Nehemiah 9:16-25

16But our ancestors acted arrogantly; they became stiff-necked and did not listen to your commands.

17They refused to listen and did not remember your wonders you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love, and you did not abandon them.

18Even after they had cast an image of a calf for themselves and said, “This is your god who brought you out of Egypt,” and they had committed terrible blasphemies,

19you did not abandon them in the wilderness because of your great compassion. During the day the pillar of cloud never turned away from them, guiding them on their journey. And during the night the pillar of fire illuminated the way they should go.

20You sent your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and you gave them water for their thirst.

21You provided for them in the wilderness forty years, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.

22You gave them kingdoms and peoples and established boundaries for them. They took possession of the land of King Sihon of Heshbon and of the land of King Og of Bashan.

23You multiplied their descendants like the stars of the sky and brought them to the land you told their ancestors to go in and possess.

24So their descendants went in and possessed the land: You subdued the Canaanites who inhabited the land before them and handed their kings and the surrounding peoples over to them, to do as they pleased with them.

25They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took possession of well-supplied houses, cisterns cut out of rock, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. They ate, were filled, became prosperous, and delighted in your great goodness.