³⁹ whom our fathers ^(A)would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt,

³ Why has the Lord brought us to this land to ^[a]fall by the sword, that our wives and ^(A)children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” ⁴ So they said to one another, ^(B)“Let us select a leader and ^(C)return to Egypt.”

^5 (A)We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic;

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

Israel Resists the Holy Spirit

⁵¹ “You ^(A)stiff-necked^[a] and ^(B)uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. ^52 (C)Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of ^(D)the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers,

⁶ On that day I raised My hand in an oath to them, ^(A)to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, ^(B)‘flowing with milk and honey,’ ^(C)the glory of all lands. ⁷ Then I said to them, ‘Each of you, ^(D)throw away ^(E)the abominations which are before his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with ^(F)the idols of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’ ⁸ But they rebelled against Me and would not ^[a]obey Me. They did not all cast away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said, ‘I will ^(G)pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.’ ^9 (H)But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles among whom they were, in whose sight I had made Myself ^(I)known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ “Therefore I ^(J)made them go out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. ^11 (K)And I gave them My statutes and ^[b]showed them My judgments, ^(L)‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them.’ ¹² Moreover I also gave them My ^(M)Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. ¹³ Yet the house of Israel ^(N)rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they ^(O)despised My judgments, ^(P)‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them’; and they greatly ^(Q)defiled My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them in the ^(R)wilderness, to consume them. ^14 (S)But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles, in whose sight I had brought them out.

²⁷ So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, that he might ^(A)fulfill the word of the Lord which He spoke concerning the house of Eli at Shiloh.