16 Their hearts followed after their idols so closely that they did not live by my statutes, but rejected my ordinances and desecrated my sabbaths.
17 But I looked on them with pity, not wanting to destroy them, so I did not put an end to them in the wilderness.
18 Then I said to their children in the wilderness: Do not follow the statutes of your parents. Do not keep their ordinances. Do not defile yourselves with their idols.
19 I am the Lord, your God: follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances;
20 keep holy my sabbaths as a sign between me and you so that you may know that I am the Lord, your God.
21 But their children rebelled against me: they did not follow my statutes or keep my ordinances that bring life to those who observe them; my sabbaths they desecrated. Then I considered pouring out my fury on them, spending my anger against them in the wilderness;
22 but I stayed my hand, acting for the sake of my name, lest it be desecrated in the eyes of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.