Nehemiah 9:17-25

“They refused to listen and obey, And did not remember Your wondrous acts which You had performed among them; So they stiffened their necks and [in their rebellion] appointed a leader in order to return them to slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of forgiveness, Gracious and merciful and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; And You did not abandon them. [Num 14:4] “Even when they had made for themselves A calf of cast metal And said, ‘This is your god Who brought you up from Egypt,’ And committed great [and contemptible] blasphemies, You, in Your great mercy and compassion, Did not abandon them in the wilderness; The pillar of the cloud did not leave them by day, To lead them in the way, Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way they should go. “You [also] gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, And You gave them water for their thirst. “Indeed, for forty years You sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell. “You also gave them kingdoms and peoples, And You allotted the kingdoms to them as a boundary. So they took possession of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon And the land of Og king of Bashan. “You made their children as numerous as the stars of heaven, And You brought them into the land Which You told their fathers to enter and possess. “So their sons (descendants) went in and took possession of the land; And You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land, To do with them as they pleased. “They captured fortified cities and a fertile land. They took possession of houses full of all good things, Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, And fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and became fat, And they reveled and were delighted in Your great goodness.