Nehemiah 9

1 On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads.

And on the twenty and fourth day of this month were the children of Israel assembled with fasting, and in sackclothes, and with earth upon them.

2 Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all the foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all children of the strangers: and they stood forward and made confession for their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.

3 While they stood in their places, they read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and they spent another quarter of the day in confession and worship of the LORD their God.

And they stood up in their standing-place, and read in the book of the law of the Lord their God the fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they made confession, and prostrated themselves before the Lord their God.

4 And the Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani—stood on the raised platform and cried out in a loud voice to the LORD their God.

Then stood up upon the stairs of the Levites, Jeshua' and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebanyah, Bunni, Sherebyah, Bani, and Kenani, and they cried with a loud voice unto the Lord their God.

5 Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting: Blessed be Your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.

Then said the Levites, Jeshua', and Kadmiel, Bani, Chashabneyah, Sherebyah, Hodiyah, Shebanyah, and Pethachyah, Arise! bless ye the Lord your God from eternity to eternity. And let men bless thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

6 You alone are the LORD. You created the heavens, the highest heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all things, and the host of heaven worships You.

Thou indeed art the Eternal One alone: It is thou that hast made the heavens with all their host, the earth, and all that is upon her, the seas, and all that is in them, and thou givest life to them all; and the host of the heavens bow down before thee.

7 You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.

Thou art indeed the Lord the [true] God, who didst choose Abram, and bring him forth out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and change his name to Abraham;

8 You found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites and Hittites, of the Amorites and Perizzites, of the Jebusites and Girgashites— to give it to his descendants. You have kept Your promise, because You are righteous.

And thou didst find his heart faithful before thee: and thou madest with him the covenant to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Emorites, and the Perizittes, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashite—to give it to his seed: and thou hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous.

9 You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt; You heard their cry at the Red Sea.

And thou didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and their cry didst thou hear by the Red Sea;

10 You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the people of his land, for You knew they had acted with arrogance against our fathers. You made a name for Yourself that endures to this day.

And thou didst display signs and wonders on Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they had dealt presumptuously against them; and thou didst [thus] make thyself a name, as it is this day.

11 You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into raging waters.

And the sea didst thou divide before them, so that they passed through the midst of the sea on dry land; and their pursuers didst thou throw into the deeps, like a stone in mighty waters.

12 You led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they should travel.

And by a pillar of cloud didst thou lead them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night, to give light unto them on the way whereon they should go.

13 You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You gave them just ordinances, true laws, and good statutes and commandments.

Also on mount Sinai camest thou down, and spokest with them from heaven; and thou gavest them upright ordinances, and truthful laws, good statutes and commandments;

14 You revealed to them Your holy Sabbath and gave them commandments and statutes and laws through Your servant Moses.

And thy holy sabbath madest thou known unto them, and commandments, statutes, and a law didst thou enjoin on them, by the hand of Moses thy servant.

15 In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven; in their thirst You brought them water from the rock. You told them to go in and possess the land which You had sworn to give them.

And bread from heaven didst thou give them for their hunger, and water out of the rock broughtest thou forth for them for their thirst; and thou didst order them to go in to take possession of the land concerning which thou hadst lifted up thy hand to give it unto them.

16 But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments.

And they and our fathers acted presumptuously, and hardened their neck, and hearkened not to thy commandments.

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.

And they refused to obey, and remembered not thy marvelous deeds which thou hadst done with them; but they hardened their neck, and [spoke of] appointing a chief to return to their bondage, in their rebellion; but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, long-suffering, and abundant in kindness, and forsookest them not.

18 Even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and when they committed terrible blasphemies,

Yea, although they had made for themselves a molten calf, and said, 'This is thy god that hath brought thee up out of Egypt,' and had practised great provocations:

19 You in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud never turned away from guiding them on their path; and by the night the pillar of fire illuminated the way they should go.

Yet in thy abundant mercies didst thou not forsake them in the wilderness: the pillar of cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them on the way; nor the pillar of fire by night, to give them light on the way whereon they should go.

20 You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst.

And thy good spirit thou gavest to make them intelligent, and thy manna thou withheldest not from their mouth, and water thou gavest them for their thirst.

21 For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

And forty years didst thou provide for them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out; and their feet swelled not.

