Deuteronomy 31:27

31:27 for I know about your rebellion and stubbornness. Indeed, even while I have been living among you to this very day, you have rebelled against the Lord; you will be even more rebellious after my death!

Deuteronomy 32:5-6

32:5 His people have been unfaithful to him;

they have not acted like his children – this is their sin.

They are a perverse and deceitful generation.

32:6 Is this how you repay the Lord,

you foolish, unwise people?

Is he not your father, your creator?

He has made you and established you.

Exodus 14:11

14:11 and they said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the desert? What in the world have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?

Exodus 16:2

16:2 The entire company of Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron in the desert.

Exodus 17:2

17:2 So the people contended with Moses, and they said, “Give us water to drink!” Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you test the Lord?”

Numbers 11:4

Complaints about Food

11:4 Now the mixed multitude who were among them craved more desirable foods, and so the Israelites wept again and said, “If only we had meat to eat!

Numbers 14:1-10

The Israelites Respond in Unbelief

14:1 Then all the community raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 14:2 And all the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had perished in this wilderness! 14:3 Why has the Lord brought us into this land only to be killed by the sword, that our wives and our children should become plunder? Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?” 14:4 So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”

14:5 Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground before the whole assembled community of the Israelites. 14:6 And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of those who had investigated the land, tore their garments. 14:7 They said to the whole community of the Israelites, “The land we passed through to investigate is an exceedingly good land. 14:8 If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it to us – a land that is flowing with milk and honey. 14:9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection has turned aside from them, but the Lord is with us. Do not fear them!”

14:10 However, the whole community threatened to stone them. But the glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting.

Numbers 16:1-35

The Rebellion of Korah

16:1 Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, who were Reubenites, took men 16:2 and rebelled against Moses, along with some of the Israelites, 250 leaders of the community, chosen from the assembly, famous men. 16:3 And they assembled against Moses and Aaron, saying to them, “You take too much upon yourselves, seeing that the whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the community of the Lord?”

16:4 When Moses heard it he fell down with his face to the ground. 16:5 Then he said to Korah and to all his company, “In the morning the Lord will make known who are his, and who is holy. He will cause that person to approach him; the person he has chosen he will cause to approach him. 16:6 Do this, Korah, you and all your company: Take censers, 16:7 put fire in them, and set incense on them before the Lord tomorrow, and the man whom the Lord chooses will be holy. You take too much upon yourselves, you sons of Levi!” 16:8 Moses said to Korah, “Listen now, you sons of Levi! 16:9 Does it seem too small a thing to you that the God of Israel has separated you from the community of Israel to bring you near to himself, to perform the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the community to minister to them? 16:10 He has brought you near and all your brothers, the sons of Levi, with you. Do you now seek the priesthood also? 16:11 Therefore you and all your company have assembled together against the Lord! And Aaron – what is he that you murmur against him?” 16:12 Then Moses summoned Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come up. 16:13 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of the land that flows with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness? Now do you want to make yourself a prince over us? 16:14 Moreover, you have not brought us into a land that flows with milk and honey, nor given us an inheritance of fields and vineyards. Do you think you can blind these men? We will not come up.”

16:15 Moses was very angry, and he said to the Lord, “Have no respect for their offering! I have not taken so much as one donkey from them, nor have I harmed any one of them!”

16:16 Then Moses said to Korah, “You and all your company present yourselves before the Lord – you and they, and Aaron – tomorrow. 16:17 And each of you take his censer, put incense in it, and then each of you present his censer before the Lord: 250 censers, along with you, and Aaron – each of you with his censer.” 16:18 So everyone took his censer, put fire in it, and set incense on it, and stood at the entrance of the tent of meeting, with Moses and Aaron. 16:19 When Korah assembled the whole community against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting, then the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole community.

The Judgment on the Rebels

16:20 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: 16:21 “Separate yourselves from among this community, that I may consume them in an instant.” 16:22 Then they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all people, will you be angry with the whole community when only one man sins?”

16:23 So the Lord spoke to Moses: 16:24 “Tell the community: ‘Get away from around the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.’” 16:25 Then Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel went after him. 16:26 And he said to the community, “Move away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything they have, lest you be destroyed because of all their sins.” 16:27 So they got away from the homes of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram on every side, and Dathan and Abiram came out and stationed themselves in the entrances of their tents with their wives, their children, and their toddlers. 16:28 Then Moses said, “This is how you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. 16:29 If these men die a natural death, or if they share the fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. 16:30 But if the Lord does something entirely new, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up along with all that they have, and they go down alive to the grave, then you will know that these men have despised the Lord!”

16:31 When he had finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open, 16:32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, along with their households, and all Korah’s men, and all their goods. 16:33 They and all that they had went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed over them. So they perished from among the community. 16:34 All the Israelites who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “What if the earth swallows us too?” 16:35 Then a fire went out from the Lord and devoured the 250 men who offered incense.

Numbers 20:2-5

20:2 And there was no water for the community, and so they gathered themselves together against Moses and Aaron. 20:3 The people contended with Moses, saying, “If only we had died when our brothers died before the Lord! 20:4 Why have you brought up the Lord’s community into this wilderness? So that we and our cattle should die here? 20:5 Why have you brought us up from Egypt only to bring us to this dreadful place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink!”

Numbers 21:5

21:5 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 or water, and we detest this worthless food.”

Numbers 25:2

25:2 These women invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods.

Nehemiah 9:16-18

9:16 “But they – our ancestors – behaved presumptuously; they rebelled and did not obey your commandments. 9:17 They refused to obey and did not recall your miracles that you had performed among them. Instead, they rebelled and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt. But you are a God of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and unfailing in your loyal love. You did not abandon them, 9:18 even when they made a cast image of a calf for themselves and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up from Egypt,’ or when they committed atrocious blasphemies.

