Scripture Folios
Slow to Anger
Numbers 14:17–19 “So now I pray, may the power of my Lord be magnified, just as You have declared: ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’ Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people, in keeping with the greatness of Your loving devotion, just as You have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.” Chapter Related Nehemiah 9:17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them. Chapter Related Psalm 103:8–10 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. He will not always accuse us, nor harbor His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins or repaid us according to our iniquities. Chapter Related Jonah 4:1–2 Jonah, however, was greatly displeased, and he became angry. So he prayed to the Lord , saying, “O Lord , is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.” Chapter Related Jonah 4:10–11 But the Lord said, “You cared about the plant, which you neither tended nor made grow. It sprang up in a night and perished in a night. So should I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well?” Chapter Related Nahum 1:3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power; the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet. Chapter Related
He Is Patient with You
Hosea 11:8–9 How could I give you up, O Ephraim? How could I surrender you, O Israel? How could I make you like Admah? How could I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within Me; My compassion is stirred! I will not execute the full fury of My anger; I will not destroy Ephraim again. For I am God and not man—the Holy One among you—and I will not come in wrath. Chapter Related Isaiah 30:18 Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the Lord is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him. Chapter Related Ezekiel 33:11 Say to them: ‘As surely as I live, declares the Lord God , I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked should turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’ Chapter Related Luke 13:6–9 Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘Look, for the past three years I have come to search for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Therefore cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone again this year, until I dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine. But if not, you can cut it down.’” Chapter Related Romans 2:4 Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? Chapter Related 1 Timothy 1:15–16 This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. But for this very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His perfect patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life. Chapter Related 2 Peter 3:8–9 Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. Chapter Related
Have Patience with Me
Matthew 18:26–27 Then the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Have patience with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ His master had compassion on him, forgave his debt, and released him. Chapter Related Matthew 18:28–30 But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ So his fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he went and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay his debt. Chapter Related Matthew 18:32–33 Then the master summoned him and said, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave all your debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?’ Chapter Related Colossians 3:12–13 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with one another and forgive any complaint you may have against someone else. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Chapter Related 1 Thessalonians 5:14 And we urge you, brothers, to admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with everyone. Chapter Related 2 Timothy 2:24–25 And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing. He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth. Chapter Related
Better Than a Warrior
Proverbs 16:32 He who is slow to anger is better than a warrior, and he who controls his temper is greater than one who captures a city. Chapter Related Proverbs 19:11 A man’s insight gives him patience, and his virtue is to overlook an offense. Chapter Related Ecclesiastes 7:8–9 The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one. Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger settles in the lap of a fool. Chapter Related James 1:19–20 My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness that God desires. Chapter Related
Wait Patiently for Him
Psalm 37:7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret when men prosper in their ways, when they carry out wicked schemes. Chapter Related Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord ; He inclined to me and heard my cry. Chapter Related Lamentations 3:25–26 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord . Chapter Related Habakkuk 2:3 For the vision awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and will not delay. Chapter Related Hebrews 6:15 And so Abraham, after waiting patiently, obtained the promise. Chapter Related James 5:7–8 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains. You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near. Chapter Related James 5:10–11 Brothers, as an example of patience in affliction, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. See how blessed we consider those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. Chapter Related
When Israel refuses to go into the land, Moses pleads for them with God’s own words: “The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion.” The words keep coming back, in Nehemiah’s confession, in the Psalms, and from Jonah as a complaint. He ran for Tarshish because he knew God would spare Nineveh. Slow to anger is not weak. The Lord is “slow to anger and great in power,” and he holds back because he wants something. “How could I give you up?” he asks Ephraim. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, and the fig tree gets one more year. His kindness leads to repentance. Peter says he is not slow as some understand slowness, but patient, “not wanting anyone to perish.” Paul calls himself the worst of sinners, shown mercy so that Christ could display his perfect patience in him. The servant who begged “Have patience with me” was forgiven everything, then refused the same plea from a man who owed him far less. The patience we are shown is owed to others: forgive as the Lord forgave you. Proverbs calls it strength, better than a warrior. It also waits, the way a farmer waits for the rains, and those who waited found what Job found: “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”