⁵ But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you.

⁵¹ “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are forever opposing the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do.^(A)

⁸ He said to them, “It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.

²⁶ “Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against you and cast your law behind their backs and killed your prophets, who had warned them in order to turn them back to you, and they committed great blasphemies.^(A)

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

Warning against Unbelief

⁷ Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

²⁷ For I know well how rebellious and stubborn you are. If you already have been so rebellious toward the Lord while I am still alive among you, how much more after my death!^(A)

⁶ “Know, then, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to occupy because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.^(A)