Nehemiah 9:7-37 provides maybe the best summary in the Bible of the Israelites. It begins with Abram (Abraham) and concludes with the distressful bondage of the Israelites in Babylon. Included is an excellent description of the following:

• Israel would turn away from God;
• the people would be punished, often severely;
• they would cry out to God for mercy and turn back to Him;
• God, in great compassion, would turn back to them and again would bless them; and then
• the same cycle would repeat, time after time, for centuries.