Nehemiah 9:14-24

14 You taught them about your holy day of worship. You gave them commandments, laws, and teachings through your servant Moses.
15 You gave them bread from heaven to satisfy their hunger and made water flow from a rock to quench their thirst. You told them to take possession of the land that you swore you would give them.
16 But they--our own ancestors--acted arrogantly. They became stubborn and wouldn't obey your commands.
17 They refused to listen. They forgot the miracles you performed for them. They became stubborn and appointed a leader to take them back to slavery [in Egypt]. But you are a forgiving God, one who is compassionate, merciful, patient, and always ready to forgive. You never abandoned them,
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.
23 You made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky. You brought them into the land you told their parents to enter and possess.
24 Their children took possession of the land. You defeated for them the Canaanites, who lived in the land. You handed the Canaanite kings and their people over to them to do whatever they wanted with the Canaanites.

Nehemiah 9:14-24 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NEHEMIAH 9

In this chapter we have an account of a fast kept by the Jews, which was observed, as by outward acts of humiliation, so by confession of sin, reading the law, and worshipping the Lord, Ne 9:1-3 and of a long prayer that the Levites made, in which they celebrate the divine perfections, take notice of various instances of the goodness of God to the people of Israel, acknowledge their manifold transgressions, observe the Lord's correction of them for them, in which they own he was righteous, Ne 9:4-38.

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