Psalms 78:8-72

78:8 Then they will not be like their ancestors,

who were a stubborn and rebellious generation,

a generation that was not committed

and faithful to God.

78:9 The Ephraimites were armed with bows,

but they retreated in the day of battle.

78:10 They did not keep their covenant with God,

and they refused to obey his law.

78:11 They forgot what he had done,

the amazing things he had shown them.

78:12 He did amazing things in the sight of their ancestors,

in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.

78:13 He divided the sea and led them across it;

he made the water stand in a heap.

78:14 He led them with a cloud by day,

and with the light of a fire all night long.

78:15 He broke open rocks in the wilderness,

and gave them enough water to fill the depths of the sea.

78:16 He caused streams to flow from the rock,

and made the water flow like rivers.

78:17 Yet they continued to sin against him,

and rebelled against the sovereign One in the desert.

78:18 They willfully challenged God

by asking for food to satisfy their appetite.

78:19 They insulted God, saying,

“Is God really able to give us food in the wilderness?

78:20 Yes, he struck a rock and water flowed out,

streams gushed forth.

But can he also give us food?

Will he provide meat for his people?”

78:21 When the Lord heard this, he was furious.

A fire broke out against Jacob,

and his anger flared up against Israel,

78:22 because they did not have faith in God,

and did not trust his ability to deliver them.

78:23 He gave a command to the clouds above,

and opened the doors in the sky.

78:24 He rained down manna for them to eat;

he gave them the grain of heaven.

78:25 Man ate the food of the mighty ones.

He sent them more than enough to eat.

78:26 He brought the east wind through the sky,

and by his strength led forth the south wind.

78:27 He rained down meat on them like dust,

birds as numerous as the sand on the seashores.

78:28 He caused them to fall right in the middle of their camp,

all around their homes.

78:29 They ate until they were stuffed;

he gave them what they desired.

78:30 They were not yet filled up,

their food was still in their mouths,

78:31 when the anger of God flared up against them.

He killed some of the strongest of them;

he brought the young men of Israel to their knees.

78:32 Despite all this, they continued to sin,

and did not trust him to do amazing things.

78:33 So he caused them to die unsatisfied

and filled with terror.

78:34 When he struck them down, they sought his favor;

they turned back and longed for God.

78:35 They remembered that God was their protector,

and that the sovereign God was their deliverer.

78:36 But they deceived him with their words,

and lied to him.

78:37 They were not really committed to him,

and they were unfaithful to his covenant.

78:38 Yet he is compassionate.

He forgives sin and does not destroy.

He often holds back his anger,

and does not stir up his fury.

78:39 He remembered that they were made of flesh,

and were like a wind that blows past and does not return.

78:40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness,

and insulted him in the desert!

78:41 They again challenged God,

and offended the Holy One of Israel.

78:42 They did not remember what he had done,

how he delivered them from the enemy,

78:43 when he performed his awesome deeds in Egypt,

and his acts of judgment in the region of Zoan.

78:44 He turned their rivers into blood,

and they could not drink from their streams.

78:45 He sent swarms of biting insects against them,

as well as frogs that overran their land.

78:46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,

the fruit of their labor to the locust.

78:47 He destroyed their vines with hail,

and their sycamore-fig trees with driving rain.

78:48 He rained hail down on their cattle,

and hurled lightning bolts down on their livestock.

78:49 His raging anger lashed out against them,

He sent fury, rage, and trouble

as messengers who bring disaster.

78:50 He sent his anger in full force;

he did not spare them from death;

he handed their lives over to destruction.

78:51 He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt,

the firstfruits of their reproductive power in the tents of Ham.

78:52 Yet he brought out his people like sheep;

he led them through the wilderness like a flock.

78:53 He guided them safely along,

while the sea covered their enemies.

78:54 He brought them to the border of his holy land,

to this mountainous land which his right hand acquired.

78:55 He drove the nations out from before them;

he assigned them their tribal allotments

and allowed the tribes of Israel to settle down.

78:56 Yet they challenged and defied the sovereign God,

and did not obey his commands.

78:57 They were unfaithful and acted as treacherously as their ancestors;

they were as unreliable as a malfunctioning bow.

78:58 They made him angry with their pagan shrines,

and made him jealous with their idols.

78:59 God heard and was angry;

he completely rejected Israel.

78:60 He abandoned the sanctuary at Shiloh,

the tent where he lived among men.

78:61 He allowed the symbol of his strong presence to be captured;

he gave the symbol of his splendor into the hand of the enemy.

78:62 He delivered his people over to the sword,

and was angry with his chosen nation.

78:63 Fire consumed their young men,

and their virgins remained unmarried.

78:64 Their priests fell by the sword,

but their widows did not weep.

78:65 But then the Lord awoke from his sleep;

he was like a warrior in a drunken rage.

78:66 He drove his enemies back;

he made them a permanent target for insults.

78:67 He rejected the tent of Joseph;

he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.

78:68 He chose the tribe of Judah,

and Mount Zion, which he loves.

78:69 He made his sanctuary as enduring as the heavens above;

as secure as the earth, which he established permanently.

78:70 He chose David, his servant,

and took him from the sheepfolds.

78:71 He took him away from following the mother sheep,

and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,

and of Israel, his chosen nation.

78:72 David cared for them with pure motives;

he led them with skill.

Psalms 95:8-11

95:8 He says, “Do not be stubborn like they were at Meribah,

like they were that day at Massah in the wilderness,

95:9 where your ancestors challenged my authority,

and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.

95:10 For forty years I was continually disgusted with that generation,

and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray;

they do not obey my commands.’

95:11 So I made a vow in my anger,

‘They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.’”