22 You gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner of the land. So they took the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and of Og king of Bashan.

Thou gavest them also kingdoms and nations, which thou didst divide into various corners: and they took possession of the land of Sichon, even the land of the king of Cheshbon, and the land of 'Og the king of Bashan.

23 You multiplied their descendants like the stars of heaven and brought them to the land You had told their fathers to enter and possess.

And their children didst thou multiply like the stars of heaven, and then broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst ordered their fathers to enter in to take possession of it.

24 So their descendants went in and possessed the land; You subdued before them the Canaanites dwelling in the land. You delivered into their hands the kings and peoples of the land, to do with them as they wished.

And the children entered in and took possession of the land; and thou didst humble before them the inhabitants of the land, the Cana'anites, and gavest them up into their hands, with their kings, and the nations of the land, that they might do with them according to their pleasure.

25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled; they grew fat and delighted in Your great goodness.

And they captured fortified cities, and a fat soil; and they took possession of houses full of all good things, hewn-out wells, vineyards, and olive-yards, and fruit trees in abundance; and they ate, and were satisfied, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.

26 But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.

Then became they disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their back, and they slew thy prophets who had warned them to bring them back unto thee, and they practised great provocations.

27 So You delivered them into the hands of enemies who oppressed them, and in their time of distress they cried out to You. From heaven You heard them, and in Your great compassion You gave them deliverers who saved them from the hands of their enemies.

Thereupon thou gavest them up into the hand of their adversaries, who oppressed them: and in the time of their distress they used to cry unto thee, and thou ever heardest them from heaven; and according to thy abundant mercies thou wast wont to give them helpers, who helped them out of the hand of their adversaries.

28 But as soon as they had rest, they again did evil in Your sight. So You abandoned them to the hands of their enemies, who had dominion over them. When they cried out to You again, You heard from heaven, and You delivered them many times in Your compassion.

But when [once more] they had rest, they did again evil before thee: wherefore thou didst leave them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them; and when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou wast wont to hear them from heaven, and thou didst ever deliver them according to thy mercies many times.

29 You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They stubbornly shrugged their shoulders; they stiffened their necks and would not obey.

And thou gavest them warning to bring them back unto thy law: yet they acted presumptuously, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, and sinned against thy ordinances, which a man is to do that he may live through them: and they rendered their shoulder rebellious, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.

30 You were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets. Yet they would not listen, so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.

Yet thou gavest them indulgence many years, and didst warn them through thy spirit by means of thy prophets; but they gave no ear: therefore didst thou give them up into the hand of the nations of the lands.

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.

Yet in thy abundant mercies hast thou not made an entire end of them, and thou hast not forsaken them; for a gracious and merciful God art thou.

32 So now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God who keeps His gracious covenant, do not view lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, and upon our kings and leaders, our priests and prophets, our ancestors and all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.

And now, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest the covenant and kindness, let not be esteemed as little before thee all the hardship that hath befallen us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.

33 You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.

Nevertheless thou art righteous in all that is come over us; for thou hast acted [according to] truth, but we have done wickedly.

34 Our kings and leaders and priests and fathers did not obey Your law or listen to Your commandments and warnings that You gave them.

Also our kings, our priests, and our fathers have not executed thy law, and have not listened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst warn them.

35 For even while they were in their kingdom, with the abundant goodness that You had given them, and in the spacious and fertile land that You had set before them, they would not serve You or turn from their wicked ways.

But they in their kingdom, and in thy abundant goodness which thou hadst given unto them, and in the ample and fat land which thou hadst given up before them, did indeed not serve thee, and they turned not away from their wicked deeds.

36 So here we are today as slaves in the land You gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and goodness— here we are as slaves!

Behold, we are this day servants: and as regardeth the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat its fruit and its good things, behold, we are servants in it;

37 Its abundant harvest goes to the kings You have set over us because of our sins. And they rule over our bodies and our livestock as they please. We are in great distress.

And it yieldeth its products in abundance for the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins; also over our bodies have they dominion, and over our cattle [also] at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

38 In view of all this, we make a binding agreement, putting it in writing and sealing it with the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.”

And because of all this, we make a faithful covenant, and write it down; and on the sealed document are our princes, our Levites, and our priests.