Yeremia 2:2

2:2 “Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem: ¹  ‘This is what the Lord says: “I have fond memories of you, ²  how devoted you were to me in your early years. ³  I remember how you loved me like a new bride; you followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted.

Ulangan 1:30

1:30 The Lord your God is about to go ⁴  ahead of you; he will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt ⁵ 

Ulangan 1:33

1:33 the one who was constantly going before you to find places for you to set up camp. He appeared by fire at night and cloud by day, to show you the way you ought to go.

Ulangan 2:7

2:7 All along the way I, the Lord your God, ⁶  have blessed your every effort. ⁷  I have ⁸  been attentive to ⁹  your travels through this great wasteland. These forty years I have ¹⁰  been with you; you have lacked for nothing.’”

Ulangan 8:2-3

8:2 Remember the whole way by which he ¹¹  has brought you these forty years through the desert ¹²  so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not. 8:3 So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna. ¹³  He did this to teach you ¹⁴  that humankind ¹⁵  cannot live by bread ¹⁶  alone, but also by everything that comes from the Lord’s mouth. ¹⁷ 

Ulangan 8:16

8:16 fed you in the desert with manna (which your ancestors had never before known) so that he might by humbling you test you ¹⁸  and eventually bring good to you.

Nehemia 9:12-15

9:12 You guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and with a pillar of fire by night to illumine for them the path they were to travel.

9:13 “You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You provided them with just judgments, true laws, and good statutes and commandments. 9:14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath; you issued commandments, statutes, and law to them through ¹⁹  Moses your servant. 9:15 You provided bread from heaven for them in their time of hunger, and you brought forth water from the rock for them in their time of thirst. You told them to enter in order to possess the land that you had sworn ²⁰  to give them.

Mazmur 78:14-16

78:14 He led them with a cloud by day,

and with the light of a fire all night long.

78:15 He broke open rocks in the wilderness,

and gave them enough water to fill the depths of the sea. ²¹ 

78:16 He caused streams to flow from the rock,

and made the water flow like rivers.

Mazmur 78:23-29

78:23 He gave a command to the clouds above,

and opened the doors in the sky.

78:24 He rained down manna for them to eat;

he gave them the grain of heaven. ²² 

78:25 Man ate the food of the mighty ones. ²³ 

He sent them more than enough to eat. ²⁴ 

78:26 He brought the east wind through the sky,

and by his strength led forth the south wind.

78:27 He rained down meat on them like dust,

birds as numerous as the sand on the seashores. ²⁵ 

78:28 He caused them to fall right in the middle of their camp,

all around their homes.

78:29 They ate until they were stuffed; ²⁶ 

he gave them what they desired.

Mazmur 78:52

78:52 Yet he brought out his people like sheep;

he led them through the wilderness like a flock.

Mazmur 105:37-43

105:37 He brought his people ²⁷  out enriched ²⁸  with silver and gold;

none of his tribes stumbled.

105:38 Egypt was happy when they left,

for they were afraid of them. ²⁹ 

105:39 He spread out a cloud for a cover, ³⁰ 

and provided a fire to light up the night.

105:40 They asked for food, ³¹  and he sent quails;

he satisfied them with food from the sky. ³² 

105:41 He opened up a rock and water flowed out;

a river ran through dry regions.

105:42 Yes, ³³  he remembered the sacred promise ³⁴ 

he made to Abraham his servant.

105:43 When he led his people out, they rejoiced;

his chosen ones shouted with joy. ³⁵ 

Mazmur 136:16-24

136:16 to the one who led his people through the wilderness,

for his loyal love endures,

136:17 to the one who struck down great kings,

for his loyal love endures,

136:18 and killed powerful kings,

for his loyal love endures,

136:19 Sihon, king of the Amorites,

for his loyal love endures,

136:20 Og, king of Bashan,

for his loyal love endures,

136:21 and gave their land as an inheritance,

for his loyal love endures,

136:22 as an inheritance to Israel his servant,

for his loyal love endures,

136:23 to the one who remembered us when we were down, ³⁶ 

for his loyal love endures,

136:24 and snatched us away from our enemies,

for his loyal love endures,

Yesaya 63:7-14

A Prayer for Divine Intervention

63:7 I will tell of the faithful acts of the Lord,

of the Lord’s praiseworthy deeds.

I will tell about all ³⁷  the Lord did for us,

the many good things he did for the family of Israel, ³⁸ 

because of ³⁹  his compassion and great faithfulness.

