18 Bible Verses about Cynicism

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 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!

And the people contended with Moses, and spoke, saying, Would that we had died when our brethren died before Jehovah!

And Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, So do the gods to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to-morrow about this time! And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 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.

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed his day. And Job answered and said, Let the day perish in which I was born, and the night that said, There is a man child conceived.read more.
That day let it be darkness, let not +God care for it from above, neither let light shine upon it:

Wherefore is light given to him that is in trouble, and life to those bitter of soul, Who long for death, and it cometh not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;

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.

And wherefore didst thou bring me forth out of the womb? I had expired, and no eye had seen me. I should be as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.

Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole land! I have not lent on usury, nor have they lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.

Cursed be the day wherein I was born; let not the day wherein my mother bore me be blessed! Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying, A man child is born unto thee; making him very glad! And let that man be as the cities which Jehovah overthrew, and repented not; and let him hear a cry in the morning, and a shouting at noonday,read more.
because he slew me not from the womb. Or would that my mother had been my grave, and her womb always great with me! Wherefore came I forth from the womb to see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed in shame?

And now, Jehovah, take, I beseech thee, my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.

And it came to pass, when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, so that he fainted; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

If, to speak after the manner of man, I have fought with beasts in Ephesus, what is the profit to me if those that are dead do not rise? let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die.

His strength is hunger-bitten, and calamity is ready at his side.

And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, I am young, and ye are aged; wherefore I was timid, and feared to shew you what I know. I said, Let days speak, and multitude of years teach wisdom. But there is a spirit which is in man; and the breath of the Almighty giveth them understanding.read more.
It is not the great that are wise; neither do the aged understand judgment.

As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour beseemeth not a fool. As the sparrow for flitting about, as the swallow for flying, so a curse undeserved shall not come. A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the back of fools.read more.
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off his own feet, and drinketh damage. The legs of the lame hang loose; so is a proverb in the mouth of fools. As a bag of gems in a stoneheap, so is he that giveth honour to a fool. As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a proverb in the mouth of fools. A master roughly worketh every one: he both hireth the fool and hireth passers-by. As a dog turneth back to its vomit, so a fool repeateth his folly.

For all this I laid to my heart and indeed to investigate all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; man knoweth neither love nor hatred: all is before them. All things come alike to all: one event to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good, and to the clean, and to the unclean, to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

And having watched him, they sent out suborned persons, pretending to be just men, that they might take hold of him in his language, so that they might deliver him up to the power and authority of the governor. And they asked him saying, Teacher, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, and acceptest no man's person, but teachest with truth the way of God: Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?read more.
But perceiving their deceit he said to them, Why do ye tempt me? Shew me a denarius. Whose image and superscription has it? And answering they said, Caesar's. And he said to them, Pay therefore what is Caesar's to Caesar, and what is God's to God. And they were not able to take hold of him in his expressions before the people, and, wondering at his answer, they were silent.