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I brought you across the Red Sea and made safe roads for you where there were none. I made Moses your leader and gave you Aaron as your priest.
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I provided you with light from a pillar of fire and performed great miracles among you, but you have forgotten me. I, the Lord, have spoken.
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"The Lord Almighty says: I sent you quails as a sign of my care for you. I provided you with camps where you could be safe, but all you did there was complain.
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Even when I destroyed your enemies, you did not appreciate what I had done. You have never done anything but complain.
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Have you forgotten the blessings I gave you? There in the desert when you were hungry and thirsty you cried out to me:
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"Why have you brought us out to this desert to kill us? Being slaves to the Egyptians was better than coming here to die.'
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I was moved by your bitter groans and gave you manna, the bread of angels.
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When you were thirsty, I split the rock and all the water you needed flowed out. To protect you from the heat, I provided you with shade trees.
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I divided fertile lands among you and drove out the Canaanites, the Perizzites, and the Philistines who opposed your advance. What more could I have done for you?
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"The Lord Almighty says: There in the desert by the river of bitter water when you were thirsty and cursed me,
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in spite of your insults I did not send fire upon you. Instead, I made the water fit to drink by throwing wood into the river.
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People of Israel, what can I do with you? People of Judah, you refuse to obey me. So I will turn to other nations and make them my people. They will keep my laws.
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Because you have abandoned me, I will abandon you. You will beg me for mercy, but I will show you none.
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When you pray to me, I will not hear you. You never hesitate to commit murder; your hands are stained with the blood of those you have killed.
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It is not me that you have betrayed; you have betrayed yourselves.
28
"The Lord Almighty says: I have pleaded with you as a father pleads with his sons, as a mother pleads with her daughters, or as a nursemaid pleads with her small children.
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I begged you to be my people so that I could be your God, to be my children so that I could be your father.
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I gathered you together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But now what can I do with you? I will banish you from my sight;
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and even when you offer sacrifices to me, I will turn away from you. Your religious festivals, your New Moon celebrations, or your circumcision ceremonies mean nothing to me.
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I sent to you my servants, the prophets, but you killed them and mutilated their corpses. I will make you pay for murdering them.
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"The Lord Almighty says: Your Temple is abandoned. I will scatter you like straw blown away by the wind.