Animals and birds are dying because of the wickedness of our people. These people say: God does not see what we are doing.

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly. He was angry! He prayed to Jehovah: I pray to you, O Jehovah, was this what I said, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I hurried to flee to Tarshish. Because I knew that you are a gracious God. You are merciful, slow to anger, abundant in loving kindness, and one who takes pity over calamity (tragedy) (catastrophe) (disaster). Now, O Jehovah, please take my life from me for it is better for me to die than to live.

When the Pharisees saw it, they asked his disciples: Why does your Teacher eat with the tax collectors and sinners?

When the scribes of the Pharisees saw he was eating with the tax collectors and sinners they asked his disciples: Why does he take food and drink with such men?

And the Pharisees and their scribes complained to Jesus disciples. They asked: Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?

The Pharisees saw it and said to him: Your disciples do that which it is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.

The Pharisees said: Why are they doing what it is not right to do on the Sabbath?

Some of the Pharisees asked: Why do you do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath day?

They questioned him: Why do your disciples go against the teaching of the fathers? They eat food with unwashed hands.

The Pharisees and the scribes asked: Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders. Instead they eat their bread with defiled hands?

Why does this man speak this way? He blasphemes for only God is the one who can forgive sins.

Some of the scribes said among themselves: This man has no respect for God.

Pharisees and teachers of the Law complained: This man welcomes sinners and even eats with them!

The Jews complained about him. This is because he said 'I am the bread that came down out of heaven.' They said: Is Jesus the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How does he now say, I came down out of heaven? Jesus answered: Stop complaining and saying things against me.

The number of disciples increased at that time. A murmuring arose on the part of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution.

The people were thirsty for water. They complained to Moses and asked: Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Was it to make us, our children, and our livestock die of thirst?

They also complained to Moses: Was there not enough room in Egypt to bury us? Is that why you brought us out here to die in the desert? Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Did we not say in Egypt: Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert.

The people complained about Moses. They asked: What can we drink?

The entire congregation complained about Moses and Aaron in the desert. The Israelites said to them: If only Jehovah had allowed us to die in Egypt! There we sat by our pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted! You brought us out into this desert to let us all starve to death!

Paul was about to speak when Gallio said to the Jews: If you Jews were about to complain about some crime it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. But it involves questions about words and names in your own law so look to it yourselves. I will not be judge of these matters.

The entire congregation complained about Moses and Aaron in the desert.

You complained in your tents, and said: Jehovah hates us so he brought us out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.

If their fathers or brothers come to you and protest, you can tell them: 'Please let us keep them, because we did not take them from you in battle to be our wives. Since you did not give them to us, you are not guilty of breaking your promise.'

Do not consider your maidservant a worthless woman. I pray like this because I am miserable and filled with grief.

I will not keep from speaking. I must express my anguish. I must complain in my bitterness. Am I a sea monster that you place a guard on me? When I think: 'My bed will comfort me, and I will try to forget my misery with sleep,

If I say: 'I will forget my complaint, I will put off my sad face and wear a smile,

I loathe my very life. I will therefore give free rein to my complaint and speak out in my bitterness.

Pay attention to me, and answer me. My thoughts are restless. I am confused and distracted.

I remember God, and I groan. I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed.

Hear my prayer, O Jehovah! And let my cry for help come to you.

Let our cattle bear without mishap and without loss. Let there be no outcry in our streets!

What protest may a living man make? Can a man protest about the punishment for his sin?

Martha was worried about the housework. She approached Jesus and said: Lord do you not care that my sister does not help me? Tell her to help me.

Many in the crowd complained saying: He is staying with a man who is a sinner.

These murmur, complain, and walk after their lusts, they speak arrogantly, flattering people to gain advantage.

The people came to Moses and said: We sinned when we criticized Jehovah and you. Pray to Jehovah so that he will take the snakes away from us. So Moses prayed for the people.