63:8 He said, “Certainly they will be my people,

children who are not disloyal.” ⁴⁰ 

He became their deliverer.

63:9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. ⁴¹ 

The messenger sent from his very presence ⁴²  delivered them.

In his love and mercy he protected ⁴³  them;

he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times. ⁴⁴ 

63:10 But they rebelled and offended ⁴⁵  his holy Spirit, ⁴⁶ 

so he turned into an enemy

and fought against them.

63:11 His people remembered the ancient times. ⁴⁷ 

Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea,

along with the shepherd of ⁴⁸  his flock?

Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them, ⁴⁹ 

63:12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, ⁵⁰ 

who divided the water before them,

gaining for himself a lasting reputation, ⁵¹ 

63:13 who led them through the deep water?

Like a horse running on flat land ⁵²  they did not stumble.

63:14 Like an animal that goes down into a valley to graze, ⁵³ 

so the Spirit of the Lord granted them rest.

In this way ⁵⁴  you guided your people,

gaining for yourself an honored reputation. ⁵⁵ 

Yehezkiel 20:14-17

20:14 I acted for the sake of my reputation, so that I would not be profaned before the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. 20:15 I also swore ⁵⁶  to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them to the land I had given them – a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands. 20:16 I did this ⁵⁷  because they rejected my regulations, did not follow my statutes, and desecrated my Sabbaths; for their hearts followed their idols. ⁵⁸  20:17 Yet I had pity on ⁵⁹  them and did not destroy them, so I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.

[2:2]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:2]  ² tn Heb “I remember to/for you.”

[2:2]  ³ tn Heb “the loyal love of your youth.”

[2:2]  sn The Hebrew word translated “how devoted you were” (חֶסֶד, khesed) refers metaphorically to the devotion of a new bride to her husband. In typical Hebraic fashion, contemporary Israel is identified with early Israel after she first entered into covenant with (= married) the Lord. The reference to her earlier devotion is not absolute but relative. Compared to her unfaithfulness in worshiping other gods after she got into the land, the murmuring and complaining in the wilderness are ignored.

[1:30]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew participle indicates imminent future action here, though some English versions treat it as a predictive future (“will go ahead of you,” NCV; cf. also TEV, CEV).

[1:30]  ⁵ tn Heb “according to all which he did for you in Egypt before your eyes.”

[2:7]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text does not have the first person pronoun; it has been supplied for purposes of English style (the Lord is speaking here).

[2:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “all the work of your hands.”

[2:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “he has.” This has been converted to first person in the translation in keeping with English style.

[2:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “known” (so ASV, NASB); NAB “been concerned about.”

[2:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the Lord your God has.” This has been replaced in the translation by the first person pronoun (“I”) in keeping with English style.

[8:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[8:2]  ¹² tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NRSV, NLT); likewise in v. 15.

[8:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “manna which you and your ancestors did not know.” By popular etymology the word “manna” comes from the Hebrew phrase מָן הוּא (man hu’), i.e., “What is it?” (Exod 16:15). The question remains unanswered to this very day. Elsewhere the material is said to be “white like coriander seed” with “a taste like honey cakes” (Exod 16:31; cf. Num 11:7). Modern attempts to associate it with various desert plants are unsuccessful for the text says it was a new thing and, furthermore, one that appeared and disappeared miraculously (Exod 16:21-27).

[8:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in order to make known to you.” In the Hebrew text this statement is subordinated to what precedes, resulting in a very long sentence in English. The translation makes this statement a separate sentence for stylistic reasons.

[8:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the man,” but in a generic sense, referring to the whole human race (“mankind” or “humankind”).

[8:3]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew term may refer to “food” in a more general sense (cf. CEV).

[8:3]  ¹⁷ sn Jesus quoted this text to the devil in the midst of his forty-day fast to make the point that spiritual nourishment is incomparably more important than mere physical bread (Matt 4:4; cf. Luke 4:4).

[8:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “in order to humble you and in order to test you.” See 8:2.

[9:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “by the hand of.”

[9:15]  ²⁰ tn Heb “had lifted your hand.”

[78:15]  ²¹ tn Heb “and caused them to drink, like the depths, abundantly.”

[78:24]  ²² sn Manna was apparently shaped like a seed (Exod 16:31), perhaps explaining why it is here compared to grain.

