Nehemiah 9
1 Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackclothes, and earth upon them.
On the twenty-fourth day of this same month, the Israelites met together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads.
2 And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.
Those of Israelite ancestry separated themselves from the foreigners, and stood to confess their sins and those of their forefathers.
3 And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God [one] fourth part of the day; and [another] fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God.
They spent three hours standing there reading the Book of the Law of the Lord their God, and another three hours confessing their sins and worshiping the Lord their God.
4 Then stood up upon the stairs, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, [and] Chenani, and cried with a loud voice unto the LORD their God.
The Levites stood on the stage and called out loudly to the Lord their God. (Their names were Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani.)
5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, [and] Pethahiah, said, Stand up [and] bless the LORD your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.
Then the Levites announced: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God who lives eternally: ‘May who you are and your glory be blessed, and may you be lifted up above all blessing and praise.’” (The names of the Levites were Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah.)
6 Thou, [even] thou, [art] LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all [things] that [are] therein, the seas, and all that [is] therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.
They prayed, “Only you are the Lord. It was you who made the sky, the heavens with all their stars, the land and everything on it, the seas and everything in them. You give life to all of them, and all the heavenly beings worship you.
7 Thou [art] the LORD the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham;
You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram, who led him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham.
8 And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give [it, I say], to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou [art] righteous:
You knew he would be faithful to you, and made an agreement with him to give him and his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites. You kept your promise, because you do what is right.
9 And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red sea;
You saw how much our forefathers were suffering in Egypt. You heard their cries for help at the Red Sea.
10 And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as [it is] this day.
You performed miraculous signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all his officials, and all his people of his land, for you recognized how arrogantly they treated our forefathers. You created a wonderful reputation for yourself that people still recognize to this day.
11 And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.
You split the sea apart in front of them so that they could walk through it on dry ground. But you threw their pursuers into the depths of the sea, like stones thrown into raging waters.
12 Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.
You led them with a column of cloud during the day, and a column of fire at night, showing them the way which they should go.
13 Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:
You descended on Mount Sinai. You spoke to them from heaven. You gave them right ways to live, true laws, and good regulations and commandments.
14 And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:
You explained your holy Sabbath to them. You gave them commandments and regulations and laws through your servant Moses.
15 And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.
When they were hungry you gave them bread from heaven, and when they were thirsty you brought water out of the rock for them. You told them to go and take ownership of the land which you had sworn to give them.
16 But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,
But they and our forefathers acted arrogantly and became stubborn, and didn't pay attention to your commands.
17 And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou [art] a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.
They refused to listen to you, and forgot about all the miracles you did for them. They became obstinate and decided to choose themselves a leader to take them back to slavery in Egypt. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and merciful, slow to get angry, and full of trustworthy love. You did not give up on them,
18 Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This [is] thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;
even when they made themselves a metal calf and said, ‘This is your god who led you out of Egypt,’ and committed terrible blasphemies.
19 Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go.
But you because you are so merciful didn't abandon them in the desert. The column of cloud didn't stop guiding them during the day, and the column of fire continued to light their way at night.
20 Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.
You gave your good Spirit to teach them. You did not stop feeding them with your manna, and you gave them water when they were thirsty.
21 Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, [so that] they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.
You took care of them for forty years in the desert. Their clothes didn't wear out, they didn't want for anything. Their feet didn't even swell up!
22 Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.
You gave them kingdoms and nations; you assigned their borders. They took control of the land of Sihon, king of Heshbon, and of Og, king of Bashan.
23 Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess [it].
You made their descendants as countless as the stars of heaven, and led them to the land you had promised their fathers they would enter and possess.
24 So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would.
Their descendants went in and took over the land. Right in front of them you conquered the Canaanites who lived there, handing over their kings and people so they could do with them whatever they wanted.
25 And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.
They captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took over houses full of valuable things, water cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, and many fruit trees. They ate until they were full, and grew fat. They were so happy at how good you were to them.
26 Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.
But they completely rebelled against you. They tossed your Law over their shoulders. They killed your prophets who warned them to try and bring them back to you, and they committed terrible blasphemies.
27 Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest [them] from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.
So you handed them over to their enemies who treated them badly. In their suffering they cried out to you for help. But you heard their cries from heaven, and because you're so merciful you sent them leaders to save them from their enemies.
28 But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest [them] from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;
However, as soon as they had peace, they went back to doing evil in your sight. So once more you handed them over to their enemies, who dominated them. They came back to you, and they cried out to you again. But you heard from heaven once more, and you saved them time and again because you are so merciful.
29 And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them; ) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.
You warned them to come back to your Law, but they were arrogant. They ignored your commands, and sinned against your rules, which, as you previously said, ‘If people obey they will live by them.’ They obstinately turned their backs on you and refused to listen.
30 Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.
You were patient with them for many years. You warned them by your Spirit through your prophets, but they didn't listen, so you handed them over to the other nations.
31 Nevertheless for thy great mercies’ sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou [art] a gracious and merciful God.
But because of your wonderful mercy you did not finish with them, and you did not abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.
32 Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.
So now, our God, the great and powerful and awesome God who keeps his agreement of trustworthy love, please don't see as unimportant all the hardships that have happened to us, and to our kings and leaders, our priests and prophets, our forefather and all your people, from the time of the Assyrian kings of Assyria up till now.
33 Howbeit thou [art] just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:
But you have done what is right regarding everything that has happened to us. You have always acted faithfully, while we have done so much evil.
34 Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them.
Our kings, our leaders, our priests, and our forefathers did not follow your Law, and they ignored your commands and regulations you ordered them to keep.
35 For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.
But they, even during the time they had their own kingdom, with so many blessings you had given them in the wide and fertile land you had provided for them, even then they refused to serve you and would not turn from their evil ways.
36 Behold, we [are] servants this day, and [for] the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we [are] servants in it:
Look at us now, slaves in the land you gave our forefathers to enjoy its fruit and all its good things. Look at us slaves here!
37 And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we [are] in great distress.
The rich harvests of this land go to the kings you have placed over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and our cattle, doing whatever they want. We are suffering so much!”
38 And because of all this we make a sure [covenant], and write [it; ] and our princes, Levites, [and] priests, seal [unto it].
In response the people declared, “Considering all this, we are making a solemn agreement, putting it in writing. It is sealed by our leaders, Levites, and priests.”
