Psalm 85:5

Modern

Will You be angry with us forever? Will You draw out Your anger to all generations?

Traditional

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

Literal

Will You be angry with us forever? Will You draw out Your anger to generation and generation?

Latin

Numquid in æternum irasceris nobis? aut extendes iram tuam a generatione in generationem?

Hebrew

English

Will You be angry with us forever? Will You draw out Your anger to all generations?

Though the psalmist gratefully acknowledges God’s goodness, he also asks God whether his wrath will last forever.

The psalmist leads the community that returned from exile in a lament and a prayer for complete restoration:

God answers with a message of peace (Psalm 85:8–9). The psalm ends with a poetic description of the greatness of God’s salvation (85:10–13).

Theme notes and profiles

Psalm 79:5
How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire?
Psalm 80:4
O LORD God of Hosts, how long will Your anger smolder against the prayers of Your people?
Isaiah 64:9–12
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!
Psalm 74:1
A Maskil of Asaph. Why have You rejected us forever, O God? Why does Your anger smolder against the sheep of Your pasture?
Psalm 77:9
Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has His anger shut off His compassion?” Selah
Revelation 18:21–23
Then a mighty angel picked up a stone the size of a great millstone and cast it into the sea, saying: “With such violence the great city of Babylon will be cast down, never to be seen again.
Micah 7:18
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
Psalm 89:46
How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever? Will Your wrath keep burning like fire?
Luke 21:24
They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive into all the nations. And Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.