Nehemiah 9

1 Now, on the twenty-fourth day of this month, were the sons of Israel gathered together, with fasting and with sackcloth, having earth upon 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 separated themselves from all the sons of the foreigner, —and stood and made confession over their own 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 So they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of Yahweh their God, a fourth part of the day, —and, a fourth part, they were making confession and bowing themselves down, unto Yahweh their God.

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 Then stood up on the platform of the Levites, Jeshua and Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, Chenani, —and made outcry, with a loud voice, unto Yahweh their God.

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 Then said the Levites—Jeshua and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, Pethahiah, Stand up, bless Yahweh your God, from age to age, —Yea let them bless thy glorious Name, which 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 Thou, art Yahweh, thou alone, Thou, didst make the heavens, the heavens of heavens, and all their host, the earth and all that is thereon, the seas and all that is therein, and, thou, holdest them all in life, —and, the host of the heavens, unto thee, are bowing down.

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 Thou, art Yahweh, God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, —and madest 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 didst find his heart faithful before thee, and didst solemnize with him a covenant, to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, —to give it unto his seed, —and didst confirm thy words, for, righteous, thou art.

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 Yea thou sawest the affliction of our fathers, in Egypt, and, their outcry, thou heardest, by the Red Sea;

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

10 and didst grant signs and wonders against Pharaoh, and against all his servants, and against all the people of his land, for thou hadst taken note, that they ruled proudly over them, —and so thou didst make thee 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, the sea, didst thou cleave asunder before them, and they passed through the midst of the sea, on dry ground, —whereas, their pursuers, thou didst cast into the depths like a stone, into the mighty 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, in a pillar of cloud, didst thou lead them, by day, —and in a pillar of fire, by night, to light up for them the way wherein they should 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, upon Mount Sinai, camest thou down, and spakest with them out of the heavens, —and gavest them just regulations, and faithful laws, good statutes and commandments.

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, thy holy sabbath, didst thou make known to them, —and, commandments and statutes and a law, didst thou command them, through Moses thy servant.

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

15 And, bread out of the heavens, didst thou give them, for their hunger, and, waters out of the cliff, didst thou bring them, for their thirst, —and badest them go in to take possession of the land, which thou hadst lifted thy hand to give 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 But, they and our fathers, dealt proudly, —and hardened their neck, and hearkened not unto thy commandments;

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

17 but refused to hearken, neither kept in mind thy wonders which thou hadst done with them, but they hardened their neck, and appointed a head that they might return to their servitude, in their perverseness. But, thou, art a God of forgivenesses, gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness, and didst not forsake 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 Yea, although they made them a molten calf, and said, This, is thy God, that brought thee up out of Egypt, —and wrought great insults,

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 yet, thou, in thine abounding compassions, didst not forsake them in the desert, —the pillar of cloud, departed not from over them by day, to lead them in the way, nor the pillar of fire by night, to light up for them the way wherein they should 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, thy Good Spirit, thou gavest, to instruct them, —and, thy manna, thou withheldest not from their mouth, and, water, thou gavest 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 Yea, forty years, didst thou sustain them in the desert, they lacked nothing, —their mantles, waxed not old and, their feet, swelled not.

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 thou gavest them kingdoms, and peoples, and allotted to each of them a corner, —and they took possession of 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 Their children also, didst thou multiply, like the stars of the heavens, —and didst bring them into the land which thou hadst promised their fathers they should enter 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 so the children entered and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and deliveredst them into their hand, —with 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 captured fortified cities and a fat soil, and took possession of houses full of every good thing, wells digged, vineyards and oliveyards and fruit-trees, in abundance, —so they did eat and were filled and became fat, and luxuriated in thy 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 But they murmured and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their back, and, thy prophets, they slew, who testified against them that they might turn them back unto thee, —and they wrought great insults.

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 Therefore didst thou deliver them into the hand of their adversaries, who distressed them, —and, in the time of their distress, they made outcry unto thee, and, thou, out of the heavens, didst hear, and, according to thine abounding compassions, gavest them saviours, that they might 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 But, as soon as they had rest, they again wrought wickedness before thee, —and thou didst leave them in the hand of their enemies, who bare rule over them, yet, when they again made outcry unto thee, thou, from the heavens, didst hear and didst deliver them according to thy compassions, many times;

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 didst testify against them, to bring them back unto thy law, yet, they, dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, and, against thy regulations, they sinned, the which—if any son of earth shall do—then shall he live by them, —and yielded a rebellious shoulder, and, their neck, they stiffened, and hearkened not.

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 thou didst suffer many years to pass over them, and didst testify against them by thy Spirit through thy prophets, yet did they not give ear, —therefore didst thou deliver them into the hand of the 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 Yet, in thine abounding compassions, thou didst not make of them an end, neither didst thou forsake them, —for, a GOD gracious and full of compassion, thou art.

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 Now, therefore, O our God—the GOD great, mighty, and fearful—keeping the covenant and the lovingkindness, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, which hath come upon us—on our kings, on our rulers, 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.

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 But, thou, art righteous, as to all that hath fallen upon us, —for, faithfulness, hast thou wrought, whereas, we, have been lawless;

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

34 and, our kings, our rulers, our priests, and our fathers, have not kept thy law, —nor given heed unto thy commandments, or unto thy testimonies, wherewith thou hast 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 But, they, in their kingdom, and in thine abundant goodness which thou gavest them, and in the broad and fat land which thou didst set before them, did not serve thee, neither turned they from their wicked 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 Lo! we, to-day, are bondmen—even upon the land which thou gavest our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, lo! we, are bondmen;

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, the increase thereof, aboundeth unto the kings whom thou hast set over us, for our sins, —and, over our bodies, are they bearing rule, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and, in great distress, we are.

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 Seeing, therefore, all this, we, are plighting our faith, and putting it in writing, —and, upon the sealed scroll, are our rulers, our Levites, 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.”