^17 (A)They sacrificed to demons who were not God,
^(B)To gods whom they have not known,
^(C)New gods who came lately,
Whom your fathers did not dread.

¹⁸ Even when they ^(A)made for themselves
A molten calf
And said, ‘This is your God
Who brought you up from Egypt,’
And ^[a]committed great ^[b]blasphemies,
^19 (B)But You, in Your abundant compassion,
Did not forsake them in the wilderness;
^(C)The pillar of cloud did not depart from them by day,
To lead them on their way,
Nor the pillar of fire by night,
To light for them the way in which they were to go.
^20 (D)You gave Your good Spirit to give them insight,
Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth,
And You gave them water for their thirst.
²¹ Indeed, ^(E)forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, and they did not lack;
Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.