Nehemiah 9:18–22

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,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.

19 “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. 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. 21 For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.

22 “You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan.

18 Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations; 19 Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go. 20 Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst. 21 Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not. 22 Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

18 even when they made an idol shaped like a calf and said, ‘This is your god who brought you out of Egypt!’ They committed terrible blasphemies.

19 “But in your great mercy you did not abandon them to die in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud still led them forward by day, and the pillar of fire showed them the way through the night. 20 You sent your good Spirit to instruct them, and you did not stop giving them manna from heaven or water for their thirst. 21 For forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell!

22 “Then you helped our ancestors conquer kingdoms and nations, and you placed your people in every corner of the land. They took over the land of King Sihon of Heshbon and the land of King Og of Bashan.

18 “Even when they made a molded calf for themselves,

And said, ‘This is your god

That brought you up out of Egypt,’

And worked great provocations,

19 Yet in Your manifold mercies

You did not forsake them in the wilderness.

The pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day,

To lead them on the road;

Nor the pillar of fire by night,

To show them light,

And the way they should go.

20 You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,

And did not withhold Your manna from their mouth,

And gave them water for their thirst.

21 Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness;

They lacked nothing;

Their clothes did not wear out

And their feet did not swell.

22 “Moreover You gave them kingdoms and nations,

And divided them into districts.

So they took possession of the land of Sihon,

The land of the king of Heshbon,

And the land of Og king of Bashan.

18 Our ancestors even made an idol of a calf for themselves.

They said, ‘This is your god, Israel,

who brought you up out of Egypt.’

They spoke against you.

19 “You have great mercy,

so you did not leave them in the desert.

The pillar of cloud guided them by day,

and the pillar of fire led them at night,

lighting the way they were to go.

20 You gave your good Spirit to teach them.

You gave them manna to eat

and water when they were thirsty.

21 You took care of them for forty years in the desert;

they needed nothing.

Their clothes did not wear out,

and their feet did not swell.

22 “You gave them kingdoms and nations;

you gave them more land.

They took over the country of Sihon king of Heshbon

and the country of Og king of Bashan.

18 Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations; 19 yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of cloud departed not from over them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way wherein they should go. 20 Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst. 21 Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not. 22 Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and peoples, which thou didst allot after their portions: so they possessed the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

18 Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy god that brought thee up out of Egypt! and they had wrought great provocation, 19 yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness. The pillar of the cloud departed not from over them by day, to lead them on the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go. 20 Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst. 21 Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing; their clothes grew not old, and their feet swelled not. 22 And thou gavest them kingdoms and peoples, and didst divide them by countries; and they possessed the land of Sihon, as well the land of the king of Heshbon, as the land of Og king of Bashan.

18 even when they made a metal statue of a calf for themselves 

and said, ‘This is your god who took you out of Egypt.’ 

They committed outrageous sins. 

19 But because of your endless compassion, 

you didn’t abandon them in the desert. 

The column of smoke didn’t leave them during the day, 

but it led them on their way. 

The column of fire didn’t leave them during the night, 

but it gave them light to see the way they should go. 

20 You gave them your good Spirit to teach them. 

You didn’t keep your manna to yourself. 

You gave them water to quench their thirst. 

21 You provided for them in the desert for 40 years, 

and they had everything they needed. 

Their clothes didn’t wear out, and their feet didn’t swell. 

22 You gave kingdoms and nations to the Israelites 

and assigned them their boundaries. 

So they took possession of the land of Sihon, 

the land of the king of Heshbon, 

and the land of King Og of Bashan. 

18 Even after they had cast an image of a calf

for themselves and said,

“This is your God who brought you out of Egypt,”

and they had committed terrible blasphemies,

19 You did not abandon them in the wilderness

because of Your great compassion.

During the day the pillar of cloud

never turned away from them,

guiding them on their journey.

And during the night the pillar of fire

illuminated the way they should go.

20 You sent Your good Spirit to instruct them.

You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths,

and You gave them water for their thirst.

21 You provided for them in the wilderness 40 years

and they lacked nothing.

Their clothes did not wear out,

and their feet did not swell.

22 You gave them kingdoms and peoples

and assigned them to be a boundary.

They took possession

of the land of Sihon king of Heshbon

and of the land of Og king of Bashan.

18 Even when they had cast an image of a calf for themselves and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies, 19 you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness; the pillar of cloud that led them in the way did not leave them by day nor the pillar of fire by night that gave them light on the way by which they should go. 20 You gave your good spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouths and gave them water for their thirst. 21 Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness so that they lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell. 22 And you gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner, so they took possession of the land of King Sihon of Heshbon and the land of King Og of Bashan.

18 Even when they made for themselves a molten idol of a calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you out from Egypt,’ and committed great blasphemies. 19 But you in your many mercies did not abandon them in the desert. The column of cloud that was over them in the day did not cease to lead them on the way, and the column of fire by night that gave light to them on the way that they went. 20 And you gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. 21 Forty years you sustained them in the desert—they were not in need. Their clothing did not wear out and their feet did not swell. 22 And you gave them kingdoms and nations and allotted them a portion. They took into possession the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan.

18 “They made for themselves a metal statue of a god that looked like a calf. They said, ‘Here is your god. He brought you up out of Egypt.’ And they did evil things that dishonored you. But you still didn’t desert them.

19 “Because you loved them so much, you didn’t leave them in the desert. During the day the pillar of cloud didn’t stop guiding them on their path. At night the pillar of fire didn’t stop shining on the way you wanted them to go. 20 You gave them your good Spirit to teach them. You didn’t hold back your manna from their mouths. And you gave them water when they were thirsty. 21 For 40 years you took good care of them in the desert. They had everything they needed. Their clothes didn’t wear out. And their feet didn’t swell up.

22 “You gave them kingdoms and nations. You even gave them lands far away. They took over the country of Sihon. He was king of Heshbon. They also took over the country of Og. He was king of Bashan.

18 “Even when they made for themselves

A calf of molten metal

And said, ‘This is your God

Who brought you up from Egypt,’

And committed great blasphemies,

19 You, in Your great compassion,

Did not forsake them in the wilderness;

The pillar of cloud did not leave them by day,

To guide them on their way,

Nor the pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they were to go.

20 “You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them,

Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth,

And You gave them water for their thirst.

21 “Indeed, forty years You provided for them in the wilderness and they were not in want;

Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.

22 “You also gave them kingdoms and peoples,

And allotted them to them as a boundary.

They took possession of the land of Sihon the king of Heshbon

And the land of Og the king of Bashan.