And they took strong cities and a rich land, And possessed houses full of all goods, Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves, And fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and grew fat, And delighted themselves in Your great goodness.
Parallel translations
- WEB They took fortified cities and a rich land, and possessed houses full of all good things, cisterns dug out, vineyards, and olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled, became fat, and delighted themselves in your great goodness.
- KJV And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.
- BSB They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled; they grew fat and delighted in Your great goodness.
- NASB “They captured fortified cities and a fertile land. They took possession of houses full of every good thing, Carved out cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, Fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled and put on fat, And lived luxuriously in Your great goodness.
- NLT Our ancestors captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took over houses full of good things, with cisterns already dug and vineyards and olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate until they were full and grew fat and enjoyed themselves in all your blessings.
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
They enjoyed fortified cities, rich land, and abundant goods, delighting in God's goodness. It matters because it highlights God's lavish blessing on his people.
Overview
Israel inherited a land already provisioned with cities, cisterns, vineyards, and orchards, and they 'delighted themselves in your great goodness.' God gave them rest and rich blessing they had not earned. Yet, as the next verses show, abundance can dull the heart, a warning that true and lasting satisfaction is found only in God himself, fully revealed in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Deut 32:15But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned God who made him, and rejected the Rock of his salvation.
- Neh 9:35For they have not served you in their kingdom, and in your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land which you gave before them. They did not turn from their wicked works.
- Deut 3:5All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars; besides a great many villages without walls.
- Ezek 20:6in that day I swore to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands.
- Deut 6:10–12It shall be, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities, which you didn’t build,
- Rom 2:4Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
- Deut 32:13He made him ride on the high places of the earth. He ate the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock;
- Hos 3:5Afterward the children of Israel shall return, and seek Yahweh their God, and David their king, and shall come with trembling to Yahweh and to his blessings in the last days.
- 1 Kgs 8:66On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad in their hearts for all the goodness that Yahweh had shown to David his servant, and to Israel his people.
- Deut 9:1–3Hear, Israel! You are to pass over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to the sky,
- Jer 5:27–28As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they have become great, and grew rich.
- Jer 31:14I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,” says Yahweh.
- Deut 8:7–10For Yahweh your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and hills;
- Num 13:27–28They told him, and said, “We came to the land where you sent us. Surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.
- Isa 6:10Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.”
- Hos 13:6According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted. Therefore they have forgotten me.
- Ps 65:11You crown the year with your bounty. Your carts overflow with abundance.
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Christ at the center
The rebuilt walls and renewed covenant community foreshadow the greater builder who gathers and secures a people for God, the one who declares 'I will build my church.'
How Nehemiah 9:25 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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