For I was afraid of the anger and wrath that the LORD had directed against you, enough to destroy you. But the LORD listened to me this time as well.
Parallel translations
- WEB For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which Yahweh was angry against you to destroy you. But Yahweh listened to me that time also.
- KJV For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith the LORD was wroth against you to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also.
- NKJV For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the Lord was angry with you, to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me at that time also.
- NASB For I was afraid of the anger and the rage with which the Lord was angry with you so as to destroy you; but the Lord listened to me that time as well.
- NLT I feared that the furious anger of the Lord, which turned him against you, would drive him to destroy you. But again he listened to me.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Moses confesses his dread of God's righteous anger that threatened to destroy Israel, yet the Lord listened to his prayer. It displays both divine justice and mercy.
Overview
God's hot displeasure was the just response to covenant-breaking idolatry, and Moses rightly feared it. Yet the Lord heard Moses' plea and relented from destruction, magnifying His mercy toward an undeserving people. This pattern of just wrath answered by a mediator's prayer anticipates the cross, where wrath and mercy meet in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Deut 10:10I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, like the first time, and that time the LORD again listened to me and agreed not to destroy you.
- Exod 32:14So the LORD relented from the calamity He had threatened to bring on His people.
- Jas 5:16–17Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.
- Ps 99:6Moses and Aaron were among His priests; Samuel was among those who called on His name. They called to the LORD and He answered.
- Exod 33:17So the LORD said to Moses, “I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name.”
- Exod 32:10–11Now leave Me alone, so that My anger may burn against them and consume them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”
- Amos 7:2–3And when the locusts had eaten every green plant in the land, I said, “Lord GOD, please forgive! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?”
- Neh 1:2–7Hanani, one of my brothers, arrived with men from Judah. So I questioned them about the remnant of the Jews who had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
- Luke 12:4–5I tell you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.
- Ps 106:23So He said He would destroy them—had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.
- Deut 9:8At Horeb you provoked the LORD, and He was angry enough to destroy you.
- Amos 7:5–6Then I said, “Lord GOD, please stop! How will Jacob survive, since he is so small?”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 9:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.