Psalm 78:32-39

New King James Version:

³² In spite of this they still sinned,
         And did not believe in His wondrous works.
 ³³ Therefore their days He consumed in futility,
         And their years in fear.
       
 ³⁴ When He slew them, then they sought Him;
         And they returned and sought earnestly for God.
 ³⁵ Then they remembered that God was their rock,
         And the Most High God their Redeemer.
 ³⁶ Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth,
         And they lied to Him with their tongue;
 ³⁷ For their heart was not steadfast with Him,
         Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
 ³⁸ But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity,
         And did not destroy them.
         Yes, many a time He turned His anger away,
         And did not stir up all His wrath;
 ³⁹ For He remembered that they were but flesh,
         A breath that passes away and does not come again.

The Message Translation:

^32-37 And—can you believe it?—they kept right on sinning;
      all those wonders and they still wouldn't believe!
   So their lives dribbled off to nothing—
      nothing to show for their lives but a ghost town.
   When he cut them down, they came running for help;
      they turned and pled for mercy.
   They gave witness that God was their rock,
      that High God was their redeemer,
   But they didn't mean a word of it;
      they lied through their teeth the whole time.
   They could not have cared less about him,
      wanted nothing to do with his Covenant.

 ^38-39 And God? Compassionate!
      Forgave the sin! Didn't destroy!
   Over and over he reined in his anger,
      restrained his considerable wrath.
   He knew what they were made of;
      he knew there wasn't much to them,