5. and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: The day I chose Israel, I swore to the descendants of the house of Jacob; I revealed myself to them in the land of Egypt and swore to them, saying: I am the Lord, your God.
6. That day I swore to bring them out of the land of Egypt to the land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, a jewel among all lands.
7. Then I said to them: Throw away, each of you, the detestable things that held your eyes; do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the Lord, your God.
8. But they rebelled and refused to listen to me; none of them threw away the detestable things that held their eyes, nor did they abandon the idols of Egypt. Then I considered pouring out my fury and spending my anger against them there in the land of Egypt.
9. I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be desecrated in the eyes of the nations among whom they were: in the eyes of the nations I had made myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
10. Therefore I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.
11. Then I gave them my statutes and made known to them my ordinances, so that everyone who keeps them has life through them.
12. I also gave them my sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, to show that it is I, the Lord, who makes them holy.
13. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not observe my statutes, and they rejected my ordinances that bring life to those who keep them. My sabbaths, too, they desecrated grievously. Then I considered pouring out my fury on them in the wilderness to put an end to them,
14. but I acted for the sake of my name, so it would not be desecrated in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.
15. Nevertheless in the wilderness I swore to them that I would not bring them into the land I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, a jewel among all the lands.
16. Their hearts followed after their idols so closely that they did not live by my statutes, but rejected my ordinances and desecrated my sabbaths.
17. But I looked on them with pity, not wanting to destroy them, so I did not put an end to them in the wilderness.
18. Then I said to their children in the wilderness: Do not follow the statutes of your parents. Do not keep their ordinances. Do not defile yourselves with their idols.
19. I am the Lord, your God: follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances;
20. keep holy my sabbaths as a sign between me and you so that you may know that I am the Lord, your God.
21. But their children rebelled against me: they did not follow my statutes or keep my ordinances that bring life to those who observe them; my sabbaths they desecrated. Then I considered pouring out my fury on them, spending my anger against them in the wilderness;
22. but I stayed my hand, acting for the sake of my name, lest it be desecrated in the eyes of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.
23. Nevertheless I swore to them in the wilderness that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them in other lands,
24. because they did not carry out my ordinances, but rejected my statutes and desecrated my sabbaths, having eyes only for the idols of their ancestors.
25. Therefore I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances through which they could not have life.