18 Bible Verses about Cynicism

Then said they unto Moses, Was it because there were no graves in Egypt, that thou didst fetch us to die in the desert? What is this thou hast done to us, bringing us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word which we spake unto thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians, - for it is better for us, to serve the Egyptians, than to die in the desert?

and the sons of Israel said unto them - Oh that we had died by the hand of Yahweh, in the land of Egypt, when we remained by the pot of flesh, when we did eat bread to the full, - for ye have brought us forth into this desert, to cause all this multitude to die by famine.

And the people contended with Moses, - and spake saying, Would then we had died a when our brethren died, before Yahweh!

Then sent Jezebel a messenger unto Elijah, saying, - So, let the gods do, and, so, let them add, if, by this time to-morrow, I make not thy life as the life of one of them. And, when he saw that , he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, - and left his servant there. But, he himself, went into the wilderness a day's journey, and came and sat down under a certain shrub, - and asked for his life, that he might die, and said - Enough, now, O Yahweh! take away my life, for, no better, am, I, than, my fathers.

After this, opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. So then Job began, and said: Perish, the day wherein I was born, and the night it was said, Lo! a manchild!read more.
That day, be it darkness, - Let not God enquire after it from above, May there shine upon it no clear beam:

Wherefore give, to the wretched, light? Or, life, to the embittered in soul? - Who long for death, and it is not, And have digged for it, beyond hid treasures:

Then thou scarest me with dreams, and, by visions, dost thou terrify me: So that my soul chooseth strangling, Death, rather than these my bones! I am wasted away, Not, to times age-abiding, can I live, Let me alone, for, a breath, are my days.

Wherefore then, from the womb, didst thou bring me forth? I might have breathed my last, and, no eye, have seen me. As though I had not been, should I have become, - from the womb to the grave, might I have been borne.

Woe to me! my mother, That thou didst bear me, A man of litigation and a man of contention to all the land, - I have not lent on interest Nor have they lent on interest to me, Every one, hath treated me with contempt.

Accursed, be the day on which I was born, - The day when my mother bare me, let it not be blessed! Accursed, be the man who carried tidings to my father saying, There is born to thee a man-child! Making him very glad: Yea let that man be - as the cities which Yahweh overthrew and repented not, - And let him hear An outcry in the morning, and A war-shout at broad noon!read more.
Because I was not slain from the womb, - Nor did my mother become my grave, Nor was her womb great for ever! Wherefore was it - That from the womb, I came forth, to see labour and pain; and That in shame should my days be consumed!

Now, therefore, O Yahweh, take, I pray thee, my life from me, - for it were better for me, to die, than, to live.

And it came to pass, at the breaking forth of the sun, that God appointed a sultry east wind, and the sun smote upon the head of Jonah, that he became faint, - and asked his life, that he might die, and said, It were better for me, to die, than, to live.

If, after the manner of men, I have fought with wild-beasts at Ephesus, what, to me, the profit? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for, tomorrow, we die.

Let his strength be famished, and, calamity, be ready at his side;

So then Elihu, son of Barachel, the Buzite, responded and said: - Young, am I, whereas, ye, are aged, For this cause, I faltered, and feared - to shew my knowledge unto you: I said, Days, should speak, - and, the multitude of years, should make known wisdom. Yet surely, there is a spirit in men, and, the inspiration of the Almighty, giveth them understanding;read more.
Great men, may not be wise, nor, elders, understand justice.

As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so, unbecoming to a dullard is honour. As a sparrow in wandering, as a swallow in flying, so, a causeless curse, shall not alight. A whip for the horse, a bridle a for the ass, and a rod for the back of dullards.read more.
Do not answer a dullard, according to his folly, lest, even thou thyself, become like him; Answer a dullard according to his folly, lest he become wise in his own eyes. One who cutteth off feet, one who drinketh down wrong, is he who sendeth a message by the hand of a dullard. Useless are the legs of the lame, and a proverb, in the mouth of a dullard. Like tying a stone to a sling, so, is he that giveth honour, to a dullard. A brier cometh into the hand of a drunken-man, a proverb into the mouth of dullards. As an archer who woundeth every thing, so one who hireth a dullard, and a drunkard crossing the sea. As, a dog, returneth onto his own vomit, a dullard, repeateth his folly.

For, unto all this, I applied my heart, and, my heart, considered all this, that, the righteous and the wise and their servants, were in the hand of God, - neither love nor hatred, could any man know, every one, was before Him. Every one, was like every one else, one destiny, had the righteous and the lawless, the good and the pure and the impure, and he that sacrificed, and he that did not sacrifice, - as the good man, so, the sinner, he that took an oath, as he who, of an oath, stood in fear.

And, watching narrowly, they sent forth suborned men, feigning themselves to be, righteous, that they might lay hold of a word of his, so as to deliver him up unto the rule and the authority of the governor. And they questioned him, saying - Teacher! we know that, rightly, thou speakest and teachest, and respectest no person, but, in truth, the way of God, dost teach: Is it allowable for us to give, unto Caesar, tribute, or not?read more.
But, observing their villainy, he said unto them - Shew me a denary. Of whom, hath it an image and inscription? And, they, said - Of Caesar. And, he, said unto them - Well then! render the things of Caesar, unto Caesar, and the things of God, unto God. And they could not lay hold of the saying, before the people; and, marvelling at his answer, they held their peace.