Bible Strands
Nehemiah 9:31
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.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Nehemiah leads Israel in a corporate prayer recounting past rebellion and divine forbearance before pleading for mercy amid present hardships.
The words — The Hebrew רַחֲמֵי־ךָ (raḥamekha) means “your compassion,” paired with כָּלָה (kālâ) for “complete destruction” and עֲזַבְתָּ (ʿazavta) for “you abandoned.”
The thread — This declaration of restrained judgment and steadfast mercy runs through Exodus 34:6, Lamentations 3:22, and Nehemiah 9:17.
Why it lands — The text states that God’s own gracious character, not Israel’s faithfulness, prevents total destruction and abandonment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Nevertheless for thy great mercies’ sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.
Cross-references
- Lamentations 3:22 Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.
- Exodus 34:6 Then 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,
- Nehemiah 9:17 They 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.
- Psalms 103:8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.
- Jeremiah 4:27 For this is what the LORD says: “The whole land will be desolate, but I will not finish its destruction.
- Jeremiah 5:18 “Yet even in those days,” declares the LORD, “I will not make a full end of you.
- Psalms 145:8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion.
- Jeremiah 5:10 Go 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.
- 2 Kings 13:23 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.
- 2 Chronicles 30:9 For 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.”