Nehemiah 9:16-18
New English Translation
16 “But they—our ancestors[a]—behaved presumptuously; they rebelled[b] and did not obey your commandments. 17 They refused to obey and did not recall your miracles that you had performed among them. Instead, they rebelled and appointed a leader to return to their bondage in Egypt.[c] But you are a God of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and unfailing in your loyal love.[d] You did not abandon them, 18 even when they made a cast image of a calf for themselves and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up from Egypt,’ or when they committed atrocious[e] blasphemies.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Nehemiah 9:16 tn Heb “and our fathers.” The ו (vav) is explicative.
- Nehemiah 9:16 tn Heb “they stiffened their neck” (so also in the following verse).
- Nehemiah 9:17 tc The present translation follows a few medieval Hebrew mss and the LXX in reading בְּמִצְרָיִם (bemitsrayim, “in Egypt”; so also NAB, NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT) rather than the MT reading בְּמִרְיָם (bemiryam, “in their rebellion”).
- Nehemiah 9:17 tc The translation follows the Qere reading חֶסֶד (khesed, “loyal love”) rather than the Kethib reading וְחֶסֶד (vekhesed, “and loyal love”) of the MT.
- Nehemiah 9:18 tn Heb “great.”
Nehemiah 9:16-18
New International Version
16 “But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked,(A) and they did not obey your commands.(B) 17 They refused to listen and failed to remember(C) the miracles(D) you performed among them. They became stiff-necked(E) and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery.(F) But you are a forgiving God,(G) gracious and compassionate,(H) slow to anger(I) and abounding in love.(J) Therefore you did not desert them,(K) 18 even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf(L) and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.(M)
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