But the LORD was gracious to Israel and had compassion on them, and He turned toward them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day, the LORD has been unwilling to destroy them or cast them from His presence.
Parallel translations
- WEB But Yahweh was gracious to them, and had compassion on them, and had respect for them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, and he didn’t cast them from his presence as yet.
- KJV And the LORD was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet.
- NKJV But the Lord was gracious to them, had compassion on them, and regarded them, because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not yet destroy them or cast them from His presence.
- NASB But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion on them and turned to them because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and He was unwilling to eliminate them or cast them away from His presence until now.
- NLT But the Lord was gracious and merciful to the people of Israel, and they were not totally destroyed. He pitied them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And to this day he still has not completely destroyed them or banished them from his presence.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Yet the Lord was gracious and compassionate to Israel for the sake of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not yet destroy them.
Overview
This is the theological heart of the passage: Israel's survival rests not on her merit but on God's faithfulness to His covenant promises to the patriarchs. Divine grace and longsuffering restrain judgment even toward a persistently sinful people. The phrase 'as yet' hints that judgment, though delayed, will eventually come, magnifying the patience of a God who keeps His promises and ultimately fulfills them in Christ, the true seed of Abraham (Gal. 3:16).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 28
- Ps 105:8He remembers His covenant forever, the word He ordained for a thousand generations—
- 2 Kgs 14:27and since the LORD had said that He would not blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, He saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash.
- Mic 7:18–20Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
- Exod 2:24–25So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
- Gen 13:16–17I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted.
- Ps 86:15But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.
- Gen 17:2–5I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”
- 2 Kgs 17:18So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained,
- 2 Kgs 24:20For because of the anger of the LORD, all this happened in Jerusalem and Judah, until He finally banished them from His presence. And Zedekiah also rebelled against the king of Babylon.
- 1 Kgs 8:28Yet regard the prayer and plea of Your servant, O LORD my God, so that You may hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant is praying before You today.
- Jer 12:15But after I have uprooted them, I will once again have compassion on them and return each one to his inheritance and to his land.
- Exod 34:6–7Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
- Luke 1:54–55He has helped His servant Israel, remembering to be merciful,
- Neh 9:31–32But in Your great compassion, You did not put an end to them; nor did You forsake them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God.
- Lev 26:42then I will remember My covenant with Jacob and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
- Gen 17:7–8I will establish My covenant as an everlasting covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
- Exod 32:13–14Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to whom You swore by Your very self when You declared, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all this land that I have promised, and it shall be their inheritance forever.’”
- Gen 6:3So the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.”
- Deut 32:36For the LORD will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their strength is gone and no one remains, slave or free.
- Isa 30:18–19Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.
- Lam 3:32Even if He causes grief, He will show compassion according to His abundant loving devotion.
- Matt 25:41Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
- Exod 33:19“I will cause all My goodness to pass before you,” the LORD replied, “and I will proclaim My name—the LORD—in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
- Ps 51:11Cast me not away from Your presence; take not Your Holy Spirit from me.
- Luke 1:72–73to show mercy to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant,
- Exod 3:6–7Then He said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
- 2 Th 1:9They will suffer the penalty of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His might,
- Judg 10:16So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and He could no longer bear the misery of Israel.
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 13:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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