³⁹ Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and ^(A)in their hearts they turned to Egypt,

³ Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? ^(A)Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” ⁴ And they said to one another, ^(B)“Let us choose a leader and ^(C)go back to Egypt.”

^5 (A)We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.

³ and the people of Israel said to them, ^(A)“Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, ^(B)when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

^51 (A)“You stiff-necked people, ^(B)uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. ^(C)As your fathers did, so do you. ^52 (D)Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of ^(E)the Righteous One, ^(F)whom you have now betrayed and murdered,

⁶ On that day I swore to them that ^(A)I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land ^(B)flowing with milk and honey, ^(C)the most glorious of all lands. ⁷ And I said to them, ^(D)‘Cast away the detestable things ^(E)your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with ^(F)the idols of Egypt; ^(G)I am the Lord your God.’ ^8 (H)But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. ^(I)None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.

“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them ^(J)and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. ^9 (K)But I acted ^(L)for the sake of my name, ^(M)that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, ^(N)in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. ^10 (O)So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. ^11 (P)I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, ^(Q)by which, if a person does them, he shall live. ¹² Moreover, I gave them ^(R)my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, ^(S)that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. ^13 (T)But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. ^(U)They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; ^(V)and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned.

^(W)“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them. ¹⁴ But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, ^(X)in whose sight I had brought them out.

¹⁶ “But they and our fathers ^(A)acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. ¹⁷ They refused to obey ^(B)and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt.^[a] But you are a God ready to forgive, ^(C)gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.

^27 (A)So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, thus fulfilling ^(B)the word of the Lord that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.