Lexicon :: Strong's H4970 - māṯay

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so that they may serve Me.

The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve for Saul, when I have rejected him as king over Israel? [fn]Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have chosen a king for Myself among his sons.”

“When I lie down I say,

‘When shall I arise [and the night be gone]?’

But the night continues,

And I am continually tossing until the dawning of day.

My soul [as well as my body] is greatly dismayed.

But as for You, O LORD—how long [until You act on my behalf]?

My enemies speak evil of me, saying,

“When will he die and his name perish?”

My soul (my life, my inner self) thirsts for God, for the living God.

When will I come and see the face of God?

O God, how long will the adversary scoff?

Is the enemy to revile Your name forever?

O LORD God of hosts,

How long will You be angry with the prayers of Your people?

How long will you judge unjustly

And show partiality to the wicked? Selah.

Turn, O LORD [from Your fierce anger]; how long will it be?

Be compassionate toward Your servants—revoke Your sentence.

O LORD, how long will the wicked,

How long will the wicked rejoice in triumph?

Consider thoughtfully, you senseless (stupid ones) among the people;

And you [dull-minded] fools, when will you become wise and understand?

I will behave wisely and follow the way of integrity.

When will You come to me?

I will walk in my house in integrity and with a blameless heart.

My eyes fail [with longing, watching] for [the fulfillment of] Your promise,

Saying, “When will You comfort me?”

How many are the days of Your servant [which he must endure]?

When will You execute judgment on those who persecute me?

“How long, O naive ones [you who are easily misled], will you love being simple-minded and undiscerning?

How long will scoffers [who ridicule and deride] delight in scoffing,

How long will fools [who obstinately mock truth] hate knowledge?

How long will you lie down, O lazy one?

When will you arise from your sleep [and learn self-discipline]?

“They struck me, but I was not hurt!

They beat me, but I did not feel it!

When will I wake up?

I will seek more wine.”

Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered,

“Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant,

And houses are without people

And the land is utterly desolate,

O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness,

That you may be saved.

How long will your wicked and immoral thoughts

Lodge within you?

How long [O LORD] must I see the banner [marking the way for flight]

And hear the sound of the trumpet [urging the people to run for safety]?

How long must the land mourn

And the grass of the countryside wither?

Because of the wickedness and hypocrisy of those who live in it,

The beasts and the birds are consumed and are swept away [by the drought],

Because men [mocking me] have said, “He will not [live long enough to] see [what happens at] our final end.”

“I have seen your vile and detestable acts,

Even your adulteries and your lustful neighings [after idols],

And the lewdness of your prostitution

On the hills in the fields.

Woe (judgment is coming) to you, O Jerusalem!

How long will you remain unclean [by ignoring My precepts]?”

“How long will you hesitate [to return],

O you faithless and renegade daughter?

For the LORD has created a [fn]new thing in the land [of Israel]:

A woman will encompass (tenderly love) a man.”

“Baldness [as a sign of mourning] will come on Gaza;

Ashkelon will be cut off and ruined.

O remnant of their valley,

How long will you gash yourselves [as a sign of mourning]?

He has rejected your [pagan] calf, O Samaria, saying,

“My wrath burns against them.”

How long will they be incapable of innocence?

“When will the New Moon [festival] be over

So that we may sell grain,

And the Sabbath ended so that we may open the wheat market,

Making the ephah [measure] smaller and the shekel bigger [that is, selling less for a higher price]

And to cheat by falsifying the scales,

“Will all these [victims of his greed] not take up a taunting song against him,

And in mocking derision against him

Say, ‘[fn]Woe (judgment is coming) to him who increases that which is not his—

How long [will he possess it]?

And [woe to him who] makes himself wealthy with loans.’

Then the Angel of the LORD said, “O LORD of hosts, how long will You withhold mercy and compassion from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which You have had indignation and anger these seventy years [of the Babylonian captivity]?”