"Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not g…" — Nehemiah 9:30

Nehemiah 9:30 · KJV

“Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands. {forbear...: Heb. protract over them} {in thy...: Heb. in the hand of thy prophets}”

— Nehemiah 9:30

Verse 29

And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear. {withdrew...: Heb. they gave a withdrawing shoulder}

Verse 31

Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou {art} a gracious and merciful God.

Nehemiah 9 — Context

But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest {them} from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies; {they did...: Heb. they returned to do evil}

Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands. {forbear...: Heb. protract over them} {in thy...: Heb. in the hand of thy prophets}

Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou {art} a gracious and merciful God.

Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day. {trouble: Heb. weariness} {that...: Heb. that hath found us}

Cross References

Romans 2:4

Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

2 Chronicles 36:15-16

And the LORD God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: {by: Heb. by the hand of} {betimes: that is, continually and carefully}

Isaiah 42:24

Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law.

Acts 7:51

Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers {did}, so {do} ye.

Isaiah 63:10

But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, {and} he fought against them.

2 Kings 17:13-18

Yet the LORD testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, {and by} all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments {and} my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. {by: Heb. by the hand of}

Isaiah 5:5-6

And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; {and} break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: {trodden...: Heb. for a treading}

Lamentations 2:17

The LORD hath done {that} which he had devised; he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old: he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied: and he hath caused {thine} enemy to rejoice over thee, he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries.