16. But they, our ancestors, proved to be insolent;they were obdurate and did not obey your commandments.
17. They refused to obey and no longer rememberedthe wonders you had worked for them.They were obdurate and appointed a leaderin order to return to their slavery in Egypt.But you are a forgiving God, gracious and merciful,slow to anger and rich in mercy;you did not forsake them.
18. Though they made for themselves a molten calf,and proclaimed, ‘Here is your God who brought you up from Egypt,’and were guilty of great insults,
19. Yet in your great mercyyou did not forsake them in the desert.By day the column of cloud did not cease to lead them on their journey,by night the column of fire did not cease to light the way they were to travel.
20. Your good spirit you bestowed on them,to give them understanding;Your manna you did not withhold from their mouths,and you gave them water in their thirst.
21. Forty years in the desert you sustained them:they did not want;Their garments did not become worn,and their feet did not swell.
22. You gave them kingdoms and peoples,which you divided among them as border lands.They possessed the land of Sihon, king of Heshbon,and the land of Og, king of Bashan.
23. You made their children as numerous as the stars of the heavens,and you brought them into the landwhich you had commanded their ancestors to enter and possess.
24. The children went in to possess the land;you humbled before them the Canaanite inhabitantsand gave them into their power,Their kings and the peoples of the land,to do with them as they wished.
25. They captured fortified cities and fertile land;they took possession of houses filled with all good things,Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves,and fruit trees in abundance.They ate and had their fill,fattened and feasted on your great goodness.