Psalm 79:5
New International Version
How long, LORD? Will you be angry forever? How long will your jealousy burn like fire?

New Living Translation
O LORD, how long will you be angry with us? Forever? How long will your jealousy burn like fire?

English Standard Version
How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?

Berean Standard Bible
How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire?

King James Bible
How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?

New King James Version
How long, LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire?

New American Standard Bible
How long, LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire?

NASB 1995
How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire?

NASB 1977
How long, O LORD? Wilt Thou be angry forever? Will Thy jealousy burn like fire?

Legacy Standard Bible
How long, O Yahweh? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire?

Amplified Bible
How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy [which cannot endure a divided allegiance] burn like fire?

Christian Standard Bible
How long, LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy keep burning like fire?

Holman Christian Standard Bible
How long, Yahweh? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy keep burning like fire?

American Standard Version
How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou be angry for ever? Shall thy jealousy burn like fire?

Contemporary English Version
Our LORD, will you keep on being angry? Will your angry feelings keep flaming up like fire?

English Revised Version
How long, O LORD, wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?

GOD'S WORD® Translation
How long, O LORD? Will you remain angry forever? Will your fury continue to burn like fire?

Good News Translation
LORD, will you be angry with us forever? Will your anger continue to burn like fire?

International Standard Version
How long, LORD, will you be angry? Forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?

Majority Standard Bible
How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire?

NET Bible
How long will this go on, O LORD? Will you stay angry forever? How long will your rage burn like fire?

New Heart English Bible
How long, LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?

Webster's Bible Translation
How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?

World English Bible
How long, Yahweh? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire?
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Until when, O YHWH? Are You angry forever? Your jealousy burns as fire.

Young's Literal Translation
Till when, O Jehovah? art Thou angry for ever? Thy jealousy doth burn as fire.

Smith's Literal Translation
How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou be angry forever? shall thy jealousy burn as fire?
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
How long, O Lord, wilt thou be angry for ever: shall thy zeal be kindled like a fire?

Catholic Public Domain Version
How long, O Lord? Will you be angry until the end? Will your zeal be kindled like a fire?

New American Bible
How long, LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealous anger keep burning like fire?

New Revised Standard Version
How long, O LORD? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealous wrath burn like fire?
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
How long, O LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy anger burn like fire?

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
How long will you be angry, LORD JEHOVAH; forever? Your wrath burns like fire!
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
How long, O LORD, wilt Thou be angry for ever? How long will Thy jealousy burn like fire?

Brenton Septuagint Translation
How long, O Lord? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
A Prayer for Deliverance
4We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those around us. 5How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire? 6Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, on the kingdoms that refuse to call on Your name,…

Cross References
Jeremiah 12:4
How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, “He cannot see what our end will be.”

Habakkuk 1:2
How long, O LORD, must I call for help but You do not hear, or cry out to You, “Violence!” but You do not save?

Lamentations 5:20-22
Why have You forgotten us forever? Why have You forsaken us for so long? / Restore us to Yourself, O LORD, so we may return; renew our days as of old, / unless You have utterly rejected us and remain angry with us beyond measure.

Isaiah 64:9
Do not be angry, O LORD, beyond measure; do not remember our iniquity forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray; we are all Your people!

Deuteronomy 32:36
For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.

2 Kings 19:3
to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.

Jeremiah 15:6
You have forsaken Me, declares the LORD. You have turned your back. So I will stretch out My hand against you and I will destroy you; I am weary of showing compassion.

Isaiah 57:16
For I will not accuse you forever, nor will I always be angry; for then the spirit of man would grow weak before Me—the breath of life I have made.

Exodus 32:12
Why should the Egyptians declare, ‘He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce anger and relent from doing harm to Your people.

Numbers 14:18
‘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.’

Revelation 6:10
And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge those who dwell upon the earth and avenge our blood?”

Romans 2:4-5
Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? / But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

2 Peter 3:9
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.

Matthew 24:22
If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.

