16 And they began to remove the foreign gods from their midst+ and to serve Jehovah,+ so that his soul+ became impatient because of the trouble of Israel.+

23 However, Jehovah showed them favor+ and had mercy+ upon them and turned to them for the sake of his covenant+ with Abraham,+ Isaac+ and Jacob;+ and he did not want to bring them to ruin,+ and he did not cast them away from before his face until now.