Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?
Parallel translations
- WEB You have wearied Yahweh with your words. Yet you say, ‘How have we wearied him?’ In that you say, ‘Everyone who does evil is good in Yahweh’s sight, and he delights in them;’ or ‘Where is the God of justice?’
- BSB You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD, and in them He delights,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”
- NKJV You have wearied the Lord with your words; Yet you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil Is good in the sight of the Lord, And He delights in them,” Or, “Where is the God of justice?”
- NASB You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, “How have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delights in them,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”
- NLT You have wearied the Lord with your words. “How have we wearied him?” you ask. You have wearied him by saying that all who do evil are good in the Lord’s sight, and he is pleased with them. You have wearied him by asking, “Where is the God of justice?”
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
The people weary God by claiming that evildoers please Him and by cynically questioning where the God of justice is.
Overview
Their words betray a skepticism that calls evil good and doubts God's justice, wearying Him with such complaints. This cynicism sets up the answer of chapter 3, where God promises His messenger and a coming day of judgment and purification. The verse reminds us that God's justice, though sometimes delayed in our eyes, is certain, and finds its decisive answer at the cross and the return of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 27
- Isa 43:24Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.
- 2 Pet 3:3–4Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
- Isa 5:18–20Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:
- Eccl 8:11Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
- Zeph 1:12And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.
- Isa 30:18And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
- Amos 2:13Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.
- 1 Sam 2:3Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
- Isa 1:14Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
- Isa 7:13And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?
- Job 34:17Shall even he that hateth right govern? and wilt thou condemn him that is most just?
- Job 36:17But thou hast fulfilled the judgment of the wicked: judgment and justice take hold on thee.
- Jer 15:6Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.
- Ezek 8:12Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.
- Ezek 16:43Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.
- Mal 1:6–7A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
- Ps 95:9–10When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
- Ps 73:3–15For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
- Matt 11:18–19For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.
- Job 34:36My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end because of his answers for wicked men.
- Mal 3:8Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
- Mal 2:14Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
- Mal 3:13–15Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?
- Ezek 9:9Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.
- Ps 10:11–13He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.
- Job 34:5–9For Job hath said, I am righteous: and God hath taken away my judgment.
- Deut 32:4He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
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The messenger who prepares the way, the sun of righteousness rising with healing, and the Lord suddenly coming to his temple set the stage for the gospel that opens with John and Jesus.
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Original language
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