Nehemiah 9

1 And in the twenty-fourth day of this month the sons of Israel have been gathered with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth on them;

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

2 and the seed of Israel are separated from all sons of a stranger, and stand and confess concerning their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers,

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

3 and rise up on their station, and read in the Scroll of the Law of their God YHWH a fourth of the day, and a fourth they are confessing and bowing themselves to their God YHWH.

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.

4 And there stand up on the ascent, of the Levites, Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, Chenani, and they cry with a loud voice to their God YHWH.

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.

5 And the Levites say, [even] Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, Pethahiah, “Rise, bless your God YHWH, From age to age, And they bless the Name of Your glory That [is] exalted above all blessing and praise.

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.

6 You [are] He, O YHWH, Yourself—You have made the heavens, The heavens of the heavens, and all their host, The earth and all that [are] on it, The seas and all that [are] in them, And You are keeping all of them alive, And the host of the heavens are bowing themselves to You.

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.

7 You [are] He, O YHWH God, Who fixed on Abraham, And brought him out from Ur of the Chaldeans, And made his name Abraham,

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

8 And found his heart steadfast before You, So as to make with him the covenant, To give the land of the Canaanite, The Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, To give [it] to his seed. And You establish Your words, For You [are] righteous,

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.

9 And see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And their cry have heard by the Sea of Suph,

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

10 And give signs and wonders on Pharaoh, And on all his servants, And on all the people of his land, For You have known that they have acted proudly against them, And You make to Yourself a name as [at] this day.

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.

11 And You have cleaved the sea before them, And they pass over into the midst of the sea on the dry land, And their pursuers You have cast into the depths, As a stone, into the strong waters.

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.

12 And by a pillar of cloud You have led them by day, And by a pillar of fire by night, To lighten to them the way in which they go.

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.

13 And on Mount Sinai You have come down, Even to speak with them from the heavens, And You give to them right judgments, And true laws, good statutes and commands.

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

14 And Your holy Sabbath You have made known to them, And commands, and statutes, and law, You have commanded for them, By the hand of Your servant Moses;

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

15 And bread from the heavens You have given to them for their hunger, And water from a rock have brought out to them for their thirst, And say to them to go in to possess the land That You have lifted up Your hand to give to them.

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.

16 And they and our fathers have acted proudly, And harden their neck, And have not listened to Your commands,

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

17 Indeed, they refuse to listen, And have not remembered Your wonders that You have done with them, And harden their neck and appoint a head, To turn back to their service, in their rebellion; And You [are] a God of pardons, Gracious, and merciful, long-suffering, and abundant in kindness, And have not forsaken them.

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.

18 Also, when they have made to themselves a molten calf, And say, This [is] your god That brought you up out of Egypt, And do great despisings,

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,

19 and You, in Your abundant mercies, Have not forsaken them in the wilderness—The pillar of the cloud has not turned aside from off them by day, To lead them in the way, And the pillar of the fire by night, To give light to them and the way in which they go.

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.

20 And Your good Spirit You have given, To cause them to act wisely; And Your manna You have not withheld from their mouth, And water You have given to them for their thirst,

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.

21 And forty years You have nourished them in a wilderness; They have not lacked; Their garments have not worn out, And their feet have not swelled.

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.

22 And You give to them kingdoms, and peoples, And apportion them to the corner, And they possess 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 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.

23 And You have multiplied their sons as the stars of the heavens, And bring them into the land That You have said to their fathers to go in to possess.

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

24 And the sons come in, and possess the land, And You humble the inhabitants of the land—the Canaanites—before them, And give them into their hand, and their kings, And the peoples of the land, To do with them according to their pleasure.

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.

25 And they capture fortified cities, and fat ground, And possess houses full of all good, Dug-wells, vineyards, and olive-yards, And fruit-trees in abundance, And they eat, and are satisfied, And become fat, And delight themselves in Your great goodness.

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.

26 And they are disobedient, And rebel against You, And cast Your law behind their back, And Your prophets they have slain, Who testified against them, To bring them back to You, And they do great despisings,

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.

27 And You give them into the hand of their adversaries, And they distress them, And in the time of their distress they cry to You, And You, from the heavens, hear, And according to Your abundant mercies, Give saviors to them, And they save them out of the hand of their adversaries.

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.

28 And when they have rest, They turn back to do evil before You, And You leave them in the hand of their enemies, And they rule over them; And they return, and call You, And You hear from the heavens, And deliver them many times, According to Your mercies,

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.

29 And testify against them, To bring them back to Your law; And they have acted proudly, And have not listened to Your commands, And against Your judgments have sinned—Which man does and has lived in them—And they give a stubborn shoulder, And have hardened their neck, And have not listened.

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.

30 And You draw over them many years, And testify against them by Your Spirit, By the hand of Your prophets, And they have not given ear, And You give them into the hand of peoples of the lands,

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.

31 and in Your abundant mercies You have not made them a consumption, Nor have forsaken them; For a God, gracious and merciful, [are] You.

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.

32 And now, O our God—God, the great, the mighty, And the fearful, Keeping the covenant and the kindness—Do not let all the travail that has found us be little before You, For our kings, for our heads, and for our priests, And for our prophets, and for our fathers, And for all Your people, From the days of the kings of Asshur to this day;

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.

33 And You [are] righteous concerning all that has come on us, For You have done truth, And we have done wickedly;

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

34 And our kings, our heads, Our priests, and our fathers, Have not done Your law, Nor attended to Your commands, And to Your testimonies, That You have testified against them;

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

35 And they, in their kingdom, And in Your abundant goodness, That You have given to them, And in the land, the large and the fat, That You have set before them, Have not served You, Nor turned back from their evil doings.

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.

36 Behold, we—today—[are] servants, And the land that You have given to our fathers, To eat its fruit and its good, Behold, we [are] servants on it,

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!

37 And its increase it is multiplying to the kings Whom You have set over us In our sins; And over our bodies they are ruling, And over our livestock, According to their pleasure, And we [are] in great distress.

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.

38 And for all this we are making a steadfast covenant, And are writing, And over him who is sealed [Are] our heads, our Levites, [and] our priests.”

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.”