Nehemiah 9:24-26

The Voice

²⁴     Into the land they went, and it became theirs.
        For our forefathers You made sure even the Canaanites there were powerless.
    You subdued everything and everyone to their power—
        land, kings, and people—to do with as they pleased.
²⁵     They overwhelmed strong and secure cities.
        They overtook fertile, productive land.
    They claimed well-furnished houses, wells that were already dug,
        vineyards, olive groves, and orchards filled with fruit.
    They ate their fill. They grew fat.
        They basked in Your generosity and goodness.
²⁶     Even so, again they chose to defy You.
        They rebelled.
        They abandoned Your law.
    They killed the prophets who spoke Your word,
        who pleaded with them to return to You, God.
    And again, atrocities multiplied on top of atrocities.