[78:25]  ²³ sn Because of the reference to “heaven” in the preceding verse, it is likely that mighty ones refers here to the angels of heaven. The LXX translates “angels” here, as do a number of modern translations (NEB, NIV, NRSV).

[78:25]  ²⁴ tn Heb “provision he sent to them to satisfaction.”

[78:27]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and like the sand of the seas winged birds.”

[78:29]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and they ate and were very satisfied.”

[105:37]  ²⁷ tn Heb “them”; the referent (the Lord’s people) has been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[105:37]  ²⁸ tn The word “enriched” is supplied in the translation for clarification and for stylistic reasons.

[105:38]  ²⁹ tn Heb “for fear of them had fallen upon them.”

[105:39]  ³⁰ tn Or “curtain.”

[105:40]  ³¹ tn Heb “he [i.e., his people] asked.” The singular form should probably be emended to a plural שָׁאֲלוּ (sha’alu, “they asked”), the vav (ו) having fallen off by haplography (note the vav at the beginning of the following form).

[105:40]  ³² tn Or “bread of heaven.” The reference is to manna (see Exod 16:4, 13-15).

[105:42]  ³³ tn Or “for.”

[105:42]  ³⁴ tn Heb “his holy word.”

[105:43]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and he led his people out with joy, with a ringing cry, his chosen ones.”

[136:23]  ³⁶ tn Heb “who, in our low condition, remembered us.”

[63:7]  ³⁷ tn Heb “according to all which.”

[63:7]  ³⁸ tn Heb “greatness of goodness to the house of Israel which he did for them.”

[63:7]  ³⁹ tn Heb “according to.”

[63:8]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “children [who] do not act deceitfully.” Here the verb refers to covenantal loyalty.

[63:9]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “in all their distress, there was distress to him” (reading לוֹ [lo] with the margin/Qere).

[63:9]  ⁴² tn Heb “the messenger [or “angel”] of his face”; NIV “the angel of his presence.”

[63:9]  sn This may refer to the “angel of God” mentioned in Exod 14:19, who in turn may be identical to the divine “presence” (literally, “face”) referred to in Exod 33:14-15 and Deut 4:37. Here in Isa 63 this messenger may be equated with God’s “holy Spirit” (see vv. 10-11) and “the Spirit of the Lord” (v. 14). See also Ps 139:7, where God’s “Spirit” seems to be equated with his “presence” (literally, “face”) in the synonymous parallelistic structure.

[63:9]  ⁴³ tn Or “redeemed” (KJV, NAB, NIV), or “delivered.”

[63:9]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “all the days of antiquity”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “days of old.”

[63:10]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “grieved, hurt the feelings of.”

[63:10]  ⁴⁶ sn The phrase “holy Spirit” occurs in the OT only here (in v. 11 as well) and in Ps 51:11 (51:13 HT), where it is associated with the divine presence.

[63:11]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “and he remembered the days of antiquity, Moses, his people.” The syntax of the statement is unclear. The translation assumes that “his people” is the subject of the verb “remembered.” If original, “Moses” is in apposition to “the days of antiquity,” more precisely identifying the time period referred to. However, the syntactical awkwardness suggests that “Moses” may have been an early marginal note (perhaps identifying “the shepherd of his flock” two lines later) that has worked its way into the text.

[63:11]  ⁴⁸ tn The Hebrew text has a plural form, which if retained and taken as a numerical plural, would probably refer to Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite tribal leaders at the time of the Exodus. Most prefer to emend the form to the singular (רָעָה, ra’ah) and understand this as a reference just to Moses.

[63:11]  ⁴⁹ sn See the note at v. 10.

[63:12]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “who caused to go at the right hand of Moses the arm of his splendor.”

[63:12]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “making for himself a lasting name.”

[63:13]  ⁵² tn Heb “in the desert [or “steppe”].”

[63:14]  ⁵³ tn The words “to graze” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[63:14]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “so” (KJV, ASV), or “thus” (NAB, NRSV).

[63:14]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “making for yourself a majestic name.”

[20:15]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”

[20:16]  ⁵⁷ tn The words “I did this” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for stylistic reasons. Verses 15-16 are one long sentence in the Hebrew text. The translation divides this sentence into two for stylistic reasons.

[20:16]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “for after their idols their heart was going.” The use of the active participle (“was going”) in the Hebrew text draws attention to the ongoing nature of their idolatrous behavior.

[20:17]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “my eye pitied.”