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What the Bible Says About Ingratitude to God

Overview

The Bible addresses ingratitude to god across 52 verses, drawn from the Old Testament. These passages cluster most in Ezekiel, Nehemiah and Jeremiah. Closely related themes include God, Prophets, Idolatry and Ingratitude. Figures whose stories touch this theme include Samuel, David, Saul and Nathan.

Key Bible verses about ingratitude to god

Old Testament

Nehemiah

Nehemiah 9:20

Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.

Nehemiah 9:21

Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.

Nehemiah 9:22

Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

Nehemiah 9:23

Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.

Nehemiah 9:24

So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would. as they: Heb. according to their will

Nehemiah 9:25

And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness. wells: or, cisterns fruit: Heb. tree of food

Nehemiah 9:26

Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.

Nehemiah 9:27

Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.

Isaiah

Isaiah 5:1

Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: a very: Heb. the horn of the son of oil

Isaiah 5:2

And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. fenced: or, made a wall about made: Heb. hewed

Isaiah 5:3

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

Isaiah 5:4

What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

Isaiah 5:5

And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: trodden: Heb. for a treading

Isaiah 5:6

And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

Isaiah 5:7

For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry. his: Heb. plant of his pleasures oppression: Heb. a scab

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 2:11

Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

Jeremiah 2:12

Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 2:13

For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Jeremiah 5:7

How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses.

Jeremiah 5:8

They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife.

Jeremiah 5:9

Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Jeremiah 5:10

Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD'S.

Jeremiah 5:11

For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 16:1

Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Ezekiel 16:2

Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,

Ezekiel 16:3

And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. birth: Heb. cutting out, or, habitation

Ezekiel 16:4

And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. to supple: or, when I looked upon thee

Ezekiel 16:5

None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.

Ezekiel 16:6

And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. polluted: or, trodden under foot

Ezekiel 16:7

I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. caused: Heb. made thee a million excellent: Heb. ornament of ornaments

Ezekiel 16:8

Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.

Ezekiel 16:9

Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. blood: Heb. bloods

Ezekiel 16:10

I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.

Ezekiel 16:11

I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.

Ezekiel 16:12

And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head. forehead: Heb. nose

Ezekiel 16:13

Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.

Ezekiel 16:14

And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 16:15

But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

Daniel

Daniel 5:18

O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour:

Daniel 5:19

And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.

Daniel 5:20

But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: in pride: or, to deal proudly deposed: Cald. made to come down

Daniel 5:21

And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. his heart: or, he made his heart equal, etc

People in the Bible and ingratitude to god

Biblical figures whose stories intersect with this theme.

In the Bible dictionary

Studying ingratitude to god for yourself

  • Begin with Deuteronomy 8:11, then read the passages below in canonical order.
  • Compare how Ezekiel, Nehemiah and Jeremiah each treat the theme.
  • Consider the lives of Samuel, David and Saul and how their stories intersect with it.
  • Widen the study to related themes: God, Prophets, Idolatry and Ingratitude.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Bible say about ingratitude to god?

The Bible addresses ingratitude to god across 52 verses, drawn from the Old Testament. These passages cluster most in Ezekiel, Nehemiah and Jeremiah. Closely related themes include God, Prophets, Idolatry and Ingratitude. Figures whose stories touch this theme include Samuel, David, Saul and Nathan.

How many Bible verses are about ingratitude to god?

The Bible references ingratitude to god in 52 verses (King James Version).

Where does the Bible first mention ingratitude to god?

In canonical order, the first of these passages is Deuteronomy 8:11: “Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:”

Which people in the Bible are associated with ingratitude to god?

Samuel, David, Saul, Nathan and Sihon.

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