Luke 18:7
Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He delay in helping them?


Treasury of Scripture

How long, LORD? will you be angry for ever? shall your jealousy burn like fire?

how long

Psalm 13:1,2
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? …

Psalm 74:1,9,10
Maschil of Asaph. O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? …

Psalm 80:4
O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?

wilt

Psalm 85:5
Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?

Psalm 103:9
He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.

Isaiah 64:9
Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.

jealousy

Deuteronomy 29:20
The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.

Deuteronomy 32:16,22
They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger…

Ezekiel 36:5
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.

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Psalm 79
1. The psalmist complains of the desolation of Jerusalem
8. He prays for deliverance
13. and promises thankfulness














How long, O LORD?
This phrase captures a cry of desperation and longing for divine intervention. The Hebrew word for "how long" is "עַד־מָתַי" (ad-matay), which conveys a sense of enduring suffering and waiting for relief. This expression is common in the Psalms, reflecting the human experience of waiting on God's timing. It underscores the psalmist's deep yearning for God's presence and action in the midst of distress. Historically, this plea resonates with the Israelites' experiences of exile and oppression, reminding us of the importance of patience and trust in God's perfect timing.

Will You be angry forever?
The Hebrew word for "angry" here is "אָנַף" (anaph), which implies a deep, burning anger. The psalmist questions the duration of God's anger, reflecting a concern for the enduring consequences of divine wrath. This phrase suggests a recognition of God's righteous anger against sin and disobedience, yet it also reveals a hope for reconciliation and forgiveness. In the broader biblical narrative, God's anger is always balanced with His mercy, pointing to the eventual restoration and redemption of His people.

Will Your jealousy burn like fire?
The term "jealousy" in Hebrew is "קִנְאָה" (qin'ah), which can be understood as a zealous protection of what is rightfully God's. This is not a petty or insecure jealousy but a passionate commitment to His covenant relationship with His people. The imagery of fire signifies the intensity and consuming nature of God's jealousy. Fire, in biblical terms, often represents purification and judgment. This phrase highlights God's desire for exclusive devotion and the seriousness of idolatry and unfaithfulness. It serves as a reminder of the holiness of God and the call for His people to remain faithful to Him.

(5) How long, Lord?--The dominant cry of the Maccabaean age. (See Psalm 74:9.)

Verse 5. - How long, Lord? i.e. "How long, O Lord, is this condition of things to endure?" (comp. Psalm 6:5; Psalm 90:13; Revelation 6:10). An ellipse after "how long?" is common. Wilt thou be angry forever? (see Psalm 13:1; Psalm 74:12; Lamentations 5:20). Shall thy jealousy burn like fire? It was their worship of other gods that God especially visited on his people by the Babylonish captivity (see Jeremiah, passim).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
How long,
עַד־ (‘aḏ-)
Interrogative
Strong's 5704: As far as, even to, up to, until, while

O LORD?
יְ֭הוָה (Yah·weh)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3068: LORD -- the proper name of the God of Israel

Will You be angry
תֶּאֱנַ֣ף (te·’ĕ·nap̄)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 599: To breathe hard, be enraged

forever?
לָנֶ֑צַח (lā·ne·ṣaḥ)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5331: Eminence, enduring, everlastingness, perpetuity

Will Your jealousy
קִנְאָתֶֽךָ׃ (qin·’ā·ṯe·ḵā)
Noun - feminine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 7068: Ardor, zeal, jealousy

burn
תִּבְעַ֥ר (tiḇ·‘ar)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1197: To kindle, consume, to be, brutish

like
כְּמוֹ־ (kə·mōw-)
Preposition
Strong's 3644: Like, as, when

fire?
אֵ֝֗שׁ (’êš)
Noun - common singular
Strong's 784: A fire


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OT Poetry: Psalm 79:5 How long Yahweh? Will you be angry (Psalm Ps Psa.)
Psalm 79:4
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