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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 10:10And I stayed in the mount, according to the first time, forty days and forty nights; and the LORD hearkened unto me at that time also, and the LORD would not destroy thee.
- Exod 32:14And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
- Jas 5:16–17Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
- Ps 99:6Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.
- Exod 33:17And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.
- Exod 32:10–11Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.
- Amos 7:2–3And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
- Neh 1:2–7That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
- Luke 12:4–5And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
- Ps 106:23Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.
- Deut 9:8Also in Horeb ye provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry with you to have destroyed you.
- Amos 7:5–6Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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.