Nehemiah 9:18

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Nehemiah 9:16–20 · Berean Standard Bible

16 But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments.

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.

18 Even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and when they committed terrible blasphemies,

19 You in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud never turned away from guiding them on their path; and by the night the pillar of fire illuminated the way they should go.

20 You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst.

Hebrew words

Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

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Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

Exodus 32:4

He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

Exodus 32:5

When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before the calf and proclaimed: “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.”

Exodus 32:6

So the next day they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to indulge in revelry.

Exodus 32:7

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.

Exodus 32:8

How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said, ‘These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.’”

Exodus 32:31

So Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made gods of gold for themselves.

Exodus 32:32

Yet now, if You would only forgive their sin.... But if not, please blot me out of the book that You have written.”

Deuteronomy 9:12

And the LORD said to me, “Get up and go down from here at once, for your people, whom you brought out of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten image.”

Deuteronomy 9:13

The LORD also said to me, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people.

Deuteronomy 9:14

Leave Me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven. Then I will make you into a nation mightier and greater than they are.”

Deuteronomy 9:15

So I went back down the mountain while it was blazing with fire, with the two tablets of the covenant in my hands.

Deuteronomy 9:16

And I saw how you had sinned against the LORD your God; you had made for yourselves a molten calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you.

Psalms 106:19

At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped a molten image.

Psalms 106:20

They exchanged their Glory for the image of a grass-eating ox.

Psalms 106:21

They forgot God their Savior, who did great things in Egypt,

Psalms 106:22

wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.

Psalms 106:23

So He said He would destroy them— had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.

Ezekiel 20:7

And I said to them: ‘Each of you must throw away the abominations before his eyes, and you must not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’

Ezekiel 20:8

But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the land of Egypt.

Ezekiel 20:9

But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they were living, in whose sight I had revealed Myself to Israel by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

Ezekiel 20:10

So I brought them out of the land of Egypt and led them into the wilderness.

Ezekiel 20:11

And I gave them My statutes and made known to them My ordinances—for the man who does these things will live by them.

Ezekiel 20:12

I also gave them My Sabbaths as a sign between us, so that they would know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.

Ezekiel 20:13

Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and put an end to them in the wilderness.

Ezekiel 20:14

But I acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

Ezekiel 20:15

Moreover, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands—

Ezekiel 20:16

because they kept rejecting My ordinances, refusing to walk in My statutes, and profaning My Sabbaths; for their hearts continually went after their idols.

Ezekiel 20:17

Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them or bring them to an end in the wilderness.

Ezekiel 20:18

In the wilderness I said to their children: ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols.

Ezekiel 20:19

I am the LORD your God; walk in My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them.

Ezekiel 20:20

Keep My Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us, so that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’

Ezekiel 20:21

But the children rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My statutes or carefully observe My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they profaned My Sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the wilderness.

Ezekiel 20:22

But I withheld My hand and acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.

Ezekiel 20:23

However, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands.

Ezekiel 20:24

For they did not practice My ordinances, but they rejected My statutes and profaned My Sabbaths, fixing their eyes on the idols of their fathers.

Ezekiel 20:25

I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live.

Ezekiel 20:26

And I pronounced them unclean through their gifts—the sacrifice of every firstborn in the fire—so that I might devastate them, in order that they would know that I am the LORD.

Ezekiel 20:27

Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: In this way also your fathers blasphemed Me by their unfaithfulness against Me.

Ezekiel 20:28

When I brought them into the land that I swore to give them and they saw any high hill or leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, presented offerings that provoked Me, sent up their fragrant incense, and poured out their drink offerings.

Ezekiel 20:29

So I asked them: ‘What is this high place to which you go?’ (And to this day it is called Bamah.)

Ezekiel 20:30

Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: Will you defile yourselves the way your fathers did, prostituting yourselves with their abominations?

Ezekiel 20:31

When you offer your gifts, sacrificing your sons in the fire, you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. So should I be consulted by you, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be consulted by you!

Ezekiel 20:32

When you say, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the peoples of the lands, serving wood and stone,’ what you have in mind will never come to pass.

Ezekiel 20:33

As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, with a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath I will rule over you.

Ezekiel 20:34

With a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands to which you have been scattered.

Ezekiel 20:35

And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, where I will enter into judgment with you face to face.

Ezekiel 20:36

Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 20:37

I will make you pass under the rod and will bring you into the bond of the covenant.

Ezekiel 20:38

And I will purge you of those who rebel and transgress against Me. I will bring them out of the land in which they dwell, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

Ezekiel 20:39

And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you will no longer defile My holy name with your gifts and idols.

Ezekiel 20:40

For on My holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, there the whole house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land. There I will accept them and will require your offerings and choice gifts, along with all your holy sacrifices.

Ezekiel 20:41

When I bring you from the peoples and gather you from the lands to which you have been scattered, I will accept you as a pleasing aroma. And I will show My holiness through you in the sight of the nations.

Ezekiel 20:42

Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land that I swore to give your fathers.

Ezekiel 20:43

There you will remember your ways and all the deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evils you have done.

Ezekiel 20:44

Then you will know, O house of Israel, that I am the LORD, when I have dealt with you for the sake of My name and not according to your wicked ways and corrupt acts, declares the Lord GOD.”