But 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.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Nevertheless in your manifold mercies you did not make a full end of them, nor forsake them; for you are a gracious and merciful God.
- KJV Nevertheless for thy great mercies’ sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.
- NKJV Nevertheless in Your great mercy You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them; For You are God, gracious and merciful.
- NASB “Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You did not make an end of them or abandon them, For You are a gracious and compassionate God.
- NLT But in your great mercy, you did not destroy them completely or abandon them forever. What a gracious and merciful God you are!
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
Even so, in his great mercy God did not utterly destroy or forsake them, for he is gracious and merciful. It matters because God preserved a remnant by sheer grace.
Overview
Despite exile, God 'did not make a full end of them,' because of his gracious and merciful character. Judgment was tempered by covenant faithfulness, preserving a people for himself. This preservation of a remnant safeguarded the line through which the Messiah would come, securing the hope of salvation in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Lam 3:22Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.
- Ps 103:8–9The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.
- Neh 9:17They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.
- Jer 4:27For this is what the LORD says: “The whole land will be desolate, but I will not finish its destruction.
- 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,
- Jer 5:18“Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you.
- Ps 145:8–9The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion.
- Jer 5:10Go up through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not finish them off. Strip off her branches, for they do not belong to the LORD.
- Dan 9:9To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, even though we have rebelled against Him
- Ezek 14:22–23Yet, behold, some survivors will be left in it—sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their conduct and actions, you will be comforted regarding the disaster I have brought upon Jerusalem—all that I have brought upon it.
- 2 Chr 30:9For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and sons will receive mercy in the presence of their captors and will return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful; He will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”
- 2 Kgs 13:23But 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.
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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 9:31 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.