" I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from him.

"Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation."

"Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, 'He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people.

So the LORD relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.

I would have said, "I will dash them in pieces, I will make the memory of them to cease from among men,"

Had I not feared the wrath of the enemy, Lest their adversaries should misunderstand, Lest they should say, "Our hand [is] high; And it is not the LORD who has done all this." '

But He, [being] full of compassion, forgave [their] iniquity, And did not destroy [them.] Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, And did not stir up all His wrath;

Fury [is] not in Me. Who would set briers [and] thorns Against Me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together.

Those who come He shall cause to take root in Jacob; Israel shall blossom and bud, And fill the face of the world with fruit.

In measure, by sending it away, You contended with it. He removes [it] by His rough wind In the day of the east wind.

"For My name's sake I will defer My anger, And [for] My praise I will restrain it from you, So that I do not cut you off.

For I [am] with you,' says the LORD, 'to save you; Though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you, Yet I will not make a complete end of you. But I will correct you in justice, And will not let you go altogether unpunished.'

"At the same time," says the LORD, "I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people."

The LORD has appeared of old to me, [saying:] "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

"But they rebelled against Me and would not 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 pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.'

"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 known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

"Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My judgments, 'which, [if] a man does, he shall live by them'; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them.

"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.

"Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, and were not careful to observe My judgments, 'which, [if] a man does, he shall live by them'; but they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the wilderness.

"Also I raised My hand in an oath to those in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the Gentiles and disperse them throughout the countries,

Then Abishai said to David, "God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore, please, let me strike him at once with the spear, right to the earth; and I will not [have to strike] him a second time!"

But Amasa did not notice the sword that [was] in Joab's hand. And he struck him with it in the stomach, and his entrails poured out on the ground; and he did not [strike] him again. Thus he died. Then Joab and Abishai his brother pursued Sheba the son of Bichri.

"God [is] not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

" For My thoughts [are] not your thoughts, Nor [are] your ways My ways," says the LORD.

"For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Who [is] a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights [in] mercy.

You will give truth to Jacob [And] mercy to Abraham, Which You have sworn to our fathers From days of old.

"For I [am] the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.

Concerning the gospel [they are] enemies for your sake, but concerning the election [they are] beloved for the sake of the fathers.

For the gifts and the calling of God [are] irrevocable.

Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, For great [is] the Holy One of Israel in your midst!"

"My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

"The nations also will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore." ' "

The LORD has taken away your judgments, He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the LORD, [is] in your midst; You shall see disaster no more.

The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet [you] with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."