¹¹ But Moses sought the favor^(A) of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?^(B)

¹⁸ Then once again I fell^(A) prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I ate no bread and drank no water,^(B) because of all the sin you had committed,^(C) doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and so arousing his anger. ¹⁹ I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord, for he was angry enough with you to destroy you.^(D) But again the Lord listened to me.^{(E) 20} And the Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but at that time I prayed for Aaron too.

²⁶ I prayed to the Lord and said, “Sovereign Lord, do not destroy your people,^(A) your own inheritance^(B) that you redeemed^(C) by your great power and brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand.^{(D) 27} Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Overlook the stubbornness^(E) of this people, their wickedness and their sin. ²⁸ Otherwise, the country^(F) from which you brought us will say, ‘Because the Lord was not able to take them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them,^(G) he brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.’^{(H) 29} But they are your people,^(I) your inheritance^(J) that you brought out by your great power and your outstretched arm.^(K)”

Jeremiah’s Complaint

Psalm 74

A maskil^[a] of Asaph.

²² But Moses and Aaron fell facedown^(A) and cried out, “O God, the God who gives breath to all living things,^(B) will you be angry with the entire assembly^(C) when only one man sins?”^(D)

¹¹ He asked the Lord, “Why have you brought this trouble^(A) on your servant? What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me?^(B)