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;

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel came together, taking no food and putting haircloth and dust on their bodies.

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,

And the seed of Israel made themselves separate from all the men of other nations, publicly requesting forgiveness for their sins and the wrongdoing 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.

And for a fourth part of the day, upright in their places, they were reading from the book of the law of their God; and for a fourth part of the day they were requesting forgiveness and worshipping 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.

Then Jeshua, and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani took their places on the steps of the Levites, crying 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, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said, Get up and give praise to the Lord your God for ever and ever. Praise be to your great name which is lifted up high over 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 are the Lord, even you only; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens with all their armies, the earth and all things in it, the seas and everything in them; and you keep them from destruction: and the armies of heaven are your worshippers.

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 took Abram and made him yours, guiding him from Ur of the Chaldees, and gave him the name of 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 saw that his heart was true to you, and made an agreement with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Jebusite and the Girgashite, even to give it to his seed, and you have done what you said; for righteousness is yours:

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

And you saw the trouble of our fathers in Egypt, and their cry came to your ears by 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.

And you did signs and wonders on Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land; for you saw how cruel they were to them. So you got yourself a name as it is today.

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.

By you the sea was parted before them, so that they went through the sea on dry land; and those who went after them went down into the deep, like a stone into great 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.

And you went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light on the way they were to go.

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.

And you came down on Mount Sinai, and your voice came to them from heaven, giving them right decisions and true laws, good rules and orders:

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;

And you gave them word of your holy Sabbath, and gave them orders and rules and a law, by the hand of Moses your servant:

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.

And you gave them bread from heaven when they were in need, and made water come out of the rock for their drink, and gave them orders to go in and take for their heritage the land which your hand had been lifted up 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, in their pride, made their necks stiff, and gave no attention to your orders,

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.

And would not do them, and gave no thought to the wonders you had done among them; but made their necks stiff, and turning away from you, made a captain over themselves to take them back to their prison in Egypt: but you are a God of forgiveness, full of grace and pity, slow to wrath and great in mercy, and you did not give them up.

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 had made for themselves an ox of metal, and said, This is your God who took you up out of Egypt, and had done so much to make you angry;

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.

Even then, in your great mercy, you did not give them up in the waste land: the pillar of cloud still went before them by day, guiding them on their way, and the pillar of fire by night, to give them light, and make clear the way they were to 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,

And you gave your good spirit to be their teacher, and did not keep back your manna from their mouths, and gave them water when they had need of it.

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.

Truly, for forty years you were their support in the waste land, and they were in need of nothing; their clothing did not get old or their feet become tired.

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.

And you gave them kingdoms and peoples, making distribution to them in every part of the land: so they took for their heritage the land of Sihon, even the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land 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.

And you made their children as great in number as the stars of heaven, and took them into the land, of which you had said to their fathers that they were to go in and take it for themselves.

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 the children went in and took the land, and you overcame before them the people of the land, the Canaanites, and gave them up into their hands, with their kings and the people of the land, so that they might do with them whatever it was their pleasure to do.

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.

And they took walled towns and a fat land, and became the owners of houses full of all good things, water-holes cut in the rock, vine-gardens and olive-gardens and a wealth of fruit-trees: so they had food enough and became fat, and had joy in the good you gave them.

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 hard-hearted, and went against your authority, turning their backs on your law, and putting to death your prophets, who gave witness against them with the purpose of turning them back again to you, and they did much to make you angry.

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.

And so you gave them up into the hands of their haters who were cruel to them: and in the time of their trouble, when they made their prayer to you, you gave ear to them from heaven; and in your great mercy gave them saviours, who made them free from the hands of their haters.

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 when they had rest, they did evil again before you: so you gave them into the hands of their haters, who had rule over them: but when they came back and made their prayer to you, you gave ear to them from heaven; again and again, in your mercy, you gave them salvation;

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.

And gave witness against them so that you might make them come back again to your law: but their hearts were lifted up, and they gave no attention to your orders and went against your decisions (which, if a man keeps them, will be life to him), and turning their backs on you, made their necks stiff and did not give ear.

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,

Year after year you put up with them, and gave witness against them by your spirit through your prophets: still they did not give ear: and so you gave them up into the hands of the peoples of the lands.

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.

Even then, in your great mercy, you did not put an end to them completely, or give them up; for you are a God of grace and mercy.

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;

And now, our God, the great, the strong, the God who is to be feared, who keeps faith and mercy, let not all this trouble seem small to you, which has come on us, and on our kings and our rulers and on our priests and our prophets and our fathers and on all your people from the time of the kings of Assyria till this day.

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

But still, you have been in the right in everything which has come on us; you have been true to us, but we have done evil:

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;

And our kings, our rulers, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or given attention to your orders and your witness, with which you gave witness against 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 they have not been your servants in their kingdom, and in all the good things you gave them, and in the great and fat land you gave them, and they have not been turned away from their evil-doing.

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,

Now, today, we are servants, and as for the land which you gave to our fathers, so that the produce of it and the good might be theirs, see, we are servants in it:

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.

And it gives much increase to the kings whom you have put over us because of our sins: and they have power over our bodies and over our cattle at their pleasure, and we are in great trouble.

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.”

And because of all this we are making an agreement in good faith, and putting it in writing; and our rulers, our Levites, and our priests are putting their names to it.