18 Bible Verses about Cynicism

Most Relevant Verses

Exodus 14:11-12

Then they said to Moses, “Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

Exodus 16:3

The sons of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Numbers 20:3

The people thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the Lord!

1 Kings 19:2-4

Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.”

Job 3:1-4

Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job said, “Let the day perish on which I was to be born,
And the night which said, ‘A boy is conceived.’
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“May that day be darkness;
Let not God above care for it,
Nor light shine on it.

Job 3:20-21

“Why is light given to him who suffers,
And life to the bitter of soul,
Who long for death, but there is none,
And dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

Job 7:14-16

Then You frighten me with dreams
And terrify me by visions;
So that my soul would choose suffocation,
Death rather than my pains.
“I waste away; I will not live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.

Job 10:18-19

‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb?
Would that I had died and no eye had seen me!
‘I should have been as though I had not been,
Carried from womb to tomb.’

Jeremiah 15:10

Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me
As a man of strife and a man of contention to all the land!
I have not lent, nor have men lent money to me,
Yet everyone curses me.

Jeremiah 20:14-18

Cursed be the day when I was born;
Let the day not be blessed when my mother bore me!
Cursed be the man who brought the news
To my father, saying,
“A baby boy has been born to you!”
And made him very happy.
But let that man be like the cities
Which the Lord overthrew without relenting,
And let him hear an outcry in the morning
And a shout of alarm at noon;
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Because he did not kill me before birth,
So that my mother would have been my grave,
And her womb ever pregnant.
Why did I ever come forth from the womb
To look on trouble and sorrow,
So that my days have been spent in shame?

Jonah 4:8

When the sun came up God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying, “Death is better to me than life.”

1 Corinthians 15:32

If from human motives I fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

Job 18:12

“His strength is famished,
And calamity is ready at his side.

Job 32:6-9

So Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite spoke out and said,
“I am young in years and you are old;
Therefore I was shy and afraid to tell you what I think.
“I thought age should speak,
And increased years should teach wisdom.
“But it is a spirit in man,
And the breath of the Almighty gives them understanding.
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“The abundant in years may not be wise,
Nor may elders understand justice.

Proverbs 26:1-11

Like snow in summer and like rain in harvest,
So honor is not fitting for a fool.
Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying,
So a curse without cause does not alight.
A whip is for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
And a rod for the back of fools.
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Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
Or you will also be like him.
Answer a fool as his folly deserves,
That he not be wise in his own eyes.
He cuts off his own feet and drinks violence
Who sends a message by the hand of a fool.
Like the legs which are useless to the lame,
So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
Like one who binds a stone in a sling,
So is he who gives honor to a fool.
Like a thorn which falls into the hand of a drunkard,
So is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
Like an archer who wounds everyone,
So is he who hires a fool or who hires those who pass by.
Like a dog that returns to its vomit
Is a fool who repeats his folly.

Ecclesiastes 9:1-2

For I have taken all this to my heart and explain it that righteous men, wise men, and their deeds are in the hand of God. Man does not know whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits him. It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear.

Luke 20:20-26

So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, in order that they might catch Him in some statement, so that they could deliver Him to the rule and the authority of the governor. They questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”read more.
But He detected their trickery and said to them, “Show Me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” And He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were unable to catch Him in a saying in the presence of the people; and being amazed at His answer, they became silent.

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