Moses said to Jehovah: You brought these people out of Egypt by your power. When the Egyptians hear what you have done to your people, they will tell it to the people who live in this land. These people have already heard that you, Jehovah, are with us, that you appear in plain sight when your cloud stops over us, and that you go before us in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. But if you kill all these people at the same time the nations who have heard these reports about you will say,read more.
Jehovah was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them, so he slaughtered them in the desert. Jehovah, let your power be as great as when you said, Jehovah is patient, forever loving; He forgives wrongdoing and disobedience. He never lets the guilty go unpunished. In fact he punishes children for their parents' sins to the third and fourth generation. By your great love, please forgive these people's sins, as you have forgiven them from the time they left Egypt until now. Jehovah said: I forgive them, as you have asked. But as I live and as the glory of Jehovah fills the whole earth, I solemnly swear that none of the people who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I did in Egypt and in the desert will see the land I promised their ancestors. They have tested me now ten times and refused to obey me. None of those who treat me with contempt will see it! My servant Caleb has a different attitude and has wholeheartedly followed me, I will bring him to the land he already explored. His descendants will possess it. The Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys. Tomorrow you must turn around, go back into the desert. Follow the road that goes to the Red Sea. Then Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron: How long must I put up with this wicked congregation that keeps complaining about me? I have heard the complaints the Israelites are making about me. Therefore tell them: 'As I live, declares Jehovah, I solemnly swear I will do everything to you that you said I would do. Your bodies will drop dead in this desert. All of you who are at least twenty years old, who were registered and listed, and who complained about me will die. I raised my hand and swore an oath to give you this land to live in. But none of you will enter it except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. You said your children would be taken as prisoners of war. Instead, I will bring them into the land you rejected, and they will enjoy it. But your bodies will drop dead in this desert. Your children will be shepherds in the desert for forty years. They will suffer for your unfaithfulness until the last of your bodies lies dead in the desert. You explored the land for forty days. So for forty years, one year for each day, you will suffer for your sins and know what it means for me to be against you.' I, Jehovah, have spoken. I swear I will do these things to all the people in this whole wicked congregation. For they have joined forces against me. They will meet their end in this desert. Here they will die!' The men Moses sent to explore the land died in front of Jehovah from a plague. They died because they had returned and made the whole community complain about Moses. They spread lies about the land. Of all the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived. Moses told these things to all the Israelites. The people mourned bitterly, as if someone had died.

The next day the whole congregation of Israel complained to Moses and Aaron. They said: You have killed Jehovah's people. The congregation came together to confront Moses and Aaron. When they turned toward the tent of meeting, they saw the smoke covering it, and the glory of Jehovah appeared. Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting.read more.
Jehovah said to Moses: Get away from these people, and let me destroy them in an instant! Immediately, they bowed with their faces touching the ground. Moses said to Aaron: Take your incense burner, put burning coals from the altar and incense in it, and go quickly into the congregation to make peace with Jehovah for the people. Jehovah shows his anger! A plague has started. Aaron took his incense burner, as Moses told him. He ran into the middle of the assembly, because the plague had already begun among the people. He put incense on the incense burner to make peace with Jehovah for the people. He stood between those who had died and those who were still alive. The plague stopped. Fourteen thousand seven hundred died from the plague in addition to those who died because of Korah. By the time Aaron came back to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the plague had stopped.

When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water because it tasted bitter. That is why the place was called Marah (Bitter Place). The people complained about Moses. They asked: What can we drink? Moses cried out to Jehovah. Jehovah showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. Jehovah presented laws and rules for them to live by. He tested them there.

In the first month the whole congregation of Israel came into the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there. The congregation was without water. So they gathered to confront Moses and Aaron. The people complained to Moses. They said: If only we had died when the other Israelites died in Jehovah's presence!read more.
Did you bring Jehovah's assembly into this desert just to have us all die and our animals? Why did you make us leave Egypt and bring us into this terrible place? This is no place to plant crops. Even figs, grapes, and pomegranates will not grow here. And there is no water to drink! Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting. They bowed with their faces touching the ground. The glory of Jehovah appeared to them. Jehovah said to Moses: Take your staff and you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation. Right before their eyes, tell the rock to give up its water. In this way you will give the congregation water from the rock for them and their animals to drink. Moses took his staff out of the tent in Jehovah's presence as he had been commanded. Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation in front of the rock and said to them: Listen, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock for you? Moses raised his hand and hit the rock twice with the staff. Water came pouring out! All the people and their animals drank. Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron: You did not trust me! You did not show the Israelites how holy I am! So you will not bring this congregation into the land I am giving them. This was the oasis of Meribah (Complaining), where the Israelites complained about Jehovah and where he showed them he was holy.

So they complained to Moses about this: Give us water to drink! Moses said: Why do you complain to me? Why do you test Jehovah? The people were thirsty for water. They complained to Moses and asked: Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Was it to make us, our children, and our livestock die of thirst? Moses cried out to Jehovah: What should I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me!read more.
Jehovah said to Moses: Go in front of the people. Take the elders of Israel with you. 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. Strike the rock and water will come out of it. Then the people may drink. Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the complaining of the children of Israel, and because they tested Jehovah, saying: Is Jehovah among us or not?

All the Israelite congregation raised their voices and cried out loud all that night. They complained to Moses and Aaron: If only we had died in Egypt or in this desert! Why is Jehovah bringing us to this land? Is it just to have us die in battle? Our wives and children will be taken as prisoners of war! Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?read more.
They said to each other: Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt. Immediately, Moses and Aaron bowed with their faces touching the ground in front of the whole congregation of Israel assembled there.

So he asked: Jehovah, why have you brought me this trouble? How have I displeased you that you put the burden of all these people on me? Am I their mother? Did I give birth to them? Are you really asking me to carry them in my arms, as a nurse carries a baby, all the way to the land you promised their ancestors with an oath? Where can I get meat for all these people? They continually cry for me to give them meat to eat.read more.
I am not able to take care of all these people by myself. This is too much work for me! If you treat me like this have pity on me and kill me. That way I will not have to endure my shame any longer. Jehovah replied to Moses: Assemble seventy respected men who are recognized as elders of the people. Bring them to me at the tent of my presence, and tell them to stand there beside you. I will come down and speak with you there. I will take some of the spirit I have given and give it to them. Then they can help you bear the responsibility for these people. You will not have to bear it alone. Tell the people: 'Purify yourselves for tomorrow. You will have meat to eat! Jehovah has heard you whining and saying that you wished you had some meat and that you were better off in Egypt. Jehovah will now give you meat, and you will have to eat it. You will have to eat it not just for one or two days, or five, or ten, or even twenty days. You will eat it for a whole month, until it comes out of your nose, until you are sick of it. This will happen because you have rejected Jehovah who is here among you and have complained to him that you should not have left Egypt.' Moses said to Jehovah: Here I am leading six hundred thousand people, and you say that you will give them enough meat for a month? Could enough cattle and sheep even be killed to satisfy them? Are all the fish in the sea enough for them? Is there a limit to my power? Jehovah answered. You will soon see whether what I have said will happen or not! Thus Moses went out and told the people what Jehovah said. He assembled seventy of the leaders and placed them around the tent. Jehovah came down in the cloud and spoke to him. He took some of the spirit he had given to Moses and gave it to the seventy elders. When the Spirit came on them, they began to shout like prophets, but not for long. Two of the seventy elders, Eldad and Medad, stayed in the camp and did not go out to the tent. There in the camp the Spirit came on them, and they too began to shout like prophets. A young man ran out to tell Moses what Eldad and Medad were doing. Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' helper since he was a young man, spoke up and said to Moses: Stop them, sir! Moses asked him: Do you think you need to stand up for me? I wish all Jehovah's people were prophets and that Jehovah would put his Spirit on them! Then Moses and the elders of Israel went back to the camp. Jehovah sent a wind from the sea that brought quails and dropped them all around the camp. There were quails on the ground about three feet deep as far as you could walk in a day in any direction. All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered the quails. No one gathered less than sixty bushels. Then they spread the quails out all around the camp. While the meat was still in their mouths, before they had even had a chance to chew it, Jehovah became angry with the people and struck them with a severe plague. That place was called Kibroth Hattaavah (Graves of Those Who Craved Meat) because they buried the people who had a strong craving for meat there. From Kibroth Hattaavah the people moved to Hazeroth, where they stayed.

They moved from Mount Hor following the road that goes to the Red Sea. That way they could go around Edom. The people became impatient on the trip and criticized God and Moses. They said: Why did you make us leave Egypt only to let us die in the desert? There is no bread or water, and we cannot stand this awful food! Jehovah sent poisonous snakes among the people. They bit the people, and many of the Israelites died.read more.
The people came to Moses and said: We sinned when we criticized Jehovah and you. Pray to Jehovah so that he will take the snakes away from us. So Moses prayed for the people.