And the LORD said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them?
- BSB And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people treat Me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed among them?
- ESV And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?
- NKJV Then the Lord said to Moses: “How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them?
- NASB And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people be disrespectful to Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs that I have performed in their midst?
- NLT And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them?
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
God asked Moses how long the people would despise Him and refuse to believe despite His many signs. Their unbelief, not mere weakness, was the heart of their sin.
Overview
The LORD identified the rebellion as contempt and persistent unbelief in the face of overwhelming evidence of His power. After the plagues, the Red Sea, and daily provision, their failure to trust was inexcusable. Scripture treats unbelief as a grave sin, for it calls the faithful God a liar.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 24
- Ps 78:32For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.
- Ps 106:24Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word:
- Ps 78:22Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:
- Deut 9:22–23And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibrothhattaavah, ye provoked the LORD to wrath.
- Ps 78:41–42Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
- Deut 1:32Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God,
- Heb 3:8Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
- Num 14:27How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.
- John 12:37But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:
- Num 14:23Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:
- Deut 9:7–8Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the LORD thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been rebellious against the LORD.
- Heb 3:18And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
- Heb 3:16For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
- Exod 16:28And the LORD said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
- John 15:24If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
- Jer 4:14O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
- Matt 17:17Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
- Hos 8:5Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off; mine anger is kindled against them: how long will it be ere they attain to innocency?
- Zech 8:14For thus saith the LORD of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I repented not:
- Exod 10:3And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? let my people go, that they may serve me.
- John 10:38But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
- Ps 95:8Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
- Mark 9:19He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
- Prov 1:22How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 14